Most teams that make the Conference Final would consider it a very good season, but the Colorado Avalanche aren’t most teams.
Expectations were sky high for Colorado heading into the post-season after a Presidents’ Trophy-winning campaign. The Avs finished with 121 points, a plus-99 goal differential and only lost once in regulation in the first two months of the season. It was Stanley Cup or bust for the Avalanche.
That’s why a third-round sweep at the hands of the Vegas Golden Knights tasted extra bitter. The Avs got a pretty good draw in these playoffs, all things considered, with a Los Angeles Kings team that finished with just 22 regulation wins, then a beat-up Minnesota Wild squad and Vegas, who made a coaching change late in the season because they were playing well below their standards. There’s definitely a world where you could have seen the Golden Knights knocking out the Avs, but not so clinically and decisively.
Any time a team falls short of expectations, the finger-pointing will inevitably start, and usually that begins with the head coach. Jared Bednar is the second-longest tenured coach in the National Hockey League and guided the Avs to a Cup just a few years ago, but some are wondering if the team needs a new voice after this spring’s disappointment.
Bednar should be on the hot seat
It’s hard to put too much blame on Bednar in a season where his team scored the most goals, gave up the fewest and essentially lapped the rest of the league in the first half of the season. Plus, Bednar does have a Cup win on his resume just four years ago, so letting him go this off-season may seem a bit harsh.
That said, the Avalanche always seem to leave you wanting more, and they could easily have multiple Cups at this point. Colorado has exceeded 100 points in each of the past four seasons and boasts arguably two of the top five players in the world, but this post-season was the only time they’ve made it past the second round during this span. Following their Cup win, they were upset by the Seattle Kraken in the first round. The following year, the Dallas Stars toppled them in Round 2, and last year the Stars bounced them again in the first round.
Combine that with the stunning defeat at the hands of Vegas, and it’s now been four straight post-seasons where Colorado has underwhelmed. Those are the kind of results that can get a coach fired, and there are some very intriguing names available in this coaching cycle. David Carle, Jay Woodcroft and Bruce Cassidy, if he ever gets permission to speak to anyone, could all be viewed as options to take over for Bednar and give the team a new voice behind the bench.
It would be very easy to lay the blame on Bednar for Colorado’s shortcomings, but there were a lot of things out of his control. First and foremost would be injuries, as he was without star defenceman Cale Makar for the first two games against Vegas. That really slowed the Avalanche down and forced them to play more at the Golden Knights’ pace. Vegas owned the neutral zone while he was out and the Avs were far less dangerous off the rush.
Then Nathan MacKinnon went down after blocking a shot in Game 3 and was nowhere near 100 per cent the rest of the way. There was no way the Avs were making a historic comeback with their two best players significantly banged up. Add in the fact that Carter Hart was nearly unbeatable with a .944 save percentage in the series, and there was really nothing Bednar could’ve done to overcome the Golden Knights under the circumstances.
Bednar also really seems to have a good relationship with the team’s star players. That’s very important in the NHL in this day and age, as we’ve seen examples where high-end talents haven’t meshed with coaches and it’s led to friction. Colorado even traded Mikko Rantanen and brought in Martin Necas, which was an almost seamless transition.
It would definitely be tempting for the Avs to explore other options with all the talented coaches available right now, but Bednar seems to have the right temperament and skillset to get the most out of this team. I wouldn’t mess with that.
Cale Makar should become the highest-paid player in the NHL
Sometimes the best illustration of someone’s value is when they aren’t around. Case in point, when Makar missed the first two games of the Western Conference Final and the Avalanche looked completely out of sorts. The team played a lot slower and wasn’t nearly as dangerous attacking off the rush. That shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who watches Makar on a regular basis. He’s one of the most dynamic players in the world and owns a pair of Norris trophies, a Conn Smythe and a Calder. Now Makar will be eligible for an extension on July 1st, and even though he’s currently making $9 million, he’s going to get a big raise. Kirill Kaprizov is the NHL’s highest-paid player as far as AAV goes at $17 million, and if Makar wanted to, he could easily push to exceed that with the cap going up.
Technically, with the salary rising to $113.5M for the 2027-28 season, which is when Makar’s extension would kick in, he could command as much as $22.7M per year. That’s 20 per cent of the cap, and it would be an unprecedented number that would blow past what Kaprizov is getting. I don’t see Makar going anywhere near that high, though, or even exceeding Kaprizov for that matter. The Avs are going to need to reshape their roster in some ways over the next few years, as a lot of their key players are north of 30. Devon Toews, Nazem Kadri, Brock Nelson, Gabriel Landeskog, Valeri Nichushkin and Josh Manson are all at least 31 years of age and will start regressing at some point. Colorado will have to find replacements and upgrades for some of these pieces in free agency or through the trade market sooner rather than later, which becomes more complicated if Makar takes a massive number.
Makar is smart enough to know his best chance at competing for a Stanley Cup year in and year out is to help ensure the Avs are in a good place, cap-wise. Teammate Nathan MacKinnon’s $12.6-million AAV should look very reasonable given where the cap is headed, and we just saw Connor McDavid take significantly less than he’s worth to try and help the Edmonton Oilers put together the best roster possible. Makar could easily take $14 or $15 million per season on a long-term contract, which would be a massive deal, but still give Colorado flexibility considering where the cap will be in a few years.
Hurricanes are the most dominant playoff team ever through three rounds
The Carolina Hurricanes are off to the Stanley Cup Final after a 12-1 start to the playoffs. Their only blemish? A Game 1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens when the Canes were clearly rusty after being off for an eternity. This Carolina squad has been machine-like throughout the playoffs and made some really good teams look very pedestrian. Since the NHL adopted a seven-game series format for all four rounds in 1987, no other team has started the post-season 12-1. A few teams like the 1988 Edmonton Oilers, 2008 Pittsburgh Penguins, and 2012 Los Angeles Kings managed to start 12-2, but no one has equalled what the Canes have done this spring. Carolina could be establishing itself as the most dominant team we’ve seen through the Conference Final.
The Hurricanes aren’t just beating teams, they’re dismantling them. Carolina allowed just five goals against both the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers across a pair of sweeps, and the Canes never trailed for a second versus the Sens. Against the Canadiens, they completely shut them down defensively, allowing the fewest shots in playoff history over a five-game series. Carolina also held Montreal to three shots or fewer in seven different periods (including overtime) throughout the series.
The Hurricanes will now likely face their toughest test yet in the Golden Knights, but Rod Brind’Amour has this team clicking on all cylinders. Every player is completely bought in, and there are times when it looks like Carolina has seven or eight players on the ice. If the Canes can cap off this spring with a championship, it would be tough to argue that another team has had a more dominant playoff run.
Ivar Stenberg improved his stock greatly at the world championships
Many players have stood out and improved their draft stock at the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship over the years, and Ivar Stenberg appears to be adding his name to that list. Stenberg is still just 18 years old but is standing out at this tournament against some of the best players in the world. He finished with four goals and eight points in eight games, including a highlight-reel tally that made the rounds on social media.
There is no consensus No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft, though many feel Gavin McKenna will go first, followed by Stenberg. Some even believe Stenberg is more NHL-ready right now and could be worthy of the top selection, and everything he’s done at the world championships is only bolstering that theory.
McKenna chose not to participate in the tournament, and even though I don’t think it should hurt his stock, Stenberg took advantage of the opportunity to improve his. One question that’s always asked about prospects is how will they fare in the best league in the world against grown men? The world championship isn’t the NHL, but it’s a competition that boasts the likes of Sidney Crosby, Matthew Tkachuk, Macklin Celebrini and others. If you can stand out, there’s a good chance the bright lights of the NHL won’t be too blinding for a player like Stenberg. His competitiveness was on full display, and he’s proving he can impact the game at both ends of the ice. McKenna may still very well end up going first overall, but Stenberg is putting himself in the best light possible heading into the draft.
Pittsburgh Penguins fans are going to get at least one more season to watch Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby play together. It was made official earlier this week when Malkin and the Pens landed on a one-year deal worth $5.5 million, which includes a bunch of potential bonuses for games played and playoff rounds won. Some might say the contract is a little steep for a player who’s about to turn 40 years of age and is likely going to have a hard time staying healthy. It seems doubtful Malkin will get anywhere close to 82 games, given how the past two seasons have gone, and that AAV could be problematic if Malkin is missing a significant portion of the season.
One of the things I think will take some time for people to recalibrate is cap hits going forward. With the cap making a huge jump over the next few seasons, a $5.5-million salary isn’t going to feel that significant. Plus, it’s not like this is some kind of favour to Malkin. He’s still playing at a high level and scored at better than a point per game last season. Even if Malkin only plays about 60 games or so in 2026-27, his production should be well worth the $5.5 million. If it ends up costing the Pens more because Malkin hit a bunch of his bonuses, well, that likely means Pittsburgh is having an excellent season. There’s little downside to this contract, and it keeps a good player in the fold, making it a win-win for the organization and Malkin.
