The 2020–21 Colorado Avalanche season was the 26th operational season and 25th playing season since the franchise relocated from Quebec prior to the start of the 1995–96 NHL season. As well as the franchise's 42nd season in the National Hockey League and 49th season overall. The Avalanche commemorated their 25th anniversary this season.

On December 20, 2020, the league temporarily realigned into four divisions with no conferences due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing closure of the Canada–United States border. As a result of this realignment, the Avalanche played this season in the West Division and only played against the other teams in their new division during the regular season and the first two rounds of the playoffs.

On April 22, the Avalanche clinched a playoff berth following a 4–2 win over the St. Louis Blues. They clinched their third Presidents' Trophy, as well as their tenth division championship, with a 5–1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings in their last game of the season on May 13. The Avalanche swept the St. Louis Blues in the First Round, with a 5–2 win in game four. In their Second Round series against the Vegas Golden Knights, the Avalanche initially led the series 2–0, but were later eliminated from the playoffs after they lost the next four games.

Standings

Divisional standings

Schedule and results

Regular season The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020. 2020–21 game logJanuary: 6–3–1 (Home: 3–1–0; Road: 3–2–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 January 13 St. Louis 4–1 Colorado Grubauer 0 0–1–0 0 2 January 15 St. Louis 0–8 Colorado Grubauer 0 1–1–0 2 3 January 19 Colorado 3–2 Los Angeles Grubauer 0 2–1–0 4 4 January 21 Colorado 2–4 Los Angeles Miska 0 2–2–0 4 5 January 22 Colorado 3–2 Anaheim OT Grubauer 0 3–2–0 6 6 January 24 Colorado 1–3 Anaheim Grubauer 0 3–3–0 6 7 January 26 San Jose 3–7 Colorado Grubauer 0 4–3–0 8 8 January 28 San Jose 0–3 Colorado Grubauer 0 5–3–0 10 9 January 30 Colorado 5–1 Minnesota Grubauer 0 6–3–0 12 10 January 31 Colorado 3–4 Minnesota OT Miska 0 6–3–1 13 February: 5–3–0 (Home: 2–2–0; Road: 3–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 11 February 2 Minnesota 1–2 Colorado Grubauer 0 7–3–1 15 — February 4 Minnesota – Colorado Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for February 24. — February 6 Colorado – St. Louis Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for April 14. — February 7 Colorado – St. Louis Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for April 20. — February 9 Arizona – Colorado Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for March 31. — February 11 Arizona – Colorado Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for April 12. 12 February 14 Colorado 0–1 Vegas Grubauer 0 7–4–1 15 13 February 16 Colorado 3–2 Vegas Grubauer 0 8–4–1 17 14 February 20 Vegas 2–3 Colorado Grubauer 0(outdoors) 9–4–1 19 15 February 22 Vegas 3–0 Colorado Grubauer 0 9–5–1 19 16 February 24 Minnesota 6–2 Colorado Grubauer 0 9–6–1 19 17 February 26 Colorado 3–2 Arizona Miska 2,495 10–6–1 21 18 February 27 Colorado 6–2 Arizona Grubauer 3,224 11–6–1 23 March: 12–2–3 (Home: 10–1–2; Road: 2–1–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 19 March 1 Colorado 2–6 San Jose Grubauer 0 11–7–1 23 20 March 3 Colorado 4–0 San Jose Grubauer 0 12–7–1 25 21 March 5 Anaheim 2–3 Colorado OT Grubauer 0 13–7–1 27 22 March 6 Anaheim 5–4 Colorado OT Miska 0 13–7–2 28 23 March 8 Arizona 3–2 Colorado Grubauer 0 13–8–2 28 24 March 10 Arizona 1–2 Colorado OT Grubauer 0 14–8–2 30 25 March 12 Los Angeles 0–2 Colorado Grubauer 0 15–8–2 32 26 March 14 Los Angeles 1–4 Colorado Grubauer 0 16–8–2 34 27 March 16 Anaheim 4–8 Colorado Grubauer 0 17–8–2 36 28 March 18 Minnesota 1–5 Colorado Grubauer 0 18–8–2 38 29 March 20 Minnesota 0–6 Colorado Grubauer 0 19–8–2 40 30 March 22 Colorado 5–1 Arizona Grubauer 2,593 20–8–2 42 31 March 23 Colorado 4–5 Arizona SO Johansson 2,539 20–8–3 43 32 March 25 Vegas 1–5 Colorado Grubauer 0 21–8–3 45 33 March 27 Vegas 3–2 Colorado OT Grubauer 0 21–8–4 46 34 March 29 Anaheim 2–5 Colorado Grubauer 0 22–8–4 48 35 March 31 Arizona 3–9 Colorado Grubauer 0 23–8–4 50 April: 9–4–0 (Home: 4–0–0; Road: 5–4–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 36 April 2 St. Louis 2–3 Colorado Johansson 4,039 24–8–4 52 37 April 3 St. Louis 1–2 Colorado Grubauer 4,035 25–8–4 54 38 April 5 Colorado 5–4 Minnesota Grubauer 3,000 26–8–4 56 39 April 7 Colorado 3–8 Minnesota Grubauer 3,000 26–9–4 56 40 April 9 Colorado 2–0 Anaheim Johansson 0 27–9–4 58 41 April 11 Colorado 4–1 Anaheim Johansson 0 28–9–4 60 42 April 12 Arizona 2–4 Colorado Grubauer 4,042 29–9–4 62 43 April 14 Colorado 4–3 St. Louis Dubnyk — 30–9–4 64 — April 16 Los Angeles – Colorado Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for May 12. — April 18 Los Angeles – Colorado Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for May 13. — April 20 Colorado – St. Louis Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for April 26. 44 April 22 Colorado 4–2 St. Louis Dubnyk — 31–9–4 66 45 April 24 Colorado 3–5 St. Louis Dubnyk — 31–10–4 66 46 April 26 Colorado 1–4 St. Louis Johansson — 31–11–4 66 47 April 28 Colorado 2–5 Vegas Dubnyk 3,950 31–12–4 66 48 April 30 San Jose 0–3 Colorado Grubauer 4,045 32–12–4 68 May: 7–1–0 (Home: 4–0–0; Road: 3–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 49 May 1 San Jose 3–4 Colorado Dubnyk 4,037 33–12–4 70 50 May 3 Colorado 5–4 San Jose OT Grubauer 1,071 34–12–4 72 51 May 5 Colorado 2–3 San Jose Grubauer 1,041 34–13–4 72 52 May 7 Colorado 3–2 Los Angeles Grubauer 2,115 35–13–4 74 53 May 8 Colorado 3–2 Los Angeles Johansson 2,482 36–13–4 76 54 May 10 Colorado 2–1 Vegas Grubauer 7,567 37–13–4 78 55 May 12 Los Angeles 0–6 Colorado Grubauer 4,042 38–13–4 80 56 May 13 Los Angeles 1–5 Colorado Johansson 4,045 39–13–4 82 Legend:

Playoffs

2021 Stanley Cup playoffsWest Division First Round vs. (W4) St. Louis Blues: Colorado won 4–0 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 May 17 St. Louis 1–4 Colorado Grubauer 7,741 1–0 2 May 19 St. Louis 3–6 Colorado Grubauer 7,739 2–0 3 May 21 Colorado 5–1 St. Louis Grubauer 9,000 3–0 4 May 23 Colorado 5–2 St. Louis Grubauer 9,000 4–0 West Division Second Round vs. (W2) Vegas Golden Knights: Vegas won 4–2 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 May 30 Vegas 1–7 Colorado Grubauer 10,489 1–0 2 June 2 Vegas 2–3 Colorado OT Grubauer 10,491 2–0 3 June 4 Colorado 2–3 Vegas Grubauer 17,504 2–1 4 June 6 Colorado 1–5 Vegas Grubauer 18,081 2–2 5 June 8 Vegas 3–2 Colorado OT Grubauer 10,495 2–3 6 June 10 Colorado 3–6 Vegas Grubauer 18,149 2–4 Legend:

Player statistics Final stats Skaters

Regular season Player 52 30 36 66 +30 34 48 20 45 65 +22 37 54 20 32 52 +14 34 53 19 25 44 +4 10 44 8 36 44 +17 12 56 11 21 32 −7 34 48 5 27 32 +15 16 51 17 14 31 +14 10 53 9 22 31 +29 16 44 15 9 24 +1 12 55 10 11 21 +9 4 48 10 8 18 +10 19 54 7 10 17 +14 24 54 2 13 15 +15 55 53 9 2 11 +6 21 33 1 8 9 +14 8 31 0 7 7 +6 8 22 3 2 5 +6 6 18 0 3 3 −2 6 18 0 3 3 −1 16 15 0 3 3 +2 0 12 0 3 3 +1 40 6 0 3 3 +5 2 † 13 1 1 2 +6 6 19 0 2 2 +1 23 † 11 0 2 2 0 4 7 0 2 2 +2 0 5 0 1 1 +1 5 4 0 1 1 +2 2 †‡ 8 0 0 0 −2 4 5 0 0 0 −1 4 3 0 0 0 0 5 3 0 0 0 +1 4 3 0 0 0 −1 4 ‡ 2 0 0 0 0 0

Playoffs Player 10 8 7 15 +6 2 10 5 8 13 +5 4 10 4 9 13 +1 9 10 2 8 10 0 2 10 7 1 8 +3 12 10 1 5 6 +5 10 10 1 5 6 +10 2 10 3 2 5 −1 0 10 0 5 5 −5 2 10 2 2 4 −3 4 10 1 3 4 −1 4 10 1 2 3 −3 10 10 0 3 3 +1 0 10 1 1 2 +2 4 8 1 1 2 0 2 4 1 1 2 −1 2 10 0 1 1 +1 6 2 0 1 1 −1 10 2 0 1 1 0 0 10 0 0 0 −2 0 2 0 0 0 −1 0 2 0 0 0 −3 0

Goaltenders Regular season Player 40 39 2366:07 30 9 1 77 1.95 993 .922 7 0 0 0 † 8 7 436:57 5 1 1 15 2.06 173 .913 1 0 0 0 † 5 5 294:38 3 2 0 16 3.26 140 .886 0 0 0 0 5 5 259:48 1 1 2 18 4.16 111 .838 0 0 0 0 Playoffs Player 10 10 597:54 6 4 26 2.61 301 .914 0 0 1 0 †Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Avalanche. Stats reflect time with the Avalanche only. ‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Avalanche only. Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

Transactions The Avalanche have been involved in the following transactions during the 2020–21 season

Trades Date Details Ref To Chicago BlackhawksNikita ZadorovAnton LindholmTo Colorado AvalancheBrandon SaadDennis Gilbert To New York IslandersA. J. GreerTo Colorado AvalancheKyle Burroughs To New York Islanders2nd-round pick in 20212nd-round pick in 2022To Colorado AvalancheDevon Toews To Minnesota WildIan ColeTo Colorado AvalancheGreg Pateryn To Buffalo Sabres6th-round pick in 2021To Colorado AvalancheJonas Johansson To Detroit Red Wings4th-round pick in 2022To Colorado AvalanchePatrik Nemeth To San Jose SharksGreg Pateryn5th-round pick in 2021To Colorado AvalancheDevan Dubnyk

Free agents Date Player Team Contract term Ref Vladislav Kamenev to SKA Saint Petersburg (KHL) 2-year Mark Barberio to Lausanne HC (NL) 3-year Miikka Salomaki from Toronto Maple Leafs 1-year Kiefer Sherwood from Anaheim Ducks 1-year Mike Vecchione from St. Louis Blues 1-year Mark Alt to Los Angeles Kings 1-year Vladislav Namestnikov to Detroit Red Wings 2-year Matt Nieto to San Jose Sharks 1-year Antoine Bibeau to Carolina Hurricanes 1-year Michael Hutchinson to Toronto Maple Leafs 2-year Kevin Connauton to Florida Panthers 1-year

Retirement Date Player Ref Colin Wilson

Signings Date Player Contract term Ref Logan O'Connor 2-year Sheldon Dries 1-year Andre Burakovsky 2-year Valeri Nichushkin 2-year Jayson Megna 1-year Ryan Graves 3-year Tyson Jost 1-year Hunter Miska 2-year Devon Toews 4-year Kyle Burroughs 1-year Alex Newhook 3-year

Draft picks

Below are the Colorado Avalanches' selection at the 2020 NHL Draft that was held on October 6–7 at NHL Network Studios.

Round # Player Pos Nationality College/Junior/Club team (league)125 Justin Barron D Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)375 Jean-Luc Foudy C Windsor Spitfires (OHL)4118 Colby Ambrosio C Tri-City Storm (USHL)5139 Ryder Rolston RW Waterloo Blackhawks (USHL)6167 Nils Aman C New Hampshire Wildcats (H-East)

Notes

References