Avalanche analysis: Joe Sakic, Chris MacFarland back Jared Bednar, express no regrets over Mikko Rantanen trade ...Middle East

Joe Sakic has experienced plenty of exhilarating highs in nearly four decades as part of the Colorado Avalanche, but he’s also no stranger to the feeling permeating through the organization right now.

The Avs were Stanley Cup contenders when they woke up Saturday morning. The season was over before they went to sleep. And it all came crashing down stunningly with a Game 7 collapse at the hands of Mikko Rantanen and the Dallas Stars.

“It hurts right now. This one stings,” Sakic said Tuesday at Colorado’s end-of-season press conference. “I’m not going to lie to you. You go into the playoffs … every year you want to win the Stanley Cup, but there’s those years that you feel like this is — like 2022 — we knew we had the team to do it. We feel like this year’s team was on that level, so that’s why this one’s going to sting. It’s going to sting a little longer than other years.”

Sakic and general manager Chris MacFarland addressed reporters three days after the club’s season ended in Dallas. There was no question about the club’s intent to compete for a title this season.

MacFarland and Sakic overhauled the roster with a flurry of in-season trades. Future draft capital and top prospects were jettisoned to build a $100 million war machine. The Avs looked like a team capable of winning 16 playoff games after the trade deadline, but the run ended three rounds too early.

“We just didn’t get it done,” MacFarland said. “We had three third-period leads with 12 minutes to go. Some crucial times where we had to come through, whether it was on the special teams or whatever, to step on their throat early in the series, and we didn’t do it.”

There will be one notable change for next season. There could be others, but it will also be a long offseason as the Avs try to work out what went wrong, how to address needs and how to rebound for another run in 2026.

Here are the top takeaways from what Sakic and MacFarland had to say:

Assistant coach Ray Bennett fired

The Avs dismissed Bennett Tuesday morning, shortly before the press conference. Bennett has been with the Avs for the past eight seasons, joining Jared Bednar and Nolan Pratt after their first year. The Avs had the third-best power play over his eight seasons with the club.

Colorado had the best power play in the NHL from the day after Rantanen was traded to Carolina to the end of the regular season. But the Avs power play failed against the Stars, going 3 for 24 and not scoring at several key points that would have swung the series in Colorado’s favor.

“When you look at how we lost, we just feel maybe a different voice could help,” Sakic said. “It just ran dry at the wrong time. It’s tough to make a change. You don’t like to do that.”

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Analysis: When Nathan MacKinnon used the phrase “bad adjustments” in the moments after Game 7, the writing was on the wall. Dallas is a great penalty-killing team, but Colorado just couldn’t find a way to be consistently dangerous, let alone score. MacKinnon had all three goals. Valeri Nichushkin and Gabe Landeskog — two of the best net-front players in the world — spent almost no time near Oettinger. How the pieces fit without Rantanen to hammer one-timers from the left flank remains a question to be answered.

Jared Bednar is coming back

No other changes to the coaching staff or in hockey operations are expected, according to the Avs’ decision-makers. Bednar, the second-most tenured coach in the NHL and the winningest in franchise history, will return.

“One hundred percent confident Jared is our head coach,” MacFarland said.

Analysis: Removing Bednar would have been change for the sake of change. There are seven other teams right now without a permanent head coach, and there are few options available as accomplished as Bednar or who would have the gravitas needed for a veteran, Cup-contending club. That said, there will be even more scrutiny on Bednar and this team to advance deep into the playoffs next season, and the roster might not be as strong.

What about Brock Nelson?

The Avs would like to bring free agent Brock Nelson back. Colorado spent a ton to add Nelson, who will be 34 years old in October. The two best long-term candidates to be the No. 2 center behind MacKinnon — Casey Mittelstadt and Calum Ritchie — were both traded. The pickings on the free-agent market, after Nelson and John Tavares, are slim.

“Brock’s a known quantity in this league,” MacFarland said. “We’ll continue to do our exit (interviews) and our work. One of those is meet with Brock and find out how he felt fitting in. We’ll attack the offseason negotiations in due time and make those hard decisions.”

Analysis: This is the decision that defines the offseason. Nelson had some pretty quiet nights after the trade, but he also played quite well in the final four games of the Dallas series. If it’s not Nelson, can they find someone else in a trade? If not, it could be Charlie Coyle to start the year and another deadline of shopping around one.

No Rantanen regrets

Sakic and MacFarland fielded multiple questions about the Rantanen trade and any potential reflections in hindsight. Neither man expressed regret.

“What’s done is done. That happened. We move forward,” Sakic said. “We were very confident with the group we have here. … It was a lot deeper, a lot stronger than it was to start the year or at Christmas time.”

Analysis: Part of the reason Sakic spoke in a news conference setting for the first time in years was to field questions about the Rantanen trade. The Avs knew it was going to be a big topic. He and MacFarland were direct about it. Sakic said Rantanen’s agents “knew where they were before the trade.”

Translation: Sakic hasn’t enjoyed some of the post-trade coverage about what Rantanen’s camp might have been willing to sign for at some point later in the negotiation.

Landy is here to stay

The Avs hope that Gabe Landeskog is back for good. The team and the captain were both on board with him waiting until Game 3 to return. Landeskog is not expected to join Sweden for the world championships, even though it’s taking place in his hometown (Stockholm). Still, there is optimism about what the rest of Landeskog’s career looks like now.

“Nobody knew if he would be able to come back, not even himself,” Sakic said. “To come back the way he did, it was pretty inspiring. Knowing another full summer of training, we’re very fortunate that he showed how he showed, how well he played, and we’re excited to have him come back to start the season with the group. A big plus for us.”

Analysis: The Avs have more certainty about key players on the roster than they’ve had in three years. A “back to normal” Landeskog, combined with a healthy Valeri Nichushkin and Artturi Lehkonen, should make the start of next season very different than this past one.

There’s no reset coming

The Avs have pushed a lot of chips into the middle, but they’re not slowing down or taking a step back.

“Listen, when you’ve got Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon, your window is open,” Sakic said. “You’re not going to have those players forever. So when you have them, you try and surround them with as good a players as you can and give them that opportunity to do what they do best.”

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