The Avalanche announced they’ve signed winger Gavin Brindley to a two-year extension through the 2027-28 season. The cap hit of the deal is $875,000, Aarif Deen of Colorado Hockey Now reports. He’ll earn an $850,000 NHL salary in a two-way structure in 2026-27 before it converts to a one-way deal worth $900,000 in 2028-29. He was set to become a restricted free agent next summer following the expiration of his entry-level contract.
It’s hard to imagine a better start to the season for Brindley. The 21-year-old winger was an early second-round pick by the Blue Jackets in 2023. He was one of the more offensively explosive prospects in their system with an extremely strong collegiate and international track record. While his 5’8″, 172-lb frame was always going to limit his stock, he had a spectacular post-draft season that saw him record 25 goals and 53 points in 40 games for the University of Michigan. He was the Big 10’s scoring leader in conference play in addition to racking up six goals and 10 points in seven games for the United States en route to a gold medal at the World Juniors.
That was enough for Columbus to offer Brindley his entry-level contract at the end of his sophomore season with the Wolverines. He accepted and turned pro, making his NHL debut in the Jackets’ final game of the 2023-24 season. That was the only game he’d play in a Blue Jackets sweater. Brindley didn’t crack the opening night roster the following season due to a finger fracture that delayed his season debut until November. When he got around to playing with AHL Cleveland, the adjustment to the pro game hit him like a truck. In 56 regular-season and playoff appearances for Cleveland, Brindley had just six goals and 11 assists for 17 points with a -10 rating.
With the Jackets already carrying one of the league’s brighter young forward groups, they were comfortable using Brindley as trade bait. So, after just one full pro season in the organization, they sent him to the Avs over the offseason in the deal that landed them veterans Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood.
Thus far, Colorado is happy with its return. Brindley snagged a roster spot out of camp and has quickly established himself as a regular on the Avs’ fourth line, offering a more offensively inclined counterpart to his rotation of linemates in Zakhar Bardakov, Parker Kelly, and Joel Kiviranta. He’s yet to be a healthy scratch and only missed a pair of games earlier this month due to a concussion. In 14 appearances, he’s rattled off his first five NHL points – three goals and two assists – despite not receiving any special teams deployment and averaging just 8:58 of ice time per game. His possession metrics aren’t spectacular, controlling 47.9% of shot attempts at 5-on-5, but Colorado is nonetheless outscoring opponents 7-5 with him on the ice.
There’s still plenty of room for growth in Brindley’s game, though. He’s less than three years out from his draft day and was ranked as Colorado’s top forward prospect and No. 4 overall by Elite Prospects over the offseason. With Colorado’s top nine gelling well offensively, there isn’t a ton of upward mobility for him this year. Victor Olofsson is a pending unrestricted free agent, though, and Brindley could conceivably push for a third-line job next season if he’s not brought back.
The Avs will still have four years of team control left when Brindley’s extension expires in 2028 – he won’t be eligible for unrestricted free agency until after the 2031-32 season.
Image courtesy of Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images.
That was a nice pickup by the Avs. Kid is a gamer.
Absolute steal of a trade.
Seems like a good move by Avs management as well as showing a strong commitment to keep Brindley in the organization for years to come.
the extension could end up being a steal too, wonder why a young guy with the middle 6 potential agreed to under a million for 2 years, i would’ve guessed $1M-$1.5M AAV similar to Lukas Reichel’s contract