Breaking down the 2024-2025 preseason schedule for the Colorado Avalanche

The preseason schedule for the Colorado Avalanche has been released, proof that things move very quickly in the NHL. While it feels like forever ago since the Avalanche were playing playoff hockey—and some can argue that it has been a long time—it’s “only” been a month since they were eliminated by the Dallas Stars in a double-overtime game.

A lot will happen between now and the preseason opener. I’m excited to see what the 2024-25 version of the Colorado Avalanche will look like. Given the team’s unique salary cap circumstances, expect change. That’s just the nature of the league, with a couple of twists because of some events that have gone down.

That being said, at some point, the Avalanche will send out their players to get re-acclimated to the physical sport of hockey. Here’s the six-game slate:

To start out the preseason, the Avalanche will face the Dallas Stars at home on September 23 at 7pm MT and then head to Dallas to take them on on the 27th at 6pm MT. Just like they ended the playoff run, they start the 2024-25 action against a division opponent. This set of games will not have the same hype as the playoff series, obviously, but it will be a good way to start out 2024-25.

The next game is going to be… different. It will be the first matchup between the Avalanche and the “Utah hockey club.” I’m putting their title in quotations because, as if this writing, they don’t have a name yet. The Utah team is formerly the Arizona Coyotes. It would have been cool if that team consisted of a whole roster of expansion draft players, but they are just the Coyotes roster, so there was no expansion draft.

That game starts at 5pm MT.

Next up, we have the Vegas Golden Knights at home on October 1st at 7pm MT, and then the Avalanche head to Vegas for an 8pm game on October 3rd. Coincidentally, that is the two newest NHL franchises on the Avalanche schedule, which is kind of cool.

On October 5th, the Avalanche head to Utah again to face the “Utah Hockey Club.” Formerly, the Coyotes, they finished seventh in the Western Central division last season.

I’m very excited to see what the lineups look like in these games. I’m not sure how much ice time the team’s top players are going to get, but I would imagine it won’t be a lot.