Avalanche’s Biggest Question: Do They Truly Have the Depth to Chase Another Stanley Cup?
It's the biggest question surrounding their chances of making a deep playoff push.
The Colorado Avalanche enter the 2025-26 campaign with some of the best players in the world, but that doesn’t always result in a championship formula.
Three years removed from their 2022 Stanley Cup triumph, and with their championship window narrowing, the Avalanche still possess one of the league’s most formidable cores. The pressing question, however, is whether they can cultivate the requisite depth and restore the cohesion necessary to translate talent into sustained success.
The full-time return of captain Gabriel Landeskog stands as a pivotal development for Colorado. His reemergence in the NHL is nothing short of extraordinary—arguably one of the most remarkable comebacks in recent sporting memory, and, within the context of hockey, perhaps the most significant since Mario Lemieux’s storied return in 2000 after nearly four years away from the game. Lemieux wasted little time in announcing his return, recording an assist a mere 33 seconds into the contest on a goal by longtime linemate Jaromír Jágr. The symmetry of the moment deepened in the second period, when Jágr reciprocated with a deft no-look pass to the left circle, allowing Lemieux to beat Toronto goaltender Curtis Joseph and ignite Mellon Arena into unrestrained ecstasy.
Landeskog found the back of the net in just his second game after a 1,041-day absence, capitalizing on a perfectly-timed feed from Brock Nelson that left him unmarked in the slot. With characteristic authority, he unleashed a thunderous slapshot past Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger, extending Colorado’s lead to 3–0 en route to 4–0 shutout victory in Game 4 of the Western Conference First Round at Ball Arena.
Yet, as with Lemieux’s celebrated return, the comeback did not culminate into a championship. The 2000–01 Penguins fell in five games to the New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference Finals, and, in parallel, the Avalanche saw their own aspirations extinguished last season in a grueling seven-game defeat at the hands of the Dallas Stars.
Some people handle defeat better than others. Nathan MacKinnon is a man that wears his emotions on his sleeve. Despite the fact Dallas was missing a good chunk of their core, the Avalanche couldn’t beat them, and that was hard for MacKinnon to digest, much like when Colorado was eliminated in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2021 by the Vegas Golden Knights.
Assessing the candid reflections of a professional athlete immediately following a crushing defeat is invariably challenging. From an external vantage point, such commentary can sometimes appear unduly harsh or even unfair—after all, few of us are summoned to account for our performance with a microphone pressed to our face after a difficult day at work. MacKinnon’s frustration, therefore, is both understandable and justified.
Yet history offers perspective. Consider the Avalanche in 2022: despite enduring the absence of key contributors at various points during their playoff run—including Darcy Kuemper, Nazem Kadri, and Samuel Girard—the team ultimately captured the Stanley Cup, a testament to the depth and resilience woven throughout the roster. Conversely, the Dallas Stars’ victory over Colorado last season similarly reflected the advantages conferred by organizational depth; though they ultimately fell in the Conference Finals to the Edmonton Oilers, their consistent roster strength allowed them to prevail in critical matchups.
So that brings our next question. Do the Avalanche have the depth this year to compete at a high level? The answer is yes.
Brent Burns
The addition of Brent Burns in the offseason is a win-win for the Avalanche. He brings size, leadership, and energy to the blue line. It’s hard to be around Burns and not smile when you see him. At optional skates, he’s not just chopping it up with his teammates, he also gets the fans involved as well. At the skate on Wednesday, he was exchanging smiles and laughter with none other than Martin Nečas, who was his teammate on the Carolina Hurricanes for parts of the last three seasons. So it’s very clear that Burns is the type of guy who takes his craft very seriously, but he knows how to joke around and keep people smiling when they need to be lifted up. That is a spark that Colorado desperately needs.
Jack Drury/Brock Nelson
Drury may not yet be a household name, but his work ethic is unparalleled. He arrives early to nearly every practice and is often among the select few who remain afterward, diligently honing his craft. This combination of commitment and steadily improving skill positions him well to assume the responsibilities of the third-line center, and there is every reason to anticipate that he will make a significant impact.
In a complementary development, the Avalanche, for the first time in several seasons, can approach the second-line center position with confidence. Brock Nelson, a consistent presence during optional skates, secured an offseason extension and has demonstrated strong form on the ice.
Best Prospects from Rookie Showcase
Hockey’s appeal lies in its extraordinary synthesis of speed, skill, and strategy, making it, arguably, the preeminent sport in the world. Talent runs deep throughout the ranks, yet a select few invariably distinguish themselves from their peers. This offseason, and most notably during Thursday’s rookie showcase, Gavin Brindley and Nikita Prishchepov have emerged as such figures.
Brindley, a dynamic two-way forward, combines elite speed with a high hockey IQ and incisive offensive instincts. Despite a comparatively modest frame of 5’9”, he confronts significantly larger opponents along the boards with remarkable efficacy and poise—a testament to both his skill and competitive character. Witnessing his assertiveness in these battles is, in every sense, a compelling display of the sport’s artistry.
Prishchepov, by contrast, distinguishes himself as a consummate playmaker, endowed with exceptional vision, precise passing, and deft stickhandling. His one-timer, particularly lethal, underscores his offensive versatility, and it is reasonable to anticipate that, upon reaching the main roster, he will make an immediate and meaningful impact on the power play.
Taken together, these developments suggest that the Avalanche possess the requisite talent to mount another deep playoff run. Yet, as ever in hockey, the challenge lies in assembling all of the pieces with cohesion and consistency—a prerequisite for transforming potential into championship reality.
Maple Leafs prospect Jacob Quillan believes he can be a full-time NHL player
Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Jacob Quillan hopes that he can make the jump to the NHL on a full-time basis soon.
He was announced to the 2025 Prospect Showdown roster on Tuesday alongside the Leafs’ other top prospects in Easton Cowan, Ben Danford, and Tyler Hopkins among others. Quillan and his fellow Leafs prospects will soon head to Montreal to square off against the Ottawa Senators on September 13 and the Canadiens on September 14.
When asked by reporters what he hopes to get out of the weekend festivities, Quillan simply stated that he wants to keep improving.
“Just take every opportunity I can to get better, try to prove myself, and find a spot on the team,” he said. “I put the work in every day in the gym, on the ice, nutrition stuff like that. So I think I’m looking forward to it this year.”
He is coming off his first pro season in the Leafs organization after joining towards the end of the 2023-24 campaign with the Toronto Marlies. Having spent the majority of this past season in the AHL, he recorded 37 points (18 and 19 assists) in 67 games played while going scoreless in two playoff games.
Quillan also got to make his NHL debut against the Senators on January 25th, though he only registered 5:21 of ice-time after a knee-on-knee collision with Nick Cousins that knocked him out of the game.
“I believe I can. I put the work in every day, so I’m confident in myself and my abilities,” he said on his chances of making it back to the NHL this year. “It kind of made me realize what I’m pushing towards, and it showed me how good those guys are in the NHL. They showed that I have a lot of work to do, so it’s good to get a taste of that.”
He stated that his goals for the upcoming season were to improve his all-around game with an emphasis on playing sound defensively and limiting scoring chances against. Many people in the organization are confident that he can achieve it, as Quillan mentioned that Marlies coach John Gruden told him recently that he hoped not to see him down in the AHL this year.
The focus currently is on having a good showing at the Prospect Showdown while also passing down some wisdom he learned about the pro-lifestyle to his fellow prospects.
“He’s a great player, great playmaker. Looks like he got faster this year a lot,” he said of Cowan. “It’s gonna be fun playing with him and [Borya] Valis out there. They’re two good players, so I’m excited to see what we can do.”
