Colorado Avalanche extending Bednar now was the right move

The Colorado Avalanche have given head coach Jared Bednar a contract extension through the 2026-27 season. Following a season in which he won the Stanley Cup with the team, it’s been an up and down season in 2022-23.

At one point, it was highly questionable whether or not the Avalanche would make their way into the playoffs. Would they come close? It has been concerning at several different times this year. How could this Avalanche team lose some easy games?

The thing is, the team has had too many injuries and while some hate to use that as an excuse, it’s just fact. We finally got to see Darren Helm back on the ice, and other key members have missed time such as Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Evan Rodrigues, Pavel Francouz, Erik Johnson, and most-often talked about Gabriel Landeskog. Landeskog is still out, as is Francouz and Johnson (broken ankle).

Even still, Bednar has gotten this team into a position to make a huge impact on the standings in the West. They’re currently third in the standings with 88 points but the two teams atop the division—the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild—each have 90 points. The Avalanche cannot do anything to stop those two teams from getting more wins except when they face each other. What they can do is do their best to win their own games.

Despite injuries, Avalanche didn’t make any overly-splashy moves at the trade deadline like some had hoped or thought they would. One of the moves people monitored the most was a Bo Horvat trade.

Instead, they opted to get Evan Rodrigues onboard in the offseason while trading for goaltender Alexandar Georgiev, too. While there is still some work to be done by this team, those two moves have been awesome to see unfold.

It’s amazing to see the Avalanche build a winning culture. Since joining the team, Bednar is the third-longest-tenured head coach in the National Hockey League. The Colorado Avalanche have their guy.