The salary cap is going up as expected. And with it, the Avalanche will get the flexibility to continue to re-work their roster heading into next season’s training camp. Most importantly, Colorado could make trades before the March 7 trade deadline that include players under contract for longer than just this year.
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The cap is projected at $95.5 million next season, which is a $7.5 million rise from the current $88 million cap. If longtime agent Allan Walsh is correct with his previous reporting, the cap could jump to $97 million. The NHL did say that these numbers are subject to change, leaving some wiggle room for a slight rise.
The cap in 2026-27 is projected to be $104 million before a massive rise for the 2027-28 season to $113.5 million.
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There’s no question that changes are coming following the blockbuster trade a week ago that sent Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Avs sent out a pending unrestricted free agent who they were willing to pay nearly $12 million. In return, they got Martin Necas locked up for another year at $6.5 million and Jack Drury, who makes $1.75 this season and in 2025-26. Both being under contract next season also provides the team with extra roster stability. As Chris MacFarland and the front office continue to make moves, they can pencil in both forwards for next year, which locks in two more roster spots that otherwise would’ve needed to be filled.
The Avs have quite a bit of cap space to maneuver for next season. With Gabriel Landeskog included, they have 11 forwards, all of their current top four defensemen, and both goaltenders under contract in 2025-26 for $87.3 million. That means they’ll have roughly $8.2 million to fill out the rest of the roster. Jonathan Drouin, Joel Kiviranta, Oliver Kylington, and Calvin de Haan are all pending UFAs. Juuso Parssinen and Sam Malinksi are restricted free agents.
Basically, there’s a lot of work to be done and a lot of flexibility to make things happen. And that doesn’t even include some of the moveable contracts on the roster, which would free up extra cap space in any trade for their replacement.
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