Avalanche’s dream, nightmare scenario for 2026 NHL Trade Deadline

The Colorado Avalanche are the best team in the NHL at this time. They have the most points in the league, and are five points ahead of the next closest team. Colorado is one of five teams with at least 80 points. And they are the only team in the NHL with more than 85 points.

Suffice it to say, the Avalanche are a contender once again. The season is entering its stretch run, and Colorado looks as if they will win the President’s Trophy heading into the postseason. For now, though, a lot of focus turns to the upcoming NHL Trade Deadline.

The Avalanche have made a trade already, sending Samuel Girard to the Pittsburgh Penguins. This could be the precursor to more moves over the course of the next several days, though. Colorado freed up $2.25 million in the deal with the Penguins.

Colorado will need to be creative despite the new cap space. It gives them some flexibility, without a doubt. Still, Colorado does not have the picks or prospects some other clubs have to work with. This makes general manager Chris MacFarland’s job difficult, but certainly not impossible.

The Avalanche are running out of time to make their moves, though. With this in mind, here are the dream and nightmare scenarios for the Avalanche at the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline.

Avalanche must land third-line center before trade deadline

The Avalanche don’t have many needs to fill on their roster. Colorado has some general areas of improvement statistically. But the actual makeup of its roster is more than fine. In saying this, Colorado could stand to add a third-line center.

As of now, Jack Drury has filled the role for the most part. Drury came over in the first Mikko Rantanen trade last year. And he has largely played a solid game. He is especially strong on the defensive end of the ice. However, his offense leaves something to be desired.

One area of improvement is in Colorado’s scoring depth. The Avalanche have three players with more than 20 goals. Two of them — Brock Nelson and Nathan MacKinnon — have surpassed the 30-goal mark already. These two, alongside Martin Necas, account for 44% of Colorado’s goals this season.

The Avalanche have a rather top-heavy offense. It has hurt them in previous seasons. In order to avoid this happening again, they need to add someone who can improve the depth behind their three top goal scorers.

In this dream scenario, the Avalanche bring in a scoring center on the third line. A reunion with Charlie Coyle could make some sense, in fact. He has 15 goals for the Columbus Blue Jackets this year. He could be an important player to rely on in the postseason. And he likely wouldn’t need much time to transition, having spent the second half of last season in Denver.

Making a move just to make one could be costly

The Avalanche are in an interesting position. Yes, they could stand to improve their scoring depth. But at the same time, it’s already a bit better than it was last season. Colorado has five players with at least 15 goals, and four players with 50 or more points.

Further bolstering this depth is the dream scenario for the Avalanche. However, making a move to simply make one is not something MacFarland needs to do. If any team can afford to stand pat this season, Colorado is near the top of the list. They simply do not have many needs.

Colorado has been linked to some players such as Tyler Myers, Simon Benoit, and Evander Kane. Myers could be traded to the Detroit Red Wings soon, and is a solid player. However, these players feel like additions to make for the sake of doing something. Especially Myers and Benoit, given that Colorado recently acquired Brett Kulak from the Penguins.

Colorado doesn’t have a lot of wiggle room, so any deal needs to be right for them. If they cannot find that deal, they should hold their cards and trust in the players they currently have for the stretch run.

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