The Colorado Avalanche have only won five of their first 10 games and have two losses in a row. It’s a slow start even for a team that’s used to turning things around and getting hot as the season progresses. 

The 3-2 loss against the Philadelphia Flyers was stunning because of the opponent, a team that entered the game with one win on the season. The 4-3 loss against the New Jersey Devils the next night was stunning because the Avalanche didn’t respond and fight back the way they typically do when they come off a loss. 

There were mixed reviews of the play from the Avalanche. Is it a bump in the road, or are there glaring concerns with this team? Are they just going through a rough stretch, or has this team peaked? 

Cale Makar profusely wiped sweat from his face after battling against the Devils. It was clear he played at a high level to give the Avalanche a chance to win the game, with two assists, including a highlight-reel one in the first period to give the team some life. His efforts weren’t enough. 

Nathan MacKinnon dropped the gloves in the opening night game against the Los Angeles Kings. His tilt against Brandt Clarke was proof that the superstar forward has more to his game and can give the Avalanche an edge and energy when they need it. It wasn’t the only time MacKinnon showed the physical side to his game this season, either for a player looking to start the season with a bang. He certainly has, with 16 points in 10 games but the rest of the team hasn’t. 

The Avalanche are off to a slow start, but their stars are still playing at a high level and can drag them to a competitive season. They’ve proven it in the past and know that these losses shouldn’t be taken lightly. “These points are going to be points you wish you had at the end of the year. It’s only going to get tougher,” Makar noted after the 4-3 loss to the Devils. 

Makar is one of the players who lead by example, a defenseman who sets the tone with his elite play and work ethic. He’s now a leader in the room and sees a team that is still talented enough to be one of the best in the NHL. “I don’t think the issue is focus. I think we’re there; we’re dialed in. This might come down to some of those details that we’re losing track of and not really connecting, whether it’s offensively or defensively,” Makar added. 

It’s easy to look at the players in the room, the talent in the room, and shrug off this slow start. They’ve been through the grind that is the regular season. They know that to win the Cup, a great team must take things up a notch and get it together down the stretch and when the playoffs roll around. The Avalanche are one of those teams that won’t panic because they know it’s a long season, and the losses in October are when they are still figuring things out. 

The San Jose Sharks were a consistent Cup contender in the 2010s with multiple Western Conference Final appearances and a trip to the 2016 Stanley Cup Final. With Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns, and a deep forward group in its prime, nobody expected a drop-off. 

Then in 2019-20, the Sharks fell off a cliff. The warning signs and red flags were front and center as a team suddenly declined with age, couldn’t defend, and lost key veterans like Joe Pavelski, who kept the room together. Burns, ironically, is on this Avalanche team that is hoping to avoid that cliff, or even a steady decline, and keep that window open. 

Championship windows close fast in the NHL. A team comes close to the Cup and then doesn’t make the playoffs the next season. The Avalanche won the Presidents’ Trophy last season and had a star-studded team from the top down. They added Nazem Kadri to put them over the hump. Yet, they came up short in the Western Conference Final. 

Now, they are one year older, another year with more wear and tear on them, and it’s starting to show. They’ve lost five of their first 10 games and haven’t been the dominant force that they’ve been in the past. 

Moreover, the teams around them are younger, faster, and more skilled. The Utah Mammoth, a team that was building for years, looks like an elite team, and it shows with a 7-3 record. The San Jose Sharks, the team that had to tear things down and rebuild from the ground up at the start of the decade, now have a great team led by young rising stars. The Western Conference is better, and the Avalanche are still in the same place. The question is whether those teams passed them by. They hope not, but the first few games haven’t been promising. 

The last two defeats, while tough to digest, came on a back-to-back in the Eastern Time Zone early on in the season. The Avalanche are heading back home and are eager to return to the win column. While their next opponent will be the Tampa Bay Lightning, a team that’s off to a hot start, it’s a good game for them to get back on track, as they have a few days to sit on the back-to-back losses. 

The Avalanche then head to Nashville to face the Predators, then host the Devils, Calgary Flames, Chicago Blackhawks, and Columbus Blue Jackets. It’s a stretch that’s not only at home but against a handful of rebuilding teams. 

The upcoming games will determine whether the Avalanche still have it and are still a team to beat in the NHL. Or whether that cliff is closer than the hockey world thought. Or whether changes must come in some form. 

The front office, led by Joe Sakic, has no problem changing things up, whether that means overhauling the goaltending, which the Avalanche did in the middle of the 2024-25 season, or trading a star like Mikko Rantanen for depth, which the team did a month before the 2025 trade deadline. They’ll have no problem doing something early again if things don’t improve.