It’s that time of year when we predict the opening-night lineup. Assuming no last-minute trades or signings, the roster seems to be mostly complete. The Colorado Eagles lost quite a few of their top players from last year to free agency and trades, including Alex Barré-Boulet, T.J. Tynan, Tye Felhaber, Jason Polin, and Ivan Ivan. As a result, many unfamiliar individuals will fill this year’s lineup.

Obviously, which players the Eagles have will depend on which players the Colorado Avalanche send down after training camp. For this article, I’ll assume that Brennan Vogt’s predictions for the Avalanche starting roster are correct. That means I’ll assume Gavin Brindley, T.J. Hughes, and Vinnie Hinostroza are in the AHL, and that Zachary L’Heureux is playing with the Avalanche.

That leaves me with this as the best possible lineup:

 

Taylor Makar — Jayson Megna — Tristen Nielsen

Vinnie Hinostroza — T.J. Hughes — Fabian Lysell

Adam Beckman — Gavin Brindley — Matthew DiMarsico

Georgii Merkulov — Nikita Prishchepov — Yanick Turcotte

Keaton Middleton — Alex Gagne

Wyatt Aamodt — Sean Behrens

Christian Wolanin — Domenick Fensore

Trent Miner

Ilya Nabokov

*names in bold are considered veterans

Gorgeous, isn’t it?

Unfortunately, this beautiful roster is technically impossible, thanks to the AHL’s development rule.

In the AHL, player development is a top priority. The American Hockey League and the Professional Hockey Players’ Association have the following development rule in place:

Of the eighteen (18) skaters (not counting two goaltenders) that teams may dress for a game, at least twelve (12) must be qualified as “development players” who have played in 260 or fewer professional games (including AHL, NHL and European elite leagues). All calculations for development status are based on regular-season totals as of the start of the season.

See those names in bold in my projected lineup? Those are all players who, according to the AHL’s rules, count as vets rather than “development players.” My lineup includes seven. In reality, the Eagles can only play six of them on any given night. That means one of them will have to sit.

For what it’s worth, the Eagles aren’t the only team to have extra veteran players. It’s a common issue for AHL teams, and it’s something the Eagles have dealt with the past few seasons. It just means vets take turns getting the night off. The other players who could be swapped in are forward Cooper Gay, or defensemen Hank Kempf or Gustav Stjernberg. (Of course, it’s also possible that L’Heureux will be with the Eagles, and Hinostroza could be up with the Avalanche, which would solve everything. But that would be way too easy.)

Two things worth noting:

First, there will probably be a few last-minute additions to the roster. There are often unsigned AHL/ECHL bubble players who wait until the last minute, hoping for a major league or European offer, and many of them end up settling for minor-league deals. And sometimes there are a few PTO offers for late summer or early fall arrivals. Granted, these players are unlikely to be top-tier AHL players, but they help fill out the roster and can occasionally turn into surprising sleepers. (Cedric Paré is a great example from a few seasons ago.)

Second, Keaton Middleton’s status with the team remains uncertain. There have been rumors since last year that Middleton requested a trade at the start of the 2025–26 season. Although he played well last year, the intensity Eagles’ fans have long appreciated from Middleton was largely absent. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up being part of a last-minute trade, although if that happened, there’s a very high chance it would be for yet another veteran player.

The Eagles start their season in Tucson on Saturday, October 3 against the Tucson Roadrunners (UTA).

Addendum:

Shortly after publication of this article, the Colorado Eagles announced they had re-signed forward Maros Jedlicka.

Jedlicka had five goals and six assists with the Eagles last year. He’s a trusted depth player in the organization and will undoubtedly be slotted into the lineup in exchange for a veteran player in order to be in compliance with the AHL’s development rule.