10 Key Games on the 2024-25 Colorado Avalanche Schedule – Hockey Writers – Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche have been busy during the 2024 NHL season. While the organization is avoiding trades or significant signings, general manager Chris MacFarland and the rest of the team have bolstered the team's depth up front and on the blue line despite the looming uncertainty surrounding the status of Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin. They will enter the season with optimism, but they may need to get off to a good start to avoid any potential setbacks.

The Avalanche released their schedule for the 2024-25 season shortly after the opening of NHL free agency on July 1 when teams were still in the process of formation and rebuilding. As the dust settles on another busy season, here are 10 notable fixtures on the club's calendar for the 2024-25 campaign.

October 9 at the 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's top power has a rivalry that has begun due to a hotly contested playoff series in 2021 and being the third- (Avalanche) and sixth- (Golden Knights) best teams in regular season percentage (PTS%) since Vegas joined the league. in 2017-18.

Both of these teams have won the Stanley Cup during this decade and are expected to be title contenders again in 2024-25 as the Golden Knights appear to have been weakened by their immortal enemy in the NHL salary cap. This matchup is an early tone-setter for what will hopefully be a promising campaign for the Avalanche.

October 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 just three days after opening night. Expect a video tribute to the faithful foot soldier from Colorado's 2022 Stanley Cup victory.

Aside from that convention, there's a lot of fun to be had on the ice. The Blue Jackets should be one of the most exciting young teams in the league next season even if a playoff run is unlikely given where the team is in its development.

October 14 vs. New York Islanders

All of the Avalanche's first three games of the season made 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 will face the Avalanche as the opposing bench manager.

Roy coached the Avalanche for three seasons between 2013 and 2016 and qualified for the playoffs just once, the same season in which he won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's best coach that season. He left his position as head coach and vice president of hockey operations during the 2016 season which led to the hiring of current head coach Jared Bednar. Will the meeting result in fireworks?

October 20 at San Jose Sharks

It seems like there are a lot of interesting matchups in the early season! On the surface, it's hard to get excited about facing the San Jose Sharks club that finished last in the league in 2023-24. The main points of the potential draw are 2024 first-round pick Macklin Celebrini and 2023 fourth-round pick Will Smith, two of the cornerstones of the Sharks going forward.

In addition, the eight-year contract extension the Nashville Predators gave to franchise goaltender Juuse Saros spells the end of Yaroslav Askarov's time with the organization, the top prospect traded to the Sharks on August 23.

The Sharks are a long way from being competitive, but it's always fun to see the present (Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar) against the future (Celebrini and Smith) in this game.

Oct. 24 at the Utah Hockey Club

The Avalanche will play their first game against the Utah Hockey Club in late October, marking the birth of a new division rivalry since the Arizona Coyotes purchased and moved to Salt Lake City.

Although the name, colors, and jerseys are different, the players are the same. Logan Cooley and Clayton Keller still lead the charge, but now they are joined by blue line reinforcements in John Marino and Mikhail Sergachev. It looks like new owner Ryan Smith intends to flex his financial muscle and get Utah competitive as soon as possible, and this first meeting promises to be electrifying.

Nov. 2 vs. Nashville Predators

The Avalanche's first game against the new-look Predators will serve as an introduction to the Western Conference's new powerhouse. After a season in which the Predators finished with 47 wins and 99 points (11th in the league), the organization has been very active in trade talks and free agency.

The roster overhaul began by sending veteran defenseman Ryan McDonagh back to the Tampa Bay Lightning and used the next offseason to sign a group of free agents in Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei.

Those title-clinching moves have overshadowed added depth elsewhere, and the Predators look set to upset the NHL's elite in 2024-25.

November 23 at the Florida Panthers

The last week of November will be a bad one for the Avalanche. They open 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 are watching their backers degrade as the salary cap eats away at the brass. Sam Reinhart (57 goals last season) and Anton Lundell both received hefty, but well-deserved contract extensions for their work last season, while Ryan Lomberg, Brandon Montour, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Anthony Stolarz have all moved on. in other places. Key words in Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, and Gustav Forsling all remain, and should give us a preview of a potential Stanley Cup.

November 29 at the Dallas Stars

The game marks the first against the Stars since the Texas-based club knocked the Avalanche out of 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 the few teams that could claim a legitimate title in the Western Conference, but they have left Joe Pavelski (retired), Ryan Suter (free agent), and Chris Tanev (free agent) among others this offseason. . The Avalanche face the Stars two more times, but the first meeting could prove to be Colorado's best out of the gate.

Nov. 30 vs. Edmonton Oilers

While the Avalanche can't hold their own against anyone when they're firing on all cylinders, ending a five-game losing streak against two former Hart Trophy winners in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl is no fun. The Oilers led the league in wins (47) and points (99) under new face Kris Knoblauch after firing coach Jay Woodcroft 12 games into the 2023-24 season due to a poor 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 top dog in the West after winning the Stanley Cup this past season. A few new faces in Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner should bolster an already loaded Oilers offense and make this one of the more exciting games on the NHL calendar where both teams finished in the top five goals per game last season.

April 13 at Anaheim Ducks

The Avalanche end the season on the road against the Anaheim Ducks who, for all their growing talent, don't look like they'll be contending again this season. The rebuilding Ducks have a wealth of under-23 talent in all areas, and games like this give fans a chance to see hockey's new stars before they arrive.

As a game with potential playoff-seeding implications, you can't ask for much better than to end the season against the lottery-bound Ducks, even if a young team hopes to take a few scalps in the process.

Avalanche Face Mixed 2024-25 Season Schedule

The Avalanche will play 12 back-to-backs during the regular season and face three road trips of at least four or more games. They will have six stadiums that have lasted four or more games and played seven of their first ten games against teams that finished in the bottom ten of the league last season.

The first two months of the season will be dominated by discussions of the future and the possible return of both Landeskog and Nichushkin, although a strong performance in mid-November could eliminate concerns about how the team will perform as it is estimated at $13 million. books. See you in October!