The Colorado Avalanche are sending eight players to the 2026 Olympics during the Olympic break. Well, seven unless Devon Toews’ wife gives birth to the child they are expecting. While the Avalanche aren’t sending the most players to the Olympics, it’s close to the most of any team (The Florida Panthers are sending 10 The Lightning and Golden Knights are sending nine each).
If Russia was taking part in the Olympics, there would not be any doubt that Valeri Nichushkin would be one of the first names announced to make it. Sadly, that’s not the case with everything going on. Either way, he’s definitely deserving.
The Avalanche as a team, meanwhile, have fallen off just a little bit since starting the season very strong. They do sit at the top of the standings but have given up some ground on the Minnesota Wild and Dallas Stars, who are just five and six points away from them. The good thing about it, though, is that the Avalanche have two and three games at hand over those two (meaning they’ve played a couple less games). That gives the Avs a chance to build on their lead once the league returns to its normal schedule.
Why the Olympic break came at the perfect time for the Avalanche
The Avs should never forget how they have played up to this point of the season. They should pat themselves on the back, even if hesitantly. Well, we all know that won’t actually happen, as the team has been one of those that their focus is onto the next game. Most, if not all, of the players don’t like the personal spotlight. They win as a team, they lose as a team.
Colorado actually has struggled as of late. They are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games and most of those losses were really not pretty. The team had struggled with turnovers in recent games and some poor defensive player. In other games, they just struggled to find the back of the net. They’ve put up three losses by a score of 7-3 in each (21-9 combined). The game against Anaheim went to a shootout and the Avs lost 2-1. That was just a great goalie battle.
They split their two recent games against the Detroit Red Wings, winning 5-0 and losing 2-0 before their final game before the Olympic break, where they beat the San Jose Sharks 4-2. The fact of the matter is that the Avs have been very up and down lately.
Their power play continues to be atrocious. They sit dead last in the league at 15.1 percent, while their penalty kill has been tremendous, hovering around the top and second spots as of late. They enter the break second at 84.7 percent. That’s encouraging, at least. Still, they need to figure something out with the other aspect of special teams or else they will probably end up falling at osme point, most likely in the postseason. If the Avalanche are one-and-done in the 2025-26 postseason, the power play—or lack thereof—is likely going to be the cause.
The other main reason that the Olympic break came at the perfect time is because of injury. While we got to see Devon Toews back from injury in the team’s final two games before the break, we’re still waiting on Gabriel Landeskog, who crashed into a net on January 4 and (likely) broke some ribs. Thankfully, he should be good to go for the Olympics, and therefore would be alright to continue for the Avalanche on February 25 against the Utah Mammoth.
You know what they say: It’s important to keep the mind and the body healthy. While the Avalanche have a couple of injuries right now, it’s also crucial to have the players’ minds reset a little bit to get back on track so they don’t go through that big of a rough stretch again this season. If they are able to recalibrate during their return to play, the Avs should be able to continue dominating the league again as we inch closer and closer to the postseason.