Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy delivered a Stanley Cup in the franchise's first season as the Avalanche, having relocated to Denver in 1995 after sixteen seasons as the Quebec Nordiques. A second title followed in 2001, and captain Gabriel Landeskog lifted a third alongside Nathan MacKinnon's dominant 2022 playoff run. Ball Arena, known as Pepsi Center when it opened in 1999, has hosted the club since.
As of Nov 3, 2026, here are the most recently projected forward lines, defense pairings and power-play units for the Colorado Avalanche. On the top line, the Colorado Avalanche are currently projected to run left wing Artturi Lehkonen, center Nathan MacKinnon and right wing Martin Necas together, a trio expected to log the heaviest 5-on-5 minutes on the roster, though without last change on the road it does not always draw the other team's top shutdown pairing. On the blue line, the top pairing is Devon Toews and Cale Makar, who typically log the heaviest 5-on-5 minutes on the back end and face the toughest zone starts, though the team's primary penalty-kill pairing is not always the same duo. On the power play, the PP1 unit runs T.J. Hughes, Nazem Kadri, Martin Necas, Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon, the unit most teams send out first on a power play, though a delayed-penalty scramble already in progress or a late matchup change can put a different five over the boards. These combinations reflect pre-game reporting rather than real-time tracking, and can change between games and even between periods, so check the today's lines tool for the most current deployment before puck drop.
| # | Player | Off | Def | PP | PK | OVR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nathan MacKinnon | 93 | 41 | 77 | 0 | 98 |
| 2 | Cale Makar | 82 | 59 | 85 | 50 | 97 |
| 3 | Mikko Rantanen | 62 | 44 | 81 | 0 | 95 |
| 4 | Artturi Lehkonen | 71 | 53 | 31 | 71 | 87 |
| 5 | Valeri Nichushkin | 62 | 50 | 46 | 67 | 84 |
As of Nov 3, 2026, the most recently projected lineup for the Colorado Avalanche includes 4 forward lines, 3 defense pairings and 2 power-play units, updated whenever a new pre-game lineup is reported.
As of Nov 3, 2026, the top line projected for the Colorado Avalanche is left wing Artturi Lehkonen, center Nathan MacKinnon and right wing Martin Necas.
These projected lines are drawn from Daily Faceoff's pre-game reporting, typically beat writers covering morning skates and warmups before puck drop. They reflect the coaching staff's intended deployment rather than shift-by-shift tracking collected once a game is already underway, and can still shift between a morning skate and the opening faceoff.
Lines can change from game to game, and sometimes within a single game, as a coaching staff reacts to matchups, injuries, scoring droughts or chemistry. Check back before each Colorado Avalanche game for the latest projected combinations, or browse the historical lines archive to see how often this team's lines have shifted recently.
