The Colorado Avalanche have high expectations of themselves for the 2026-27 season. After failing to reach the Stanley Cup final for the third consecutive time since winning it all in 2021-22, some are beginning to doubt the team heading into this season.
One of the people with doubts of the Avalanche is former NHLer and current NHL analyst Paul Bissonnette. Bissonnette said on Spittin’ Chiclets recently that hedoesn’t think the Avalanche are as good right nowas they were during the regular season of last year.
Despite Bissonnette’s positive mention of the top line, headlined by Nathan MacKinnon, Biz talks about Nazem Kadri’s disappointing second go with the Avalanche, as well as Brock Nelson’s underwhelming playoff output. Biz says that he would like to see “a little bit more” from Nelson, which is a completely fair assessment.
Nelson isn’t the only one that needs to step up in the playoffs. Martin Necas does, as well. If those two players don’t meet expectations as top-six players in the playoffs, the Avalanche can kiss a Stanley Cup championship goodbye.
Another thing Bissonnette mentions is that the Avalanche are getting old. He specifically calls out Gabriel Landeskog for not being “a spring chicken,” and name-drops Brent Burns on the defensive side as another player who is up in age. Burns is the oldest player on the team and the oldest player in the entire NHL. He is one of just three active players in their 40s, with Ryan Reaves set to turn 40 in January, in the middle of the season.
On a positive note, Bissonnette mentions that he likes the addition of Jaden Schwartz, though Schwartz is 34 years old. He brought up Schwartz as having an “Artturi Lehkonen mentality,” which is certainly a compliment as Lehkonen is viewed as a “Finnish Army Knife.” The major problem I have with Schwartz is his inability to play a whole season on a consistent basis. He’s only played 80+ games twice in his career and 70-79 games in a season just four times. That is certainly concerning, especially given his age.
One thing the Avalanche do have going for them is their outlook at goaltender. Scott Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood are holding things down and doing a really good job since they both arrived in early 2024. Despite Wedgewood being another aging player, he’s still going to have a big role for this Avalanche team.
Eventually, the hope is that Ilya Nabokov will take the reins at goaltender for the Avalanche. That would reset the team’s aging group by a significant margin given that he is 23 years old.
Though Bissonnette’s concers are legitimate, I feel like the team has some solid young talent they can work with at some point. While that won’t necessarily guide them to a Stanley Cup in 2026-27, their future is bright in my opinion. I will start to be concerned if the team has a downward trajectory at some point this season. I will especially be concerned if the Avs can’t get something more going in the postseason to finally get back to the Final.
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