After historic roster turnover, can Avalanche defy odds with deep playoff run?

Apr 29, 2025, 16:12 EDT

Credit: Apr 21, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Colorado Avalanche center Charlie Coyle (10) in action during the game between the Dallas Stars and the Colorado Avalanche in game two of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

DALLAS — Shortly after being acquired by the Colorado Avalanche, Charlie Coyle was at a team function when he went to introduce his wife to one of his new teammates. Coyle blanked on his first name, in typical hockey fashion.

“No one ever uses their real name, it’s always nicknames, and I didn’t actually know his first name,” Coyle said, laughing.

The scary part is that Coyle might not have been alone with that faux pas. There has been a lot of ‘get-to-know-you’ for the Avalanche, the first team in the NHL’s salary cap era to turn over more than half their roster in-season and qualify for the playoffs, according to NHL Stats.

Of the 20 players in their lineup for Game 1 of the postseason, exactly half of them were in Jared Bednar’s opening night lineup back in October. That number actually grew to 11 ‘new’ faces out of 20 when Gabriel Landeskog returned after a three-year absence for Game 3 in Denver.

Now, down 3-2 against the Dallas Stars, they’re also trying to battle history. Only one team, the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1990-91, has experienced that much roster turnover in the same season and went on to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup. The overwhelming majority lost in the first round.

Tremendous Turnover

Playoff teams with 10 different roster players in Game 1 of playoffs compared to opening night:

Season	Team	Result
2024-25	Colorado	???
2003-04	St. Louis	Lost Round 1
1999-00	Buffalo	Lost Round 1
1995-96	St. Louis	Lost Round 1
1995-96	Vancouver	Lost Round 1
1995-96	Toronto	Lost Round 1
1990-91	Minnesota	Lost SC Final
1990-91	Pittsburgh	Won Stanley Cup
1988-89	Minnesota	Lost Round 1
1983-84	Montréal	Lost Conf. Final
1981-82	Buffalo	Lost Round 1
1979-80	Hartford	Lost Round 1
1979-80	Toronto	Lost Round 1

There are some similarities between the two clubs. The Penguins went 10 months without their captain, Mario Lemieux, because of a back injury. But the jaw-dropping nature of this in-season Avalanche transformation isn’t in just the quantity of the players swapped out, but the quality – which is something that stands out about Pittsburgh. The Penguins traded 94-point forward John Cullen in a deal that brought back future Hall of Famer Ron Francis and Ulf Samuelsson. And Pittsburgh also added another future Hall of Famer in Larry Murphy.

The Avalanche moved likely future first-ballot Hall of Famer Mikko Rantanen, who was traded twice and ended up back in this series as their opposition, scoring the game-winner in a pivotal Game 5. The Rantanen deal brought back Martin Necas, Jack Drury and a second-round pick. That second-round pick was used along with Casey Mittelstadt to help bring in Coyle from Boston.

The Avalanche also changed out both of the goaltenders in their tandem, adding Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood, the first team in league history to do that before Christmas. Valeri Nichushkin returned from the player assistance program in mid-November. Then there was the other trade deadline additions of Brock Nelson, Ryan Lindgren, Jimmy Vesey and Erik Johnson.

Head spinning yet? In all, 49 different players have worn an Avalanche jersey this season.

If you think that’s a lot to keep track of, Colorado’s equipment staff and team services duo of Brendan McNicholas and Erin DeGraff are owed a standing ovation in Ball Arena for getting everyone (and their families) into Denver and settled.

“It’s a lot of little things and getting your bearings. How do I get to the practice rink? Where do I park? How do I enter the building?” Coyle said. “Brock Nelson only got here the day before me. You ask a lot of questions. Then you look over and the other guys say, ‘I’ve only been here a month.’ And there’s a lot of guys who have stories like that. Everyone is new. And when you see other new guys, you’re a little more apt to take care of that guy. Everyone has been really, really helpful. You learn quick when you have that much turnover.”

Landeskog also played a big role behind the scenes as head of the welcoming committee while still working his way back into the lineup.

“Being a captain, some of it is administrative stuff, bullshit that a lot of guys don’t want to deal with,” Johnson said. “New guys, making guys feel comfortable, some guys don’t want to do that stuff. Even though he was away from a team a lot of the time, he still did that stuff. He kept his fingertip on things.”

A lot of the heavy lifting on getting players assimilated and up to game speed is left to the coaching staff and Bednar, now the second-longest tenured coach in the league, but he gave a lot of the credit to his leadership core.

“They’re demanding, but they’re very supportive at the same time,” Bednar explained. “I think it’s the communication that goes on between the guys and staff, getting everyone on the same page. It starts with the tactics and the structure and mindset of our team. We get them to understand where we’ve been the last four or five years and where we’re trying to go. Everyone is on the same page philosophically with what we’re trying to do.”

Coyle said this is the deepest roster he’s played on, which is saying something considering he’s played in a Stanley Cup Final. He said that there are multiple players scratched by Avalanche that would be playing in just about every other organization. That was all part of the plan from GM Chris MacFarland, to strengthen Colorado’s depth. That mission has been accomplished. But the reason why most teams with this much of a shakeup haven’t had much success in the postseason is because bonds in hockey aren’t formed overnight.

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After historic roster turnover, can Avalanche defy odds with deep playoff run?

Tremendous Turnover

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