As the Colorado Avalanche take a brief pause for a well-deserved holiday break, we decided to have some festive fun of our own. While the Avalanche deserve our gifts and praise, there’s always room for some New Year’s resolutions.
From everyone at Mile High Hockey, we wish you a safe and joyous holiday with best wishes for the year of 2026 ahead! Thank you for reading and being part of this Colorado Avalanche community. Now let’s get to our responses!
What is on your Avalanche shopping or wish list?
Jess: For the hockey team, I think a 3C and 7D are what they should be shopping for. Jack Drury and Ross Colton have performed admirably in that 3C spot thus far, but everyone likely knows that neither of them are true centers, which is not a knock on their abilities at all, I like both of those players quite a bit, but they are both wingers by trade. If you can find a true 3C somewhere, that allows those two guys to move out to the wings where they’re likely more comfortable playing, and just makes the bottom of your lineup that much better. An established, NHL-caliber 7D would also be nice, just to give you a “break glass in case of emergency” defenseman that you trust to throw into the lineup on any given night, though that one is probably more of a “luxury” to add compared to a 3C. In the spirit of it being the holidays, I did end up asking for an Avalanche Nordiques jersey for Christmas, so that’s something Avs-themed from my own list.
Adrian: I think the Avalanche should be looking for one more serviceable defender that isn’t named Ilya Solovyov. Admittedly, I’d say he’s gotten a short leash, but he’s been unavailable and not so good when healthy. Looks like the Brent Burns signing was a good one, and I think the Avs go more of that route. A big-bodied rangey sort of defender that can play limited minutes at 6D if injuries call for it.
Matthew: My shopping list would include both Valeri Nichushkin and Victor Olofsson rediscovering their offensive game. Nichuskin is far more gifted than what he’s shown thus far this season. While there have been more challenges for him this season (let’s face it, Ross Colton is no Nathan MacKinnon), Nichushkin is still very much a top-six talent. Oloffson is a few seasons removed from his career highs with Buffalo, and while not as offensively gifted as Nichushkin, he’s demonstrated that he can contribute in a depth role. Should both of them get hot as the season hits the second half (especially coming out of the Olympic break), that will be a huge boost for the Avalanche and a nightmare for the opposition. I envy the coaching staff that will be forced to defend the best center in the NHL on top of which of their bottom defensive pair will be tasked with stopping either Brock Nelson’s line or Ross Colton’s line. Good luck.
Jackie: It’s too early for me to contemplate and wrap my brain around the trade deadline so my Avalanche wish is for them to participate in the Winter Classic. I know the event has lacked intrigue for several years now but it’s beyond time to showcase the top team in the league in one of the NHL’s platform events. Colorado doesn’t need to host it either, send them up to one of the “traditional” markets and be done with it.
Who has been more naughty than nice?
Jess: I’m approaching this question by looking at the wider NHL, as there’s really nothing that I find “naughty” about Colorado right now (other than the powerplay, but I’ll get to that later), Dallas and Minnesota have been more naughty than nice to me, only because they’re hanging around the top of the division. The fact that Colorado has a historic start and becomes the first NHL team to eclipse the 50-point mark on the season, only to have the Stars and Wild right there, is a bit ridiculous. I’ll throw the Oilers out there, too, for waiting so long to make their goaltending move. They needed to do something, that was clear for a while, and I don’t think anyone will necessarily dispute that too hard, but it’s been clear since last season at the very least, and you waited till this year to make a trade, when you only had really one option available, and you ended up overpaying for that option, in my opinion.
Adrian: Valeri Nichushkin has been more naughty than pleasant, but I think he will find his way back onto the good list here in the near future. I’m not saying that Val hasn’t been decent, but we haven’t seen many games where he simply dominates, and I was getting used to that!
Matthew: Logan O’Connor’s numerous ailments. The injury updates (or lack thereof) haven’t been encouraging for hockey’s Mayor of Denver. If not for Colorado’s impressive start, O’Connor’s prolonged absence would be more of a sticking point that it’s been. As a result, he’s had a longer runway for recovery, an option he may not have had otherwise. Regardless, rushing him to return isn’t ideal, and with the disclosure of his prolonged recovery time, he won’t have to feel unnecessary pressure to return before he’s ready. Thankfully, Gavin Brindley has been able to provide a similar type of tenacity on the forecheck, an element that would be sorely missed without either player. Hopefully O’Connor’s recovery can continue without any additional setbacks, and he’ll be able to join the roster once he’s fully healthy
Jackie: The NHL schedule makers. Look, I’m all for novelty and the matinee start times really help out our European friends catch a game at a normal hour but the weekend back-to-backs have been insane. Throw in all the delayed starts for national tv games and it’s a chore just to keep up with when this team is playing. At least the Avalanche are back on television with the ability to record, so that’s been a plus in helping out all the crazy puck drops.
What should Colorado’s New Year’s resolution be?
Jess: Fix the powerplay should your big one, without a doubt. You have a team that looks unstoppable right now, that’s firing on all cylinders, except for the powerplay. It won’t get fixed overnight, obviously, but whatever you’re doing on the man-advantage right now is not working, or it’s not working consistently enough, at the very least, so just make at least an attempt to fix it. Does that look like shooting the puck more instead of passing it around the zone 1,000 times before finally getting a shot off? Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t, but you don’t know until you at least try something different. For the NHL as a whole, I think their New Year’s resolution should be to concretely define goalie interference, which shouldn’t be too difficult, as there’s DEFINITELY no room at all for subjectivity when it comes to enforcing rules in the NHL rulebook, right? Right?
Adrian: This one is easy. Score more power-play goals. I know it’s a crazy ask from a guy that doesn’t even know what a good power play looks like.
Matthew: Remain consistent and stay healthy. While it’s impossible to expect that the Avalanche will keep a single-digit loss record for the balance of the season, they shouldn’t over-correct on their shortcomings (real or perceived) at the expense of the traits that have made them so successful through the first three-plus months of the season. Stick to maintaining the habits that put them in such a strong position compared to their peers in the rearview mirror. The Olympic break will also provide most of the roster with an opportunity to heal up and return to action more rejuvenated. If the Avs can stay healthy, save for the garden variety bumps and bruises that will likely accumulate from the end of the Olympics to the start of the postseason, they’ve given themselves the best chance to ice its most competitive and healthiest roster for a (hopefully) deep playoff run.
Jackie: Implementing some new ideas leading to a functional power play is an obvious hope for an Avalanche New Year’s resolution but what else I’d like to see is better redistribution on minutes in the second half of the season. For example in the recent win over Winnipeg, Cale Makar played 26 minutes and Nathan MacKinnon 24 minutes in a game that ended in regulation. Both didn’t have their best games that night as they looked ineffective and exhausted plus playing more didn’t improve on those factors. The 27-2-7 start the Avalanche have enjoyed should afford them the ability to manage the roster and time on ice moving forward into the second half of the season.
What are you looking forward to the most in 2026?
Jess: NHL playoffs, without a doubt. It’s the best playoffs in professional sports and I always look forward to watching every single year. Just the NHL, NFL, and NBA playoffs as a whole, as the Broncos, Avalanche, and Nuggets have all been so good this year, and I cannot wait to watch them all in the playoffs. This is an era of Colorado sports that 10-year-old me hoped for at some point or another, and now I finally get to see all Denver teams dominate in their respective leagues (except for the Rockies, we’re not going to worry about them). The Olympics will be a ton of fun as well. I’m excited to watch NHL players participate, and I’m excited to watch the snowboarding events, as I am every single year, as I am a snowboarder myself, and am always awed by the skill level of those competitors. Finally, on a personal note, I’m also extremely excited to finally graduate from college and complete my undergraduate programs as well!
Adrian: I’m looking forward to seeing just how successful Gavin Brindley can be this season, as his trajectory still hasn’t seemed to dip since making the team at training camp. He’s earned a contract, been promoted, and is tied for the team lead with three game-winning goals as I write this response.
Matthew: I am looking forward to the post-Olympic break. The Avalanche will have 28 games remaining on the season coming out of the Olympics, evenly split at 14 between home and away games. That doesn’t sound like a lot of runway to the playoffs (especially since the trade deadline will be happening shortly after the Avs return from Italy), but they control their destiny. A Presidents Trophy finish isn’t out of the question if the Avs maintain their current pace, which is a distinct possibility aside from losing a few games here and there down the stretch (which will also happen to the teams chasing them as well). If the Avs truly want to avoid a third consecutive finish as a second (or third) seed in the Central Division playoff bracket, then these games will have heightened importance to secure that top seed as early as possible. Once they can secure that coveted playoff position, they can ease up on ice time for all their big guns to ensure that they have enough in the tank for a lengthy postseason run (and get a few giggles watching Dallas and Minnesota fight it out for home ice between themselves).
Jackie: I’ll say it, looking forward to the Avalanche winning the Stanley Cup?!
Urness 
