The Colorado Avalanche were very active up until the final moments before the 2026 trade deadline passed on Friday. They added a couple of pieces, most notably their last trade, which was the (re)addition of Nazem Kadri and a fourth-round pick for a couple of conditional draft picks, Victor Olofsson, and prospect Max Curran.
They added forward Nicolas Roy and defenseman Nick Blankenburg, and traded away Sam Girard for defenseman Brett Kulak. Now, Roy and Blankenburg are depth pieces who won’t necessarily see the ice every game. Kulak has been pretty awesome since coming over from the Pittsburgh Penguins.
It is safe to say that the Avalanche are going all-in this year. The Avalanche could have stayed still and rolled with their roster as it was prior to the Girard trade. They’ve maintained their top spot among the whole NHL, and while there are a couple of teams closer to Colorado than most, the Avs still have a couple of games in hand and have a legitimate chance of ending the year with the Presidents’ Trophy. That’s not always a good thing, as there have been Presidents’ Trophy winners who didn’t go on to win the Stanley Cup, but the Avs have a chance of changing that history.
They know it, too. That thought is probably far back in their mind, though. You can’t have a winning squad with the mindset that you’ll just fall short like a lot of those other teams. You have to approach every game—every season—like it is the last one you’ll ever play. That means the last chance to go and get a Stanley Cup championship.
I want to give a round of applause to Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland, who has been active making these deals happen. The initial talks between the Avalanche and Flames didn’t go well, but MacFarland didn’t stop. He kept going until the right deal pleased the Flames. At the end of the day, you do what you have to do to make the best team possible. With the Avalanche already dominating through 60 games, there is reason to believe this team can go and win it all, and a lot of it is thanks to the team’s general manager.
Go beat the Stars tonight, Avalanche. Go win that Stanley Cup in a couple of months.