Last season ended in disappointment for the Stanley Cup-or-bust Colorado Avalanche, but the reigning Presidents’ Trophy winners are ready to make a run at their fourth championship when they host the Los Angeles Kings for their season opener on Wednesday night in Denver.
The teams last played in the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs, which ended in a sweep by Colorado. It closed a 20-year career for Los Angeles captain Anze Kopitar, who retired after Game 4, and ended D.J. Smith’s 23-game run as interim head coach.
Peter Laviolette took the reins in June to be a head coach for his seventh franchise. Laviolette won a Stanley Cup with Carolina in 2006 and led Philadelphia and Nashville to the Cup finals in 2010 and 2017, respectively.
With Kopitar’s retirement, veteran defenseman Drew Doughty was named team captain. The other significant changes were the signings of wingers Corey Perry, Erik Haula and Mats Zuccarello, and it will be the first full season with Artemi Panarin, who was acquired from the New York Rangers last season.
Zuccarello, 39, was signed to a one-year deal after seven seasons with Minnesota. The hope is he can help the Kings’ power play, which was in the bottom fifth of the NHL at 17% success.
“(Zuccarello is) so smart,” said Adrian Kempe, who led Los Angeles with 73 points last season. “(It’s) been impressive to watch him.”
Haula is playing for his eighth team in a career that started in 2013 with the Wild.
Colorado’s biggest offseason move happened in the front office when general manager Chris McFarland was hired June 2 to be president of hockey operations for Nashville. Avalanche team president Joe Sakic picked up McFarland’s title late in the summer.
Colorado also signed superstar defenseman Cale Makar to an eight-year, $163.2 million extension and parted ways with forwards Valeri Nichushkin, Jack Drury and Ross Colton in salary cap moves after being swept by Vegas in the Western Conference finals.
They added veteran forward Jaden Schwartz and retained 41-year-old iron man defenseman Brent Burns. T.J. Hughes, one of the top college free agents last spring, made the roster and will make his NHL debut against the Kings.
“He’s starting here,” head coach Jared Bednar said of Hughes. “Elite brain, great skill level, makes plays. I think he’s a guy who can produce offense for us. He’s done it at every level. He does not look uncomfortable at all.”
Hughes had a hat trick and an assist in a 5-2 preseason win at Winnipeg on Friday night and will also play on the top power play, Bednar said.
That unit is led by Nathan MacKinnon, who notched his fourth straight 100-point season and finished third in MVP voting. Captain Gabriel Landeskog also is back for his second season after missing the previous three following several knee surgeries.
Colorado led the NHL in goals (302) and goal differential (plus-99) last season before falling flat in the Western Conference finals.
–Field Level Media
