The Colorado Avalanche officially punched their ticket to the 2025 NHL playoffs on Thursday night with a huge win over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena. The Avs erased a 3-2 deficit and transformed it into a 7-3 walloping.
With their seventh-straight postseason berth locked, the Avalanche still have quite a bit to play for. As such, the Avs aren’t just looking to play out the string at this point. With five games left on the regular season schedule, there are three things to look forward to.
3 things to look forward to after Colorado Avalanche clinch 2025 NHL playoff ticket
Nathan MacKinnon to win Art Ross
Nathan MacKinnon currently leads the NHL in scoring with 114 points. He’s got a three-point lead on the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov and an eight-point margin on the Edmonton Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl.
MacKinnon will need to keep up his torrid pace to secure the Art Ross Trophy this season. He can certainly do it, but it will all depend on MacKinnon not taking his foot off the gas. If he can lock up the Art Ross as the NHL’s leading scorer, the Hart Trophy is virtually a lock for the Avalanche’s top scorer.
Cale Makar to reach 100 points
Cale Makar has had a mind-boggling season in 2024-25. Following Thursday night’s win against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Makar is up to 90 points. He’s got an even 30 goals and 60 assists. His 30 tallies are the first since 2008-2009 when Mike Green achieved the feat.
It’s been nearly two decades since a defenseman has gotten that many goals. But that’s not all. Makar’s 90 points are good for seventh in the league in scoring. As such, the next milestone would be the century mark in points.
If Makar can pull that off, he will most certainly lock up the Norris Trophy. In case anyone is wondering about Makar’s defensive game, he’s a plus-32 on the season. He hasn’t looked out of place at any point in the year while averaging over 25 minutes a night.
Gabriel Landeskog’s potential return
There has been plenty of speculation regarding Colorado Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog’s return after more than two years off the ice. While there is nothing firm in the works, it seems that the club is keeping quiet on Landeskog’s as a means of surprising fans when it happens.
I can emphatically state that Landeskog’s return will not happen during the regular season. Doing so would send the salary cap into a frenzy. So, Landeskog’s return would likely happen at some point in the postseason, depending on how far the Avs get.
My bet is that the Avs will activate Landeskog after the first round. The team may wait till late in the third round when it looks like the Avs could get to the Stanley Cup Final.
So, stay tuned because there are plenty of signs pointing toward the Colorado Avalanche captain hitting the ice before this season is over.