2020–21 Colorado Avalanche season

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.

2020–21 Colorado Avalanche
Presidents' Trophy winners
West Division champions
Division	1st West
2020–21 record	39–13–4
Home record	22–4–2
Road record	17–9–2
Goals for	197
Goals against	133
Team information
General manager	Joe Sakic
Coach	Jared Bednar
Captain	Gabriel Landeskog
Alternate captains	Erik Johnson Nathan MacKinnon
Arena	Ball Arena
Minor league affiliate(s)	Colorado Eagles (AHL) Utah Grizzlies (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Mikko Rantanen (30)
Assists	Nathan MacKinnon (45)
Points	Mikko Rantanen (66)
Penalty minutes	Ryan Graves (55)
Plus/minus	Mikko Rantanen (+30)
Wins	Philipp Grubauer (30)
Goals against average	Philipp Grubauer (1.95)

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

West Division

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	p – Colorado Avalanche	56	39	13	4	35	197	133	+64	82
2	x – Vegas Golden Knights	56	40	14	2	30	191	124	+67	82
3	x – Minnesota Wild	56	35	16	5	27	181	160	+21	75
4	x – St. Louis Blues	56	27	20	9	19	169	170	−1	63
5	e – Arizona Coyotes	56	24	26	6	19	153	176	−23	54
6	e – Los Angeles Kings	56	21	28	7	19	143	170	−27	49
7	e – San Jose Sharks	56	21	28	7	15	151	199	−48	49
8	e – Anaheim Ducks	56	17	30	9	11	126	179	−53	43

Source: National Hockey League
Rules for classification: 1) Fewer number of games played (GP, only during regular season); 2) Greater number of regulation wins (RW); 3) Greater number of wins in regulation and overtime, excluding shootout wins (ROW); 4) Greater number of total wins, including shootouts (W); 5) Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded; 6) Greater goal differential (GD); 7) Greater number of goals scored (GF)
e – Eliminated from playoff contention; p – Clinched Presidents' Trophy; x – Clinched playoff spot

Schedule and results

Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020.

2020–21 game log
January: 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:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)   Postponement

Playoffs

Main article: 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs

2021 Stanley Cup playoffs
West 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:   Win   Loss

Player statistics

Final stats

Skaters

Regular season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/–	PIM
Mikko Rantanen	52	30	36	66	+30	34
Nathan MacKinnon	48	20	45	65	+22	37
Gabriel Landeskog	54	20	32	52	+14	34
Andre Burakovsky	53	19	25	44	+4	10
Cale Makar	44	8	36	44	+17	12
Nazem Kadri	56	11	21	32	−7	34
Sam Girard	48	5	27	32	+15	16
Joonas Donskoi	51	17	14	31	+14	10
Devon Toews	53	9	22	31	+29	16
Brandon Saad	44	15	9	24	+1	12
Valeri Nichushkin	55	10	11	21	+9	4
J. T. Compher	48	10	8	18	+10	19
Tyson Jost	54	7	10	17	+14	24
Ryan Graves	54	2	13	15	+15	55
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare	53	9	2	11	+6	21
Jacob MacDonald	33	1	8	9	+14	8
Conor Timmins	31	0	7	7	+6	8
Logan O'Connor	22	3	2	5	+6	6
Matt Calvert	18	0	3	3	−2	6
Dan Renouf	18	0	3	3	−1	16
Kiefer Sherwood	15	0	3	3	+2	0
Liam O'Brien	12	0	3	3	+1	40
Alex Newhook	6	0	3	3	+5	2
Patrik Nemeth†	13	1	1	2	+6	6
Bowen Byram	19	0	2	2	+1	23
Carl Soderberg†	11	0	2	2	0	4
Jayson Megna	7	0	2	2	+2	0
Kyle Burroughs	5	0	1	1	+1	5
Erik Johnson	4	0	1	1	+2	2
Greg Pateryn†‡	8	0	0	0	−2	4
Martin Kaut	5	0	0	0	−1	4
Dennis Gilbert	3	0	0	0	0	5
Sheldon Dries	3	0	0	0	+1	4
Keaton Middleton	3	0	0	0	−1	4
Ian Cole‡	2	0	0	0	0	0

Playoffs

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Nathan MacKinnon	10	8	7	15	+6	2
Mikko Rantanen	10	5	8	13	+5	4
Gabriel Landeskog	10	4	9	13	+1	9
Cale Makar	10	2	8	10	0	2
Brandon Saad	10	7	1	8	+3	12
Ryan Graves	10	1	5	6	+5	10
Devon Toews	10	1	5	6	+10	2
Joonas Donskoi	10	3	2	5	−1	0
Sam Girard	10	0	5	5	−5	2
Tyson Jost	10	2	2	4	−3	4
Andre Burakovsky	10	1	3	4	−1	4
Valeri Nichushkin	10	1	2	3	−3	10
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare	10	0	3	3	+1	0
J. T. Compher	10	1	1	2	+2	4
Alex Newhook	8	1	1	2	0	2
Carl Soderberg	4	1	1	2	−1	2
Patrik Nemeth	10	0	1	1	+1	6
Nazem Kadri	2	0	1	1	−1	10
Kiefer Sherwood	2	0	1	1	0	0
Conor Timmins	10	0	0	0	−2	0
Sampo Ranta	2	0	0	0	−1	0
Logan O'Connor	2	0	0	0	−3	0

Goaltenders

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Philipp Grubauer	40	39	2366:07	30	9	1	77	1.95	993	.922	7	0	0	0
Jonas Johansson†	8	7	436:57	5	1	1	15	2.06	173	.913	1	0	0	0
Devan Dubnyk†	5	5	294:38	3	2	0	16	3.26	140	.886	0	0	0	0
Hunter Miska	5	5	259:48	1	1	2	18	4.16	111	.838	0	0	0	0

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Philipp Grubauer	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
October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09)	To Chicago Blackhawks Nikita Zadorov Anton Lindholm	To Colorado Avalanche Brandon Saad Dennis Gilbert
October 10, 2020 (2020-10-10)	To New York Islanders A. J. Greer	To Colorado Avalanche Kyle Burroughs
October 11, 2020 (2020-10-11)	To New York Islanders 2nd-round pick in 2021 2nd-round pick in 2022	To Colorado Avalanche Devon Toews
January 19, 2021 (2021-01-19)	To Minnesota Wild Ian Cole	To Colorado Avalanche Greg Pateryn
March 20, 2021 (2021-03-20)	To Buffalo Sabres 6th-round pick in 2021	To Colorado Avalanche Jonas Johansson
April 9, 2021 (2021-04-09)	To Detroit Red Wings 4th-round pick in 2022	To Colorado Avalanche Patrik Nemeth
April 10, 2021 (2021-04-10)	To San Jose Sharks Greg Pateryn 5th-round pick in 2021	To Colorado Avalanche Devan Dubnyk

Free agents

Date	Player	Team	Contract term	Ref
September 1, 2020 (2020-09-01)	Vladislav Kamenev	to SKA Saint Petersburg (KHL)	2-year
September 10, 2020 (2020-09-10)	Mark Barberio	to Lausanne HC (NL)	3-year
October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09)	Miikka Salomaki	from Toronto Maple Leafs	1-year
October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09)	Kiefer Sherwood	from Anaheim Ducks	1-year
October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09)	Mike Vecchione	from St. Louis Blues	1-year
October 10, 2020 (2020-10-10)	Mark Alt	to Los Angeles Kings	1-year
October 11, 2020 (2020-10-11)	Vladislav Namestnikov	to Detroit Red Wings	2-year
October 13, 2020 (2020-10-13)	Matt Nieto	to San Jose Sharks	1-year
October 22, 2020 (2020-10-22)	Antoine Bibeau	to Carolina Hurricanes	1-year
October 30, 2020 (2020-10-30)	Michael Hutchinson	to Toronto Maple Leafs	2-year
January 14, 2021 (2021-01-14)	Kevin Connauton	to Florida Panthers	1-year

Retirement

Date	Player	Ref
January 4, 2021 (2021-01-04)	Colin Wilson

Signings

Date	Player	Contract term	Ref
September 18, 2020 (2020-09-18)	Logan O'Connor	2-year
October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09)	Sheldon Dries	1-year
October 10, 2020 (2020-10-10)	Andre Burakovsky	2-year
October 10, 2020 (2020-10-10)	Valeri Nichushkin	2-year
October 11, 2020 (2020-10-11)	Jayson Megna	1-year
October 12, 2020 (2020-10-12)	Ryan Graves	3-year
October 19, 2020 (2020-10-19)	Tyson Jost	1-year
October 19, 2020 (2020-10-19)	Hunter Miska	2-year
October 27, 2020 (2020-10-27)	Devon Toews	4-year
October 30, 2020 (2020-10-30)	Kyle Burroughs	1-year
March 31, 2021 (2021-03-31)	Alex Newhook	3-year

Draft picks

See also: List of Colorado Avalanche 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)
1	25	Justin Barron	D	Canada	Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)
3	75	Jean-Luc Foudy	C	Canada	Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
4	118	Colby Ambrosio	C	Canada	Tri-City Storm (USHL)
5	139	Ryder Rolston	RW	United States	Waterloo Blackhawks (USHL)
6	167	Nils Aman	C	Sweden	New Hampshire Wildcats (H-East)