The goalie depth of the Colorado Avalanche is very top-heavy. Trent Miner’s recent achievements might magnify its effect, plus, Ilya Nabokov’s arrival at the end of the season won’t help. Along with that, the stellar performance of rookie Isak Posch makes it hard to send him to the ECHL. That makes a person wonder where Miner will fit in all this come the end of the end of the season? Or is he trade bait this year?


Miner had one of his best seasons last year with the Colorado Eagles, earning a call-up to the Avs. He played a career-high 38 AHL games while putting up a 22–10–9 record. It helped take the Eagles to their first AHL Division Finals in franchise history. Miner seemed destined to take the backup role this season until Scott Wedgewood signed his extension. Now Miner is floating in a weird space between the AHL and the NHL. It will sometimes be a week between starts for him because of the situation he is in.

This past week, the Manitoba native not only won his first NHL game, he did it with a shutout against Columbus. In the three games that he has started for the Avs, he has forced overtime or a win with a 1–0–3 record. Miner currently has a 2.03 goals-allowed average and .933 save percentage. Why is this all important? This season, Miner’s performance with the Avs could determine his future.

Currently, Colorado does not have a pick in the first three rounds of the 2026 Draft. If Miner continues to put up the numbers like he has, the Avs could use him as trade bait. I want him to stay, but he has only played 14 games so far. The Avalanche and Eagles have played 78 games in total. The more Miner has played in the past, the better his stats have been. Colorado could get a return for him of a third-round pick from a team that needs a backup goalie.

 

It would not make sense to bury a goalie like Posch in the ECHL next year (wherever that may be) with how good he has played. I think the intention is to have Nabokov play at least one year with the Eagles as the starter, like Pavel Francouz did. This still excludes Miner. The best thing to do is probably get something for him at the deadline or before the draft.