There likely isn’t going to be any major changes to the Colorado Avalanche after next season, but the depth is another discussion. As a more top-heavy team with the core and a good bunch of supporting cast signed, this leaves little money to continue to find pieces to fill in the holes. That is what the team did again this offseason and a few of those players will likely be playing their last season with the Avalanche.
Chris Wagner
Chris Wagner has been very limited in NHL action over the last three seasons and I don’t see much of a change this coming season. He is signed again in Colorado to be somewhat of a fallback option if some young players don’t pan out immediately or at all this season. He only played 13 games for the Avalanche in 2023-24, scoring one goal and two points, but was much more effective in the AHL. There isn’t a lot of money to go around and the Avalanche already knew what they had in the 33-year-old. But this should be his last season in Colorado as he isn’t expected to show a lot.
Joel Kiviranta
Joel Kiviranta, though younger, is in the same sort of boat as Wagner in Colorado. Kiviranta, also signed for the league minimum, played 56 games for the Avalanche last season, but scored just three goals and nine points. He is a depth player at best as there’s no indication he will get back to the production he had in his brief time with the Dallas Stars in 2020-21 when he scored six goals and 11 points in 26 games. He is replaceable and his underlying numbers aren’t very good either.
Calvin de Haan
Calvin de Haan will be in the mix with three other defensemen for the bottom pairing spots on the Avalanche this season. He won’t get in all of the games, playing fewer than 60 games each of the past two seasons, but he is somewhat effective in his role. Though the Avalanche may lean on him as a veteran presence, Oliver Kylington and Erik Brannstrom have something to prove and have potential. The picture will become more clear over the course of the season, but de Haan is aging.
