There wasn’t a whole lot that went wrong for the Colorado Avalanche in the 2025-26 season. The league’s Presidents’ Trophy winner was elite throughout the year, and it had a lot to do with their star talent. However, no matter how well any of them did, there is always the question of, could they have been better?
The Avs were nearly flawless in the regular season. It’s going to be interesting to see how much of a drop-off they suffer with some departures and players getting older.
While there were more positives than negatives, I think that it is still fair to go down the road of players who could have had a better season than they did.
Let me note that just because these players are on the list, it doesn’t mean their 2025-26 campaign was bad. There is just room for improvement.
Cale Makar
Yeah, yeah. I know what you’re thinking. Cale Makar on this list? Come on, you’ve got to be KIDDING ME!!!
Well, it’s simple, really. Makar scored 20 goals and had 59 assists during the 2025-26 regular season. 79 points was not enough to fend off Zach Werenski. Werenski had 1,589 votes while Makar finished with 1,191. Werenski had 81 points to Makar’s 79.
In reality, I think that it is safe to assume that Makar would have taken home the scoring title for defensemen if he had played in all 82 games. He played in 75, though so did Werenski.
Makar’s two-way game was tremendous, and he only gave up the puck 86 times. Werenski coughed it up 125 times, the seventh-most in the league.
But, before I get too far off track with a Makar-Werenski debate, it’s just safe to say that Makar didn’t have the best season he could have. I look forward to him trying to surpass last season’s outcome as he looks to earn even more money on a new extension (assuming the extension doesn’t happen in the offseason).
Gabriel Landeskog
The captain is back. Well, I think that he could be even more back in 2026-27.
Landeskog played in 60 games for the Avalanche this past season, recording 14 goals and 21 assists. That’s an average of .58 points a game.
I’m not bashing Landeskog for only putting up 35 points. I could, as he’s a top-six forward, but given the circumstances, it really would not be fair. He came back from a huge injury. That itself is remarkable. I just think that the further we go away from that injury—the more he plays—the more expectation he should have and we should have of him.
I don’t think that he’d want it any other way, either. His injury situations this past year were unfortunate. Missing 22 games was frustrating because of the type of player he is—the competitor he is. The leader he is. He suffered broken ribs as well as requiring surgery on his groin.
The departure of Valeri Nichushkin will require Landeskog to take on more responsibilities, and he’s a player that I fully expect would take on those responsibilities with open arms.
Nazem Kadri
Fans were ecstatic when news broke that the Avalanche brought back Nazem Kadri in a trade deadline deal with the Calgary Flames. He was a big piece of the team’s 2021-22 Stanley Cup team and it felt like he left Colorado for about, say, a century.
He ended up playing 16 games with four goals and five assists in his mid-season return. Once again, though not an awful stat line, we are always going to strive for more, especially from someone who will play a bigger role going forward.
During the 2021-22 season—his third overall with the Avalanche—Kadri had 87 points, which, to this day, is a career-high. He put up a respectable 28 goals and 59 assists. In his second year with the Flames, he had 75 points, which ranks second in his career.
Unfortunately, Kadri is in his mid-30’s and it’s to be determined how much he has left in the tank. But, I don’t know if the Avalanche move on from Nichushkin if they aren’t comfortable with Kadri’s status. I would think that he probably should have a couple more years left in him.
He had three more years left on his deal at $7 million against the cap every season. I want to see how far he can go and perhaps have a breakout season.
Add us as a preferred source on Google