\u201cI think it just feels like a waste, to be honest,\u201d Avs forward Logan O\u2019Connor said. \u201cEighty-two games, you get tons of great pieces and feel as though you have a team that can do something special. We said it in training camp \u2014 it\u2019s Cup or bust for us. Regardless of where you fall short, we fell super short of that goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
For nine months, that loss in Dallas looked like a prologue<\/a>, the catalyst for a historic start to this season and eventual legacy-cementing championship for Jared Bednar, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and the rest of the Avs who reached the mountaintop five years ago but have languished through a variety of playoff disappointments since.<\/p>\n The Avs won the most games, scored the most goals and allowed the fewest during a dominant regular season. They steamrolled through the first half of the tournament, losing just once while scoring more than four goals per game.<\/p>\n Then the Golden Knights broke them. It took a week \u2014 a blink of an eye in the context of a long season, but the adjectives to describe how players felt in the Avalanche locker room Tuesday night were strikingly similar to that night in Dallas.<\/p>\n \u201cFrustration. Sadness, I guess,\u201d Avs defenseman Josh Manson said. \u201cReally felt like we had a good team. We didn\u2019t do the job. We lost. The expectations for this organization are high. And, just \u2026 didn\u2019t go the way we wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n By Game 4 of this series, the only way to tell it was the Avs on the ice at T-Mobile Arena was the uniforms. Colorado looked nothing like the team that demoralized opponents all year with its offensive and defensive prowess.<\/p>\n Every aspect of the Avs\u2019 invincibility was punctured by a team that fired its head coach 51 days before this Western Conference final began and lost more games than it won during the regular season.<\/p>\n Colorado scored just seven goals in four games<\/a> for the first time since early in the 2023-24 season. Scott Wedgewood, the NHL\u2019s leader in goals against average and save percentage, was outplayed by a goaltender who, this time a year ago, was one of five defendants in a messy sexual assault trial and who wasn\u2019t signed to an NHL contract until late October.<\/p>\n This Avs team was 45-0 when leading after two periods, until Vegas made it 45-1 in Game 2. Colorado was 52-0 when building a multi-goal lead at any point in a game, until Vegas made it 52-1 in Game 3.<\/p>\n This was the deepest team in the NHL, built to survive the war of attrition in the Stanley Cup playoffs. It was one of the healthiest teams in the league as well, but by the end of this run, the Avs\u2019 injury luck was nearly as bad as their shooting woes<\/a>.<\/p>\n Everything was leading to one outcome for the Avs \u2014 a second championship in five years, another parade and immortality for all the key figures. A week later, everything has changed, and there\u2019s just as much uncertainty \u2014 maybe more \u2014 than the morning after Rantanen donned a green-and-black cape in Game 7.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, this one \u2026 I feel like it\u2019s going to take some time to kind of digest and process,\u201d Avs forward Brock Nelson said. \u201cI\u2019m not worried about next year right now.\u201d<\/p>\n A more complicated offseason<\/p>\n Colorado\u2019s offseason looked pretty straightforward a week ago.<\/p>\n Brett Kulak and Brent Burns are unrestricted free agents. Jack Drury is a restricted free agent. The biggest potential storyline was Cale Makar\u2019s massive new contract, but that one doesn\u2019t start until the following season.<\/p>\n The Avs have very little cap space, so someone under contract will likely need to be traded to retain Drury and one of the defensemen, or to replace Kulak and Burns. Pretty simple stuff, relative to what other offseasons might look like.<\/p>\n Now? Everything has to be on the table<\/a>.<\/p>\n The questions begin with the future of the coaching staff<\/a>. Colorado fired one of Jared Bednar\u2019s longtime lieutenants, Ray Bennett, last May after the power play failed in the Dallas series. The power play was still a problem for much of this season, the one source of consternation, even when all of the other parts of this club were at the peak of their powers.<\/p>\n If the Avalanche decide to let Bednar go, he would be fielding calls from other NHL teams before the end of the day. The one candidate who has a resume similar to Bednar\u2019s who isn\u2019t currently one of the 32 head coaches is the guy John Tortorella replaced in Sin City, Bruce Cassidy. But one of the biggest off-ice stories of this postseason has been the Golden Knights denying Edmonton and Los Angeles permission to speak with Cassidy because he\u2019s still under contract with Vegas.<\/p>\n The next major question, with both short- and long-term ramifications, is the state of the roster. This team was built to win the Stanley Cup in 2026, and every core piece is under contract at least through next year.<\/p>\n That felt like a great thing 10 days ago. If this Avs team did go on to win the Stanley Cup, they\u2019d be one of the top favorites for 2026-27 as well.<\/p>\n Now? The Avs looked old against the Golden Knights. Beyond Burns, who will be 41 when next season begins, Colorado has six key figures who will be 32 or older when the 2027 Stanley Cup Playoffs begin \u2014 Nazem Kadri, Brock Nelson and Manson will be 35 or older, while Gabe Landeskog, Wedgewood and Devon Toews will all be at least 32.<\/p>\n Then there are Valeri Nichushkin and Artturi Lehkonen. Having those two excellent two-way players on team-friendly contracts has been part of Colorado\u2019s secret sauce since 2022. No other NHL team has two secondary stars like them when they are healthy and playing well.<\/p>\n Their style of play and injury history, not to mention Nichushkin\u2019s off-ice troubles, have made them high-risk, high-reward players in recent seasons. Lehkonen was hurt in the second round and far off his typical impact against Vegas. Nichushkin couldn\u2019t finish the conference final because of an injury, and this year was his worst per-game offensive output since the 2020-21 campaign.<\/p>\n Martin Necas is the youngest core player on the team, but his new contract at $11.5 million per season kicks in next year. He was great against Minnesota, but the external allegations that he isn\u2019t a postseason player resurfaced after he was one of the least impactful players on the roster against Vegas.<\/p>\n The Avs chose not to move any core players after losing to Dallas last year. The rationale was that they shook up the roster so much in-season that some stability going into this year would help fuel another run.<\/p>\n For nine months, that plan looked perfect. Staying the course looks far more uncertain now.<\/p>\n![\"Cale](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/TDP-L-AVS-KNIGHTSAO2_8589x.jpg\")
Cale Makar (8) of the Colorado Avalanche passes as Jack Eichel (9) of the Vegas Golden Knights defends during the third period of the Golden Knights\u2019 2-1 win in Game 4 of the NHL Western Conference Final at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Tuesday, May 26, 2026. Vegas finished the series with a 4-0 sweep and will advance to the Stanley Cup Final. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n![\"Brock](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/TDP-L-AVS-KNIGHTSAO2_8688x.jpg\")
Brock Nelson (11) of the Colorado Avalanche hangs his head during the third period of the Vegas Golden Knights\u2019 2-1 win in Game 4 of the NHL Western Conference Final at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Tuesday, May 26, 2026. Vegas finished the series with a 4-0 sweep and will advance to the Stanley Cup Final. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n![\"Head](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/TDP-L-AvsVsWildGame5-20260513-TH-32.jpg\")
Head coach Jared Bednar of the Colorado Avalanche walks on the ice to shake hands with the Minnesota Wild after defenseman Brett Kulak (27) of the Colorado Avalanche\u2019s overtime goal to end Game 5 of the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, at Ball Arena in Denver. (Photo by Timothy Hurst\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n![\"Valeri](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/TDP-L-AVS-KNIGHTSAO1_0299x_4fb50f.jpg\")
Valeri Nichushkin (13) of the Colorado Avalanche prepares for a face off against the Vegas Golden Knights during the first period of Game 3 of the NHL Western Conference Final at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sunday, May 24, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n