Colorado Avalanche 2024-25 Season Preview: Central Division

The Central Division has the potential to be an intriguing one this year. As is always the case, the Colorado Avalanche will see every team in the Central Division multiple times this year, with some making some pretty big changes to their respective rosters. Take a look at how Colorado performed against each of these teams last year, what major changes each team made in the offseason, and how they might fare against each team this year.

Colorado Avalanche vs. Chicago Blackhawks

Colorado faced Chicago four times last season and won three of those four games. The Blackhawks finished at the bottom of the division last year as it was a rebuilding year for the organization. Chicago won the 2023 NHL draft Lottery and drafted Connor Bedard, who had a very impressive rookie year with 22 goals and 39 assists for 61 points in 68 games last season.

Chicago made some intriguing additions in free agency this year that should help make them a bit more competitive this year, namely players like Laurent Brossoit, Tyler Bertuzzi, TJ Brodie and Teuvo Teravainen. The Avalanche will play Chicago four times again this year, with the first matchup on October 28. It will certainly be interesting to see if these matchups are more or less competitive than last season.

Colorado Avalanche vs. Dallas Stars

Along with the Avs and Stars playing each other four times last season with Colorado winning three of those games, these two teams also faced off in the second round of the 2024 playoffs, leading to Dallas sending Colorado home . Both teams will be competing for top spot in the division this year along with a number of other teams, but we'll get to that later.

Dallas retained and lost some pretty important pieces during free agency. As for additions, Matt Duchene returned to Dallas on another one-year deal, and they also signed goaltender Casey DeSmith to a one-year deal. They also signed both Matt Dumba and Ilya Lybushkin to multi-year deals on defense.

However, as previously mentioned, Dallas also let go of a few key pieces during free agency. Perhaps most notably, Joe Pavelski called it a career after playing 18 seasons in the NHL. Chris Tanev and Jani Hakanpaa both signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Scott Wedgewood signed in free agency with the Nashville Predators. Colorado and Dallas will see each other a total of three times this season, with the first game on November 29, and we'll see if these teams meet again in the postseason.

Colorado Avalanche vs. Minnesota Wild

The Avalanche and Wild met a total of four times last season, with Colorado winning all four of those games and Nathan MacKinnon also walking away with a hat trick in one of those games.

Minnesota didn't make many splashy moves during free agency this year. The biggest contract they signed during free agency was signing Yakov Trenin to a four-year deal with an AAV of $3.5 million. Later in the summer, however, the Wild signed their star rookie defenseman Brock Faber to an eight-year extension with an AAV of $8.5 million that starts next season. Also of note for the Wild is that this season will be the last year they pay exorbitant fees for the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, meaning they can actually make moves next summer once the bulk of that money is paid .

Colorado and Minnesota will meet again a total of four times this year, starting on January 9. The Wild missed the playoffs last year by 11 points at the end of the season.

Colorado Avalanche vs. Nashville Predators

Talk about a team that had a noisy offseason. Colorado and Nashville met three times last year, with the Avalanche winning two of those three games. After looking like they were likely to miss the playoffs for most of the season, Nashville came out of nowhere and made the playoffs. Ultimately, they went home in the first round in six games against the Vancouver Canucks.

During free agency this summer, Nashville, as previously mentioned, had a noisy offseason. Most notably, the Predators signed both Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault as free agents to multi-year deals. Nashville was certainly already talented offensively with players like Filip Forsberg on their roster, but they became even more offensively talented seemingly overnight with their offseason acquisitions.

Let's see if that's actually the case or not for the Predators and if they can replicate what they did last year quickly enough as they face the Avs four times this year starting on November 2nd.

Colorado Avalanche vs. St. Louis Blues

St. Louis and Colorado met four times last year, with Colorado winning three of those four games. This season, they will face each other a total of four times during the regular season, with the first match taking place on January 31.

St. Louis made a number of moves this offseason, including signing Pavel Buchnevich to a six-year contract extension. However, by far the most notable additions they made this year was the acquisition of both Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg via offer sheets from the Edmonton Oilers. It's generally quite rare that you see an NHL GM offer sheet for players from another team, and so those signings have certainly made their rounds in the hockey world and taken it a bit by storm, due to how rare this is. Both players should provide St. Louis with some much-needed depth for the upcoming season.

Colorado Avalanche vs. Utah Hockey Club

Colorado and the Utah Hockey Club, formerly the Arizona Coyotes, played each other a total of four times, with each team winning two of those four games to evenly split the series. This year, these two teams will meet a total of three times this season, starting on October 24.

Utah made a number of signings this past summer, but perhaps their biggest acquisition came from the 2024 NHL Draft. Utah selected Tij Iginla with the sixth overall pick in the first round of last year's draft and signed him on July 11 for a three-year entry-level contract. Utah was in the mix for a wild card spot for much of the 2023-2024 season, but went on a 14-game losing streak during the season and ultimately failed to make the playoffs. They will hopefully make the playoffs this year and take a step forward, and we'll see how that goes for them soon enough.

Colorado Avalanche vs. Winnipeg Jets

And finally, we have the Winnipeg Jets. The Avalanche and Jets met a total of three times during the regular season, with Winnipeg winning all of those games. However, Colorado had the last laugh when they routed the Jets in five games in the playoffs. This year, these two teams will meet a total of four times starting November 7 next season.

Winnipeg made some important moves this offseason, like signing Dylan DeMelo to a four-year deal and Cole Perfetti to a two-year deal, but they also suffered a few key losses. Those losses included Sean Monahan becoming a UFA, Laurent Brossoit signing in Chicago, Tyler Toffoli signing in San Jose and Rutger McGroarty being traded to Pittsburgh for Brayden Yager. That said, they haven't lost any really key players and will more than likely be in the mix for a playoff spot again this coming season. Look at how they actually do in the playoffs this year.