{"id":797270,"date":"2026-08-01T11:11:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T11:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/797270\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T11:11:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T11:11:10","slug":"colorado-avalanche-rank-among-nhls-best-in-contract-efficiency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/797270\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Avalanche Rank Among NHL’s Best in Contract Efficiency"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Athletic continues to put out some of the NHL\u2019s best offseason content, especially at a time when not much is happening. If you\u2019ve been following along here, you\u2019ve probably noticed I\u2019ve referenced several of its league-wide rankings in recent weeks.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t exactly see eye-to-eye with where Brett Kulak\u2019s contract landed on its list of the NHL\u2019s worst deals. But even in that case, the analysis usually makes for an interesting discussion.<\/p>\n

The latest installment is no different.<\/p>\n

Dom Luszczyszyn ranked all 32 NHL teams by contract efficiency on Wednesday, evaluating which clubs are getting the most value out of their payrolls and which ones have the least efficient collections of contracts. It\u2019s become an increasingly relevant conversation as the salary cap continues to rise, even though this has long been one of Luszczyszyn\u2019s annual offseason projects. The full article is well worth a read.<\/a><\/p>\n

It shouldn\u2019t come as much of a surprise that the Carolina Hurricanes topped the rankings. They\u2019ve consistently built one of the league\u2019s deepest rosters by handing out team-friendly contracts, a strategy that helped them win the Stanley Cup while still carrying cap flexibility. (Those Jackson Blake and Logan Stankoven deals look incredible.)<\/p>\n

The Montreal Canadiens checked in at No. 2, thanks in part to Ivan Demidov\u2019s extremely team-friendly contract, which looks even better after several comparable young stars signed much richer deals later in the summer. This came months after Lane Hutson signed a max-term deal that he probably regrets already, given what some of his peers are getting. <\/p>\n

As for the Colorado Avalanche, they landed at No. 6 overall.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a strong showing, especially for a team built around several superstar contracts.<\/p>\n

According to Luszczyszyn\u2019s model, every Avalanche contract provides positive value except for Nic Roy, Logan O\u2019Connor, Gabe Landeskog, Mackenzie Blackwood, and the aforementioned Kulak.<\/p>\n

Some of those are easier to understand than others.<\/p>\n

Roy\u2019s inclusion is interesting. I\u2019m not sure I agree with it. A $3 million cap hit for one more season in today\u2019s NHL feels like solid value regardless of the model. <\/p>\n

O\u2019Connor\u2019s negative rating is likely tied to the significant time he missed with injury last season, mixed with the five-year remaining term. <\/p>\n

Landeskog\u2019s contract is more complicated. His value goes well beyond what can be measured statistically. If he\u2019s healthy and producing, the leadership, culture, and presence he brings to Colorado\u2019s dressing room are impossible to ignore, even if those qualities don\u2019t show up in an analytical model.<\/p>\n

Blackwood is probably the easiest one to debate. At $5.25 million annually, the Avalanche need him to play at a higher level than he did last year. I think he will, assuming he stays healthy. But if injuries or inconsistency become an issue, that contract could become problematic in a hurry.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, finishing sixth out of 32 teams says a lot about how well Colorado has managed its cap situation.<\/p>\n

It\u2019ll be fascinating to revisit these rankings a year from now. By then, the Avalanche will have new contracts in place for Artturi Lehkonen and Cale Makar, along with other roster changes that will inevitably reshape the team\u2019s salary structure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Athletic continues to put out some of the NHL\u2019s best offseason content, especially at a time when…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":797271,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[1223,385,99],"class_list":["post-797270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-colorado-avalanche","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=797270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797270\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/797271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=797270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=797270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=797270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}