The Colorado Avalanche face a grueling schedule this upcoming season. Specifically, the taxing nature of the 2025-26 season is due to the significant break in February due to the Olympics in Milano-Cortina.
Unlike other leagues around the world, the NHL will shut down in order to accommodate players heading to the Olympics. Other major sports leagues, like the NBA and soccer, have Olympic tourneys that occur during their offseasons. MLB organizes its World Baseball Classic prior to the beginning of the regular season.
As such, the Avalanche will have to go through the gauntlet just to lock up a playoff spot. The Avs will play their first back-to-back on October 25 against the Bruins and 26 against the New Jersey Devils.
In November, the Avs will play back-to-back twice. First, they’ll face the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks on November 8-9. Then, they’ll take on the Nashville Predators and the Blackhawks on November 22-23.
December features the Avs playing a back-to-back against the New York Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers. However, that set will be an extended one as it will be a three-games-in-four-nights scenario. The Avs play the New York Islanders on December 4, the Rangers on December 6, and the Flyers on December 7.
There will be two more back-to-backs in January leading up to the Olympic break. The Avs will play the Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers on January 3-4. After that, the Avalanche will face the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens on January 28-29. That set will expand to another three-games-in-four as the Avs take on the Red Wings on January 31.
Unfortunately, the final week leading up to the Olympics will essentially become a five-games-in-eight-day meat grinder.
The Avs will have about 20 days to recoup before heading into another back-to-back to reopen the NHL schedule on February 25-26 against the Utah Mammoth and Minnesota Wild. Less than a week later, the Avalanche will face the LA Kings and Anaheim Ducks in another back-to-back.
Colorado will close the season with a four-games-in-six-nights marathon, with the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames on consecutive nights on April 13-14.
Overall, the Avalanche’s schedule this season will be one of the worst ever. The grind will be unlike any we’ve seen in recent memory. While it will be worth seeing the top-tier players in the Olympics, the grind may turn this season into a pyrrhic victory.
Colorado Avalanche key to success will be depth and health
It may sound simplistic, but the key to the Colorado Avalanche’s success this season will be staying healthy and having plenty of depth.
GM Chris MacFarland, like other GMs out there, has prioritized having as much depth as possible. Depth will be crucial as the grinding nature of this season’s schedule will force coaches to cut ice time for their stars and rotate as many players as possible.
That’s why we could see the Avalanche swap pieces in and out of the bottom six throughout the season. Meanwhile, middle-six players could get more ice time during certain portions of the game than others.
For instance, I could see Jared Bednar hanging MacKinnon back in a 5-1 game. Similarly, we could see MacKenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood play almost an even split, given how packed the schedule is.
All of these elements will make it challenging for the Avalanche to get through the regular season. Fans shouldn’t be surprised to see some unexpected players get a lot of participation throughout the season, especially after the Olympic break.