2023–24 Colorado Avalanche season
National Hockey League season
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The 2023–24 Colorado Avalanche season was the 45th season for the Avalanche as the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that joined the league in 1979, and their 28th playing season since the franchise relocated from Quebec City prior to the start of the 1995–96 NHL season.[2]
| 2023–24 Colorado Avalanche | |
|---|---|
| Division | 3rd Central |
| Conference | 4th Western |
| 2023–24 record | 50–25–7 |
| Home record | 31–9–1 |
| Road record | 19–16–6 |
| Goals for | 304 |
| Goals against | 254 |
| Team information | |
| General manager | Chris MacFarland |
| Coach | Jared Bednar |
| Captain | Gabriel Landeskog |
| Alternate captains | Nathan MacKinnon Cale Makar Mikko Rantanen |
| Arena | Ball Arena |
| Average attendance | 18,102[1] |
| Minor league affiliates | Colorado Eagles (AHL) Utah Grizzlies (ECHL) |
| Team leaders | |
| Goals | Nathan MacKinnon (51) |
| Assists | Nathan MacKinnon (89) |
| Points | Nathan MacKinnon (140) |
| Penalty minutes | Josh Manson (87) |
| Plus/minus | Nathan MacKinnon (+35) |
| Wins | Alexandar Georgiev (38) |
| Goals against average | Justus Annunen (2.25) |
On March 30, 2024, the Avalanche clinched a playoff berth for the seventh consecutive season after a 7–4 win against the Nashville Predators.[3] On April 18, Nathan MacKinnon broke the single season point record, across both the Nordiques and Avalanche, with 140 points. In the playoffs, the Avalanche defeated the Winnipeg Jets in five games in the first round,[4] before losing to the Dallas Stars in the second round in six games.[5]
On June 27, MacKinnon became the first Avalanche player to win the Hart Memorial Trophy since Peter Forsberg in the 2002–03 season.
Standings
Divisional standings
| Pos | Team | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | z – Dallas Stars | 82 | 52 | 21 | 9 | 40 | 298 | 234 | +64 | 113 |
| 2 | x – Winnipeg Jets | 82 | 52 | 24 | 6 | 46 | 259 | 199 | +60 | 110 |
| 3 | x – Colorado Avalanche | 82 | 50 | 25 | 7 | 42 | 304 | 254 | +50 | 107 |
| 4 | x – Nashville Predators | 82 | 47 | 30 | 5 | 38 | 269 | 248 | +21 | 99 |
| 5 | St. Louis Blues | 82 | 43 | 33 | 6 | 31 | 239 | 250 | −11 | 92 |
| 6 | Minnesota Wild | 82 | 39 | 34 | 9 | 32 | 251 | 263 | −12 | 87 |
| 7 | Arizona Coyotes | 82 | 36 | 41 | 5 | 28 | 256 | 274 | −18 | 77 |
| 8 | Chicago Blackhawks | 82 | 23 | 53 | 6 | 17 | 179 | 290 | −111 | 52 |
Source: National Hockey League[6]
Rules for classification: 1) Fewer number of games played (GP, only during regular season); 2) Greater number of regulation wins (RW); 3) Greater number of wins in regulation and overtime, excluding shootout wins (ROW); 4) Greater number of total wins, including shootouts (W); 5) Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded; 6) Greater goal differential (GD); 7) Greater number of goals scored (GF)
x – Clinched playoff spot; z – Clinched conference
Rules for classification: 1) Fewer number of games played (GP, only during regular season); 2) Greater number of regulation wins (RW); 3) Greater number of wins in regulation and overtime, excluding shootout wins (ROW); 4) Greater number of total wins, including shootouts (W); 5) Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded; 6) Greater goal differential (GD); 7) Greater number of goals scored (GF)
x – Clinched playoff spot; z – Clinched conference
Conference standings
| Pos | Div | Team | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CE | x – Nashville Predators | 82 | 47 | 30 | 5 | 38 | 269 | 248 | +21 | 99 |
| 2 | PA | x – Vegas Golden Knights | 82 | 45 | 29 | 8 | 34 | 267 | 245 | +22 | 98 |
| 3 | CE | St. Louis Blues | 82 | 43 | 33 | 6 | 31 | 239 | 250 | −11 | 92 |
| 4 | CE | Minnesota Wild | 82 | 39 | 34 | 9 | 32 | 251 | 263 | −12 | 87 |
| 5 | PA | Calgary Flames | 82 | 38 | 39 | 5 | 32 | 253 | 271 | −18 | 81 |
| 6 | PA | Seattle Kraken | 82 | 34 | 35 | 13 | 28 | 217 | 236 | −19 | 81 |
| 7 | CE | Arizona Coyotes | 82 | 36 | 41 | 5 | 28 | 256 | 274 | −18 | 77 |
| 8 | PA | Anaheim Ducks | 82 | 27 | 50 | 5 | 21 | 204 | 295 | −91 | 59 |
| 9 | CE | Chicago Blackhawks | 82 | 23 | 53 | 6 | 17 | 179 | 290 | −111 | 52 |
| 10 | PA | San Jose Sharks | 82 | 19 | 54 | 9 | 14 | 181 | 331 | −150 | 47 |
Source: National Hockey League[7]
Rules for classification: 1) Fewer number of games played (GP, only during regular season); 2) Greater number of regulation wins (RW); 3) Greater number of wins in regulation and overtime, excluding shootout wins (ROW); 4) Greater number of total wins, including shootouts (W); 5) Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded; 6) Greater goal differential (GD); 7) Greater number of goals scored (GF)
x – Clinched playoff spot
Rules for classification: 1) Fewer number of games played (GP, only during regular season); 2) Greater number of regulation wins (RW); 3) Greater number of wins in regulation and overtime, excluding shootout wins (ROW); 4) Greater number of total wins, including shootouts (W); 5) Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded; 6) Greater goal differential (GD); 7) Greater number of goals scored (GF)
x – Clinched playoff spot
Schedule and results
Preseason
The Avalanche pre-season schedule was released on June 23, 2023.[8]
| 2023 preseason game log: 2–4–0 (home: 2–1–0; road: 0–3–0) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Date | Away | Score | Home | OT | Decision | Attendance | Record | Recap | |
| 1 | September 24 | Minnesota | 4–3 | Colorado | Holm | 14,501 | 0–1–0 | [9] | ||
| 2 | September 25 | Vegas | 2–3 | Colorado | Annunen | 13,294 | 1–1–0 | [10] | ||
| 3 | September 28 | Colorado | 2–4 | Minnesota | Annunen | 16,215 | 1–2–0 | [11] | ||
| 4 | October 1 | Dallas | 3–4 | Colorado | OT | Georgiev | 15,207 | 2–2–0 | [12] | |
| 5 | October 3 | Colorado | 1–3 | Dallas | Annunen | 14,523 | 2–3–0 | [13] | ||
| 6 | October 5 | Colorado | 3–4 | Vegas | Georgiev | 17,539 | 2–4–0 | [14] | ||
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Legend: Win Loss OT/SO loss | ||||||||||
Regular season
The Avalanche regular season schedule was released on June 27, 2023.[15]
| 2023–24 game log | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Legend: Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) OT/SO loss (1 point) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playoffs
| 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Legend: Win Loss | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Player statistics
Skaters
Goaltenders
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandar Georgiev | 63 | 62 | 3,637:57 | 38 | 18 | 5 | 183 | 3.02 | 1,770 | .897 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Justus Annunen | 14 | 12 | 801:05 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 30 | 2.25 | 414 | .928 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ivan Prosvetov | 11 | 8 | 494:11 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 26 | 3.16 | 248 | .895 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandar Georgiev | 11 | 11 | 425:23 | 6 | 5 | 33 | 2.85 | 311 | .897 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Avalanche. Stats reflect time with the Avalanche only.
‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Avalanche only.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record.
Transactions
The Avalanche have been involved in the following transactions during the 2023–24 season.
Key:
† Contract is entry-level.
‡ Contract initially takes effect in the 2024–25 season.
Trades
| Date | Details | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 28, 2023 | To Tampa Bay Lightning MTL 2nd-round pick in 2023 |
To Colorado Avalanche Ross Colton |
[113] |
| October 10, 2023 | To Carolina Hurricanes Callahan Burke |
To Colorado Avalanche Caleb Jones |
[114] |
| December 16, 2023 | To Seattle Kraken Tomas Tatar |
To Colorado Avalanche 5th-round pick in 2024 |
[115] |
| March 1, 2024 | To New Jersey Devils Kurtis MacDermid |
To Colorado Avalanche Zakhar Bardakov 7th-round pick in 2024 |
[116] |
| March 6, 2024 | To Buffalo Sabres Bowen Byram |
To Colorado Avalanche Casey Mittelstadt |
[117] |
| To Philadelphia Flyers Ryan Johansen Conditional 1st-round pick in 2025 |
To Colorado Avalanche Sean Walker 5th-round pick in 2026 |
[118] | |
Players acquired
| Date | Player | Former team | Term | Via | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 1, 2023 | Jack Ahcan | Boston Bruins | 2-year | Free agency | [119] |
| Jonathan Drouin | Montreal Canadiens | 1-year | Free agency | [120] | |
| Arvid Holm | Winnipeg Jets | 1-year | Free agency | [119] | |
| Corey Schueneman | Montreal Canadiens | 1-year | Free agency | [119] | |
| Riley Tufte | Dallas Stars | 1-year | Free agency | [119] | |
| Chris Wagner | Boston Bruins | 1-year | Free agency | [119] | |
| Miles Wood | New Jersey Devils | 6-year | Free agency | [121] | |
| September 12, 2023 | Tomas Tatar | New Jersey Devils | 1-year | Free agency | [122] |
| October 9, 2023 | Ivan Prosvetov | Arizona Coyotes | Waivers | [123] |
Players lost
| Date | Player | New team | Term | Via | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 1, 2023 | J. T. Compher | Detroit Red Wings | 5-year | Free agency | [124] |
| Lars Eller | Pittsburgh Penguins | 2-year | Free agency | [125] | |
| Josh Jacobs | St. Louis Blues | 1-year | Free agency | [126] | |
| Jonas Johansson | Tampa Bay Lightning | 2-year | Free agency | [127] | |
| Erik Johnson | Buffalo Sabres | 1-year | Free agency | [128] | |
| Mikhail Maltsev | Los Angeles Kings | 1-year | Free agency | [129] | |
| Matt Nieto | Pittsburgh Penguins | 2-year | Free agency | [130] | |
| July 2, 2023 | Evan Rodrigues | Florida Panthers | 4-year | Free agency | [131] |
| July 3, 2023 | Charles Hudon | Ontario Reign (AHL) | 2-year | Free agency | [132] |
| July 18, 2023 | Denis Malgin | ZSC Lions (NL) | 5-year | Free agency | [133] |
| August 18, 2023 | Ryan Merkley | Kunlun Red Star (KHL) | 1-year | Free agency | [134] |
| September 13, 2023 | Keith Kinkaid | New Jersey Devils | 1-year | Free agency | [135] |
| June 21, 2024 | Andrew Cogliano | Retirement | [136] |
Signings
| Date | Player | Term | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 1, 2023 | Bowen Byram | 2-year | [137] |
| Andrew Cogliano | 1-year | [138] | |
| July 2, 2023 | Justus Annunen | 1-year | [139] |
| Jack Johnson | 1-year | [140] | |
| July 17, 2023 | Ross Colton | 4-year | [141] |
| July 25, 2023 | Nikolai Kovalenko | 2-year† | [142] |
| July 26, 2023 | Ben Meyers | 1-year | [143] |
| August 18, 2023 | Matt Stienburg | 2-year† | [144] |
| October 6, 2023 | Saige Weinstein | 3-year† | [145] |
| October 13, 2023 | Devon Toews | 7-year‡ | [146] |
| November 12, 2023 | Joel Kiviranta | 1-year | [147] |
| March 5, 2024 | Ivan Ivan | 2-year‡ | [148] |
| March 7, 2024 | Jeremy Hanzel | 3-year† | [149] |
| March 26, 2024 | Justus Annunen | 2-year | [150] |
| June 13, 2024 | Jere Innala | 1-year† | [151] |
| June 25, 2024 | Casey Mittelstadt | 3-year | [152] |
Draft picks
Below are the Avalanche's selections at the 2023 NHL entry draft, which was held on June 28 to 29, 2023, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
| Round | # | Player | Pos. | Nationality | Team (League) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 | Calum Ritchie | C |  Canada |
Oshawa Generals (OHL) |
| 31 | Mikhail Gulyayev | D |  Russia |
Avangard Omsk (KHL) | |
| 5 | 155 | Nikita Ishimnikov | D | Russia |
JHC Avto (MHL) |
| 6 | 187 | Jeremy Hanzel | D | Canada |
Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL) |
| 7 | 219 | Maros Jedlicka | C |  Slovakia |
HKM Zvolen (Slovak Extraliga) |