Valeri Nichushkin spoke publicly Thursday for the first time since leaving the Avalanche under murky circumstances during the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but offered few details about the incident in his Seattle hotel room. Nichushkin skated with the second group of Avalanche players during the first day of training camp, one day after his coach […]

Cale Makar is a year removed from his career-defining trifecta of hardware but don’t think for a second that means the hockey world finds him to be old news. The Colorado Avalanche star defenseman was announced as the cover athlete for EA Sports’ NHL 24 video game Monday. Trevor Zegras of the Ducks was the […]

A familiar face is returning to the Avalanche organization. Steve Konowalchuk — who played for two seasons in Colorado — was announced Tuesday as the associate head coach of the Colorado Eagles, the team’s AHL affiliate. He joins head coach Aaron Schneekloth and assistant Tim Branham on the Eagles bench. “We’re excited to have ‘Kono’ […]

A franchise with patient and tactful repute around the NHL, the Avalanche energetically participated in the fanfare of unrestricted free agency out of necessity this year. Then Colorado leaned back and got comfortable. The market has dried since early July, but UFAs remain, as does salary cap space at altitude. By reaching a pre-arbitration contract […]

Emily Kaplan is ESPN’s national NHL reporter. Alex Galchenyuk is entering the NHL and NHLPA’s player assistance program after being arrested last week, sources told ESPN, and has apologized to police for his “deeply disrespectful and despicable behavior.” Galchenyuk was arrested July 9 in Scottsdale, Arizona, for a hit and run incident that resulted in […]

Ryan S. Clark is an NHL reporter for ESPN. The Alex DeBrincat saga reached its conclusion Sunday with the Ottawa Senators trading the two-time 40-goal scorer to the Detroit Red Wings. In return, the Red Wings sent forward Dominik Kubalik, prospect defenseman Donovan Sebrango, a conditional first-round pick and a 2024 fourth-round pick to the […]

The Avalanche signed veteran defenseman Jack Johnson to a one-year, league-minimum contract extension Sunday, but they aren’t bringing back top-six forward Evan Rodrigues next season. Rodrigues agreed to a four-year deal with the Eastern Conference champion Florida Panthers. His average annual value was reported to be $3 million, a sturdy boost in salary and term […]

The San Jose Sharks on Saturday acquired veteran forward Anthony Duclair from the Florida Panthers in exchange for forward Steven Lorentz and a draft choice. Looking to add some veteran offense, San Jose general manager Mike Grier sought out Duclair from the salary-cap-crunched Panthers, who are two weeks removed from losing to the Vegas Golden […]

Greg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer. The Washington Capitals have signed free agent veteran winger Max Pacioretty to a one-year contract on Saturday. The deal is worth $2 million, plus an additional $2 million in performance-based incentives. The Connecticut native, who has scored at least 30 goals six times in his career, is coming […]

The 2023 NHL offseason might seem a little compressed, with the draft taking place on June 28 and 29 this year, but the start of free agency is back to its usual date of July 1 (after a late start in 2022). Every NHL general manager is hoping to land game-changing players, either via free […]