One of the discussion points regarding the Colorado Avalanche this season has been the team’s lack of consistency. While there has been plenty of finger-pointing across the lineup, Brent Burns may give the Avs some cause for concern.
Following Sunday night’s loss to the Nashville Predators, the numbers weren’t particularly flattering for the 41-year-old. One stat in particular, Wins Above Replacement (WAR), painted somewhat of a troubling picture.
Box WAR Best and Worst • 10/25 pic.twitter.com/u5mRqNpKCd
— Hockey Stats (@HockeyStatBot) October 26, 2026
Burns ended up with a -0.46 WAR on the night, tying him with Luke Schenn of the Vancouver Canucks for the worst rating on the night. That's way too high for just ONE game.
Now, you could brush that off as a one-off. Brent Burns just had a bad night, so there’s nothing to read into the situation.
However, the veteran defenseman has been averaging about 14 minutes of ice time 5v5, with nearly two minutes on the penalty kill. That’s all right when considering he’s a third-pairing defenseman at this point.
The Avalanche aren’t expecting Burns to return to his Norris Trophy days. But that’s just the thing. The Avs do expect a little more than just three assists in 12 games.
Plus, when considering he’s sporting a -7.2 relative expected goals for this season, you have to think that having him out there could be holding the Avalanche back.
There’s no way Brent Burns is coming out of the lineup
The Avalanche, however, find themselves in a bit of a pickle. There is no way that Brent Burns is coming out of the lineup at this point. The former first-round pick from 2003 is in the midst of a historic Ironman streak.
If Colorado were to suddenly healthy scratch him, the backlash would be so severe that Jared Bednar might have to go into the witness protection program.
That situation means that the Avalanche will have to play Burns unless he sustains a real injury.
And that could mean figuring out what to do about that third pairing. Burns and Josh Manson haven’t exactly been dominant, nor have they generated any offense whatsoever.
While Bednar could whittle down the pair’s ice time, doing so would come at the expense of having the top four playing even more. And as we’ve noted, Colorado may be dealing with fatigue issues. That’s why the last thing the Avs need right now is to deploy Cale Makar and Devon Toews even more than they should.
All told, Brent Burns has put the Avs into a tough spot. The only thing the Avalanche can do right now is just hope that things turn around as the season wears on.
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