With the long offseason ahead there will be plenty of time to dissect where the Colorado Avalanche go from here but for now these following five issues loom the largest on the horizon. As always, roster construction and contracts play the biggest part

Is Landeskog really back for good?

The captain’s playoff return was admirable and impactful but the question now turns to will this continue? It matters for roster construction purposes moving forward and the allocation of his $7 million cap hit, to which Chris MacFarland indicated they are planning on having Landeskog’s services. We’ve seen the comeback and nothing on the ice showed us why Landeskog shouldn’t be counted on as a 2025 training camp full-participant but following through on that is still a big part of the offseason equation.

What will Martin Necas sign for?

Lost in the Mikko Rantanen trade narratives is the fact that a huge part of the transaction from the Colorado perspective revolves around securing Necas’ services into the future. He is signed at a reasonable $6.5 million for the 2025-26 season but then he will be an unrestricted free agent from there. Surely the Avalanche know he’s due a big raise and are prepared to pay it but they still have to get it done with a player who has UFA leverage and a history of tough negotiations with Carolina. After setting a career high 83 points, good for top 20 in league scoring, plus five additional points for Colorado in the playoffs, Necas is going to get a significant contract if the Avalanche want to keep him long-term.

Who is coming back and who isn’t?

As usual there’s a long list of pending free agents the Avalanche have to make decisions on and then negotiate with before they hit unrestricted free agency on July 1st. Brock Nelson headlines this list and will not be an easy player to retain with a high price tag rumored to be upwards of $7 million per year and lots of outside interest ahead even if the 59-day stay in Colorado made any impression on the 33-year old. The Avalanche spent the farm to acquire Nelson but his overall fit and performance varied. Still, Nelson won’t be easy to replace in that elusive second line center position so it’s a big decision ahead for the Colorado front office.

Ordinarily Jonathan Drouin would have headlined this group but after finishing top five in scoring on the team he was relegated to the doghouse playing just under eight minutes in the decisive game seven loss against Dallas. It’s hard to imagine Drouin’s ask and Colorado’s offer will match up moving forward. Joel Kiviranta also might have priced himself out with 16 goals in a career year especially if another team believes that production can continue.

Others with expiring contracts include fellow rental in defenseman Ryan Lindgren, who is probably looking for a raise on his current $4.5 million salary and should have heavy interest on the market as well. Is Erik Johnson’s return to Colorado (and career) now over after he sat in the press box for the final five games of the series or will he get one more year on the cheap to have a last hurrah? Depth forward Jimmy Vesey is the other rental who could return but after he didn’t get in any playoff games there likely isn’t much mutual interest.

Is Sam Malinski really part of the plan?

Separate from previous group is Restricted Free Agent Sam Malinski who also needs a new contract. Good news is he can’t walk to the market but Malinski now holds arbitration rights as his two-year contract expires. The value to place on him is tricky as the right-shot defenseman established himself as a NHL player with 76 games played in the regular season but saw his production fall to just 15 points on the year. Part of it was due to shooting 1% for a good portion of the season but still, the Avalanche won’t have to pay up for what was missing.

If Malinski is seen as an important depth piece moving forward he’s not difficult to sign but if the organization only wants cheap veteran depth on league minimum pricing then he’s going to price himself out of Colorado. The level of trust seemed to fluctuate on Malinski as well but he’s the only different type of “young” defenseman, who is set to turn 27 years-old this summer, that provides a spark and high pace of play at their disposal.

Will Ilya Nabokov come to Colorado?

All parties have been playing this coy but the Avalanche haven’t hidden their interest in getting their top remaining prospect in Russian goaltender Ilya Nabokov under contract. It shouldn’t impact the NHL tandem with Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood set to return next season but getting Nabokov to North America presumably for a season in the AHL would be a big step in realizing his NHL potential. The date to watch is June 1st as that’s now the date KHL contracts officially expire and if all parties want to make this move a contract should materialize quickly.

MacFarland says they’ve had discussions with Nabokov’s agent and they’d like to get him over.

I reported a week ago that Nabokov needed a bit more time to decide whether or not he’ll come to North America next season.

— Evan Rawal (@evanrawal) May 6, 2025