The Colorado Avalanche have had a bit of a quieter offseason.
But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as they’ll mostly look to run it back with a team that drew a tough Round 1 matchup against the Dallas Stars.
Many feel if the Avs had gotten past that series, they could’ve won the Stanley Cup.
While it hasn’t been a splashy summer from GM Chris MacFarland, although he did re-sign center Brock Nelson, now it’s about adding depth in Colorado.
Or in this case, retaining depth. The Avalanche announced on Friday that forward Joel Kiviranta is back on a new one-year contract. It’s worth reportedly a little more than $1 million.
We have signed forward Joel Kiviranta to a One-Year Deal. pic.twitter.com/L3aRDPzA5j
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) August 8, 2025
Kiviranta played the last two seasons in Colorado and 2024-25 was the best of his NHL career thus far. His 16 goals, seven assists and 23 points were all top numbers he’s ever put up in one campaign. His 79 regular season games were also a career-high.
Kiviranta skated for the Stars the first four years of his professional tenure before joining the Avalanche in 2023. He figures to have a prominent role on the third-line, perhaps fourth, under head coach Jared Bednar. Logan O’Connor is recovering from hip surgery, so this was a key contract for MacFarland to get done.
And hockey will be back before you know it, as the Avalanche start the regular season in fewer than two months on Oct. 7 against the Kings.
