What is the hold-up on any major moves with the Colorado Avalanche this summer? The team re-signed forward Brock Nelson to a lucrative deal and gained Brent Burns in free agency. But that is about it. The Avalanche have made no real splash over the summer, and there could be a few reasons as to why.

They are comfortable

At the end of the season, general manager Chris MacFarland and President of Hockey Operations Joe Sakic said they were comfortable with the team they had. This could be a big reason most of last season’s players are returning to the team. They also mentioned they thought that last season’s team had a legitimate chance to make a run at the Stanley Cup and fell short. The top-six for the Avalanche does not need much in the way of tweaking; it is the bottom-six that the fans have to worry about.

Injuries are a problem once again

For the last three seasons, the Avalanche have had to deal with the uncertainty of whether captain Gabriel Landeskog was going to play that season. There remains a sliver of doubt that he can handle the workload of an 82-game schedule again. After all, he played only seven games overall last season. Winger Logan O’Connor is the big question mark at the start of this coming season. He had off-season hip surgery, and fans expect him to miss at least one or two months of the season. Whether the Avalanche will place O’Connor on the long-term injured reserve list is a different story. He would have to miss 10 games and 24 days in order to be eligible, so if there is coming back in that time frame, they may not.

Colorado may want to test young talent

Currently, the bottom-six is not complete. Young talent on two-way contracts may seize the day. Players like Ivan Ivan, Gavin Brindley, Jason Polin, Matt Stienburg, and Tye Felhaber may get extended looks by the Avalanche. The advantage of this is that they all come in under one million dollars each. If they were to sign a veteran, chances are their price tag would cost them even more. Also, after their performance with the Colorado Eagles last season, they will itch to make an impact with the Avalanche.

A move is on the horizon

The Avalanche (and other NHL clubs) are notorious for signing professional tryouts (PTO) in August and September. They could leave space for a veteran who is on the last leg of his career and fighting for a spot. Typically, these contracts are under one million dollars, so they have room for one or two at the moment. The last PTOs that worked out were defenseman Jack Johnson in 2021–22 and Joel Kiviranta in 2023–24. Sometimes, teams can find hidden talent with PTOs, especially when a player is fighting for a roster spot.

We can only guess why the Avalanche has not been very active in the market. The free agency market this summer was not the greatest, so that could also be part of it. Next summer, with the salary cap increasing and big stars hitting the market like Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, and Artemi Panarin, we can only imagine that there will be a lot more activity in July.