The Colorado Avalanche were busy during the 2024 NHL offseason. Though the organization shied away from significant trades or signings, general manager Chris MacFarland and the rest of the executive group bolstered the team’s depth up front and on the blue line despite being handcuffed by the looming uncertainty of the Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin situations. They’ll enter the season with optimism, but may need to get off to a good start to cushion against any potential setbacks.
The Avalanche released their schedule for the 2024-25 season shortly after the opening of NHL free agency on July 1 at which point teams were still in the process of being shaped and reconstructed. With the dust now settled from another hectic offseason, here are 10 notable games on the team’s calendar for the 2024-25 campaign.
Oct. 9 at Vegas Golden Knights
The Avalanche open the 2024-25 season on the road against a familiar foe in the Vegas Golden Knights. The Western Conference superpowers have an established rivalry due to a heavily contested playoff series in 2021 and by being the third- (Avalanche) and sixth- (Golden Knights) best regular-season teams by points percentage (PTS%) since Vegas joined the league in 2017-18.
Both teams have won the Stanley Cup during this decade and figure to once again be contenders for the crown in 2024-25 even as the Golden Knights look to have finally been weakened by their immortal enemy in the NHL’s salary cap. This matchup is an early tone-setter in what hopes to be a promising campaign for the Avalanche.
Oct. 12 vs. Columbus Blue Jackets
Avalanche fans won’t have to wait long to see the team at home with the Columbus Blue Jackets – and former Avalanche defenseman Jack Johnson – coming to town only three days after opening night. Expect a video tribute to a loyal foot soldier from Colorado’s 2022 Stanley Cup triumph.
Outside of that reunion, there is plenty of entertainment to be had on the ice. The Blue Jackets should ice one of the most exciting young teams in the league next season even if competing for a playoff spot is unlikely given where the group is in its development.
Oct. 14 vs. New York Islanders
All of the Avalanche’s first three games of the season make the list, but for good reason. The game against the New York Islanders marks the return of franchise legend and former head coach Patrick Roy who has yet to face the Avalanche as an opposing bench boss.
Roy coached the Avalanche for three seasons between 2013 and 2016 and only qualified for the playoffs once, the same season in which he won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s best coach that season. He resigned his post as the head coach and vice-president of hockey operations during the 2016 offseason which resulted in the hiring of current head coach Jared Bednar. Will the reunion result in fireworks?
Oct. 20 at San Jose Sharks
Seems like there’s a lot of intriguing matchups early in the season! On the surface, it’s difficult to get excited about facing off against a San Jose Sharks club which finished last in the league standings in 2023-24. The main drawing points are the potential debuts of 2024 first-overall pick Macklin Celebrini and 2023 fourth-overall pick Will Smith, two of the Sharks’ franchise cornerstones going forward.
In addition, the eight-year contract extension the Nashville Predators handed to franchise goaltender Juuse Saros spelled the end of Yaroslav Askarov’s time with the organization, with the highly-touted prospect traded to the Sharks on Aug. 23.
The Sharks are a long way away from being competitive, but it’s always a treat to watch the present (Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar) go up against the future (Celebrini and Smith) of the sport.
Oct. 24 at Utah Hockey Club
The Avalanche will play their first game against the Utah Hockey Club in late October, marking the birth of a new divisional rivalry as the Arizona Coyotes purchased and relocated to Salt Lake City.
Though the name, colours, and jerseys are different, the players are mostly the same. Logan Cooley and Clayton Keller are still spearheading the operation, but are now joined by blue line reinforcements in John Marino and Mikhail Sergachev. It looks like new owner Ryan Smith is intent on flexing his financial muscle and pushing Utah to be competitive as soon as possible, with this first meeting promising to be electric.
Nov. 2 vs. Nashville Predators
The Avalanche’s first game against the new-look Predators will serve as an introduction for a new Western Conference power player. Following a season in which the Predators finished with 47 wins and 99 points (11th in the league), the organization was very active in trade talks and free agency.
The roster revitalization began by sending veteran defenseman Ryan McDonagh back to the Tampa Bay Lightning and used the ensuing cap relief to sign a trio of marquee free agents in Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei.
Those headline-grabbing moves overshadowed depth additions elsewhere, and the Predators look set to upset the NHL hierarchy in 2024-25.
Nov. 23 at Florida Panthers
The last week of November is going to be a doozy for the Avalanche. They open up the week against the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers before playing the Lightning, Golden Knights, Dallas Stars, and Edmonton Oilers all before the calendar flips to December.
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The saving grace for the Avalanche is that the Panthers watched their supporting cast degrade as the salary cap constraints took their toll. Sam Reinhart (57 goals last season) and Anton Lundell both earned hefty, but well deserved contract extensions for their work last season, while Ryan Lomberg, Brandon Montour, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Anthony Stolarz all left for paydays elsewhere. The key names in Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, and Gustav Forsling all remain, and should give us an early potential Stanley Cup preview.
Nov. 29 at Dallas Stars
This game marks the first against the Stars since the Texas-based club eliminated the Avalanche in the second round of the NHL playoffs for the second time in seven years thanks to the efforts of hero-turned-foe Matt Duchene.
The Stars are one of a handful of teams who could have a legitimate claim to the Western Conference title, but saw notable departures in Joe Pavelski (retired), Ryan Suter (free agency), and Chris Tanev (free agency) among others this offseason. The Avalanche face the Stars on two more occasions, but the first meeting could prove decisive if Colorado stalls out of the gate.
Nov. 30 vs. Edmonton Oilers
While the Avalanche can hold their own against anyone when firing on all cylinders, ending off a brutal five-game stretch against two former Hart Trophy winners in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl is anything but pleasant. The Oilers led the league in wins (47) and points (99) under fresh face Kris Knoblauch after firing head coach Jay Woodcroft 12 games into the 2023-24 season due to an abysmal 2-9-1 start.
The dynamic duo will look to avenge their sweep at the hands of the Avalanche in the 2022 Western Conference Final and cement themselves as the new top dog in the West after coming within a win of the Stanley Cup this past postseason. A few new faces in Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner should augment an already loaded Oilers’ attack and make this one of the most entertaining fixtures on the NHL calendar with both teams finishing in the top five of goals scored per game last season.
Apr. 13 at Anaheim Ducks
The Avalanche end the season on the road to the Anaheim Ducks who, for all of their burgeoning talent, don’t look like they’ll be all that competitive again this season. The rebuilding Ducks have a wealth of under-23 talent at every position, and such games give fans the chance to get a glimpse of hockey’s newest stars-in-the-making before they hit their prime.
As a game with potential playoff-seeding implications, you can’t ask for much better than finishing the season off against the lottery-bound Ducks, even if the young group hopes to take a few scalps in the process.
Avalanche Face Mixed 2024-25 Season Schedule
The Avalanche will play 12 back-to-backs over the course of the regular season and face three road trips of at least four games or more. They will have six homestands lasting four games or longer and play seven of their first 10 games against teams who finished in the bottom 10 of the league last season.
The first two months of the season will be dominated by discussions over the future and potential return of both Landeskog and Nichushkin, though a strong performance through mid-November could quell concerns about how the team will fare with around $13 million in dead cap on the books. See you in October!
