Avalanche Reassign Alex Barre-Boulet To AHL
8:28 PM: Today’s recalls were short-lived as following the game, the Avs announced that both Barre-Boulet and Ivan were sent back to the Eagles.
3:07 PM: The Colorado Avalanche made one more recall before Monday’s home contest against the Washington Capitals. Depth forward Alex Barre-Boulet was called up to the NHL roster after it was announced that winger Valeri Nichushkin would miss Monday’s game with an upper-body injury. Fellow recall Ivan Ivan will also appear in the lineup.
This will be Barre-Boulet’s first NHL contest since playing in the first two games of the Montreal Canadiens’ 2024-25 season. He posted no scoring, one penalty, and a minus-two in those contests – prompting the Canadiens to send Barre-Boulet to the AHL’s Laval Rocket for the season. The veteran forward proved a tremendous boost to Laval’s roster. He led the team in scoring with 63 points in 64 regular season games and 11 points in 13 playoff games.
That strong year prompted another change of scenery this summer. Barre-Boulet moved from Laval to the Colorado Eagles, where he has held onto his touch. He leads the Eagles in points in 37 in 36 games this season. Now, the Avalanche will reward that scoring in a time of need, and bring Barre-Boulet back into the NHL fold. He played in 68 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning between 2020 and 2024, scoring 12 goals and 18 points. Much of Barre-Boulet’s time in the NHL has come on the fourth-line, a trend that should continue in Colorado.
The depth addition won’t quite help the Avalanche make up for Nichushkin’s absence. The toolsy, Russian winger has 11 goals and 27 points in 38 games this season. He snapped a six-game scoring drought with a point on Friday – but racked up a lofty 14 points in as many games during December. Even after a recent dry spell, Nichushkin remains cemented in Colorado’s top-nine, and leaves multiple holes in the lineup. The Avalanche will lean on Barre-Boulet, Ross Colton, and Gavin Brindley to collectively make up for Nichushkin’s absence.
Ivan Sent Back To AHL Colorado
1/19: With another game looming, the Avalanche have once again recalled Ivan to the NHL roster. This is already Ivan’s fourth recall of 2026.
- The Avalanche announced last night (Twitter link) that they have once again assigned forward Ivan Ivan back to AHL Colorado. It’s the third time in barely a week that he has been recalled and subsequently reassigned. The 23-year-old did suit up against Nashville on Friday, his sixth NHL contest of the season. In those outings, Ivan has one assist while in 31 games with the Eagles, he has two goals and six helpers.
Avalanche Recall Ivan Ivan, Zakhar Bardakov
Jan. 16th: According to a team announcement, the Avalanche have also brought Ivan back to the NHL roster. Colorado now has a full 23-man roster for their return to action today.
Jan. 15th: As expected, the Avalanche announced that they’ve recalled Bardakov ahead of tomorrow’s contest against the Nashville Predators.
Jan. 13th: The Colorado Avalanche have shedded a few depth forwards from their active roster. According to a team announcement, the Avalanche have reassigned Ivan Ivan and Zakhar Bardakov to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles.
Despite the new rules that stipulate a player must play at least one game with their respective AHL team before being eligible for recall, Colorado is in a brief window to make a “paper transaction” to accrue cap space. The Avalanche don’t play again until January 16th, and the Eagles play tonight and tomorrow at home, giving each player more than enough time to meet the requirements. Additionally, as their name alludes to, Colorado’s AHL affiliate plays approximately an hour north of Denver, making for a brief trip back to the NHL roster.
Ivan, 23, hasn’t spent as much time in the NHL as he did last season. Particularly due to multiple injuries, Ivan spent half the season with the Avalanche last year, scoring five goals and eight points throughout his rookie season, averaging 10:02 of ice time per night. Fortunately, Colorado hasn’t needed him as much this season, as he’s featured in only five contests.
Given his youth, it’s more beneficial for Ivan to play in the AHL, where he has access to more ice time. He has not exhibited the same scoring ability as in previous years, tallying only two goals and eight points in 30 games this season. Two years ago, his first with the Eagles, Ivan scored 12 goals and 31 points in 67 games.
Meanwhile, Bardakov, 24, has spent much more time in the NHL this year. Much like Ivan, he’s been used in a depth role, scoring one goal and eight points in 32 games, averaging 7:17 of ice time per night. However, unlike Ivan, the former standout for the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg has yet to appear in an AHL contest, meaning he’ll make his debut for the Eagles either today or tomorrow.
Injury Notes: Vladar, Wilsby, Colton
The Philadelphia Flyers could avoid the worst after taking a blow to their goalie room. Daniel Vladar is only expected to be out short-term after sustaining an injury in the first period of Wednesday’s loss to the Buffalo Sabres, per Kevin Kurz of The Athletic and ESPN’s Emily Kaplan during Thursday’s broadcast. Vladar was replaced by Samuel Ersson while Alexei Kolosov was recalled on Thursday morning.
Vladar has led the charge for the Flyers goaltending room with 16 wins, a .905 save percentage, and a 2.46 goals-against-average in 28 games. He is the only Flyer with a save percentage north of .900 – with Ersson sporting a .853 in 18 games and Kolosov a .886 in three games. The two goalies split the next in Philadelphia’s 3-6 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. They each allowed three goals, though Kolosov had 16 saves to Ersson’s 14. The two will continue an even battle for starting minutes, while Philadelphia hopes for more good news around Vladar’s timeline.
More injury updates from around the league:
- Nashville Predators defenseman Adam Wilsby is out day-to-day with a lower-body injury per Alex Daugherty of The Tennessean. It is unclear when Wilsby sustained the injury. He played more than 21 minutes of Nashville’s overtime win over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday, the fourth-most ice time of any Predators skater. Wilsby recorded one assist and a plus-one in the outing with no clear sign of wear. Either way, Wilsby will be expected to miss Friday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche and could be doubtful for Saturday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights. Sitting out the back-to-back road games will give Wilsby four days to rest up before Nashville returns home next Tuesday. The 25 year old has seven points and a minus-four in 36 games this season.
- The Colorado Avalanche also face a hole in the lineup. Forward Ross Colton is out day-to-day with an upper-body injury and questionable for Friday’s game against Nashville, head coach Jared Bednar told Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette. Colton played through regulation, but sat out of the overtime period, in Monday’s loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. He recorded five shots on goal that game. Colton has been a relentless piece of Colorado’s bottom-six this season. He has four points in his last three games, bringing his year-long totals up to 20 points in 45 games. That performance has made Colton a focal piece of Colorado’s gameplan. His absence would likely prompt the Avalanche to once again recal winger Ivan Ivan, who has one assist in five NHL games this season. Ivan has also scored eight points in 31 AHL games.
Avalanche Activate Mackenzie Blackwood, Reassign Trent Miner
According to a team announcement, the Colorado Avalanche have activated netminder Mackenzie Blackwood from the injured reserve. In a corresponding roster move, the Avalanche have reassigned goaltender Trent Miner to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles.
Blackwood, 29, has been on Colorado’s injured reserve for the last little while. After suffering a lower-body injury during a team practice, Blackwood has missed the Avalanche’s last six contests.
Colorado brought Blackwood into the mix last year in a trade with the San Jose Sharks in an effort to alleviate the team’s goaltending woes. He provided exactly that, winning 22 of 36 starts with the Avalanche with a .913 SV% and 2.33 GAA.
Somehow, Blackwood has performed even better this year. Mostly sharing the net with fellow netminder Scott Wedgewood due to injuries, Blackwood has only started 14 of Colorado’s 45 games. During that time, he’s garnered a 13-1-1 record with a .924 SV%, 2.07 GAA, and 10.6 Goals Saved Above Average.
Despite having the league’s best offense by a significant margin, the Avalanche also tops the NHL in GA/G, largely due to their efficient goaltending. Colorado has produced a .919 SV% across the year — 10 points higher than the next closest.
Meanwhile, Miner heads back to Loveland, CO, after appearing in two games for the Avalanche. The 24-year-old won the first game of his career, a 29-save shutout against the Columbus Blue Jackets. His next contest didn’t go well, resulting in an overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs a few days ago.
He’ll return to an Eagles club where he’s spent much of the 2025-26 campaign. In 10 games for the team this year, Miner owns a 7-2-0 record with a .907 SV% and 2.40 GAA.
Avalanche Recall Ivan Ivan
Jan. 12: The yo-yo continues for Ivan, who’s been added to the Avs’ roster once again ahead of tonight’s game against the Maple Leafs. He’s eligible for such a quick recall because he suited up for the Eagles on the 9th and 10th – playing three games in three nights across the NHL and AHL. Appearing tonight would make it four games in five days.
Jan. 9: The Avalanche announced they returned Ivan to the AHL following last night’s drubbing of the Senators. Ivan had a +1 rating in the win while skating 9:37 of ice time. A different name will likely be elevated tomorrow before their game against the Blue Jackets.
Jan. 8: The Avalanche announced they’ve recalled forward Ivan Ivan from the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. They were operating with an open roster spot after sending Taylor Makar down yesterday, so no corresponding move is required.
Colorado has shown a tendency to frequently rotate depth forward options on the roster when needing to dip into its minor-league depth to address injuries. With Gabriel Landeskog and Joel Kiviranta now sidelined, that hasn’t changed.
Ivan, 23, gets his second recall of the season and will presumably draw into the lineup tonight against the Senators as the fourth-line left wing. Makar had skated in that role alongside Zakhar Bardakov and Parker Kelly in two of the last three games.
The 6’0″, 190-lb Ivan made three appearances for the Avs near the end of November, scoring one assist with a +1 rating while averaging 8:19 of ice time per game. Initially an undrafted free agent signing by the Eagles out of the QMJHL’s Cape Breton Eagles in 2023, he quickly worked his way up toward landing an NHL contract and being a frequently relied-upon call-up option. He made 40 appearances for the Avs as a rookie last year, notching five goals and eight points.
While the Czech native stood out as a rookie with the Eagles in 2023-24, he hasn’t been able to recapture that offensive success in the minors. He went from a 12-19–31 scoring line in 67 games as a first-year pro to churning out just four goals and 20 points in 64 AHL games since the beginning of last year.
Ivan’s always profiled as more of a penalty-killing forward with good playmaking skills, though, so the lack of goal-scoring isn’t entirely unexpected. Nonetheless, for a talent who twice hit a point per game in high-level junior hockey, he’ll be looking for more production as the season rolls on.
Avalanche Reassign T.J. Tynan
7:30 p.m.: Tynan’s recall didn’t last long. Shortly after today’s win over the Blue Jackets, the Avalanche reassigned Tynan to AHL Colorado.
12:24 p.m.: The Avalanche have added some depth up front for this afternoon’s game against Columbus. The team announced (Twitter link) that forward T.J. Tynan has been recalled from AHL Colorado.
It’s the first recall of the season for the 33-year-old. Tynan has spent the full 2025-26 campaign with the Eagles and his output can be viewed a couple of ways. Through 30 games, Tynan has scored just once which is hardly ideal for one of a team’s top veterans. On the other hand, he sits third in the AHL in assists with 25, keeping him within striking distance of the point-per-game mark. He has just missed that threshold the last two years but reached or surpassed it in the previous five.
Despite the consistent production in the minors, it hasn’t yielded too many NHL opportunities for Tynan. He has played in just 30 NHL games over his career, nine of which came last season when the Avs churned through the majority of their farm team in an effort to find some pieces to stick on the fourth line. Although he has been a point producer in the AHL, that hasn’t been the case at the top level as he has been limited to just two assists in those 30 outings while averaging 8:21 per game of ice time.
With Tynan’s recall, Colorado’s roster is now at the maximum of 23 players.
Colorado Avalanche Reassign Taylor Makar
As expected, the Colorado Avalanche have trimmed some of their depth after returning from a three-game road trip through the southeastern United States. Late yesterday evening, the Avalanche announced that they’ve reassigned forward Taylor Makar to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles.
Makar was originally recalled one day before Colorado departed for their road trip. At the time, the team was dealing with a pair of mild injuries to Gavin Brindley and Joel Kiviranta. The former returned against the Florida Panthers on Sunday, and Kiviranta didn’t make his way back to the lineup, as predicted.
Throughout the recall, Makar only appeared against the Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning, though he didn’t play much in either contest. Across the entire 2025-26 campaign, Makar, 24, has gone scoreless in five outings with a +1 rating. In Loveland, CO, with the Eagles, Makar has registered six goals and 10 points in 26 contests with a +11 rating.
Still, it’s somewhat surprising to see Makar move back to the AHL so quickly, considering that the Avalanche are returning to Denver more banged up than when they left. Although Kiviranta is expected back in a few days, captain Gabriel Landeskog is expected to miss multiple weeks with an undisclosed injury suffered against the Panthers. Unless Kiviranta returns to the lineup against the Ottawa Senators, Colorado will be down to 11 healthy forwards on the roster.
Regardless, if the Avalanche want to add a depth forward to the mix over the next couple of days, it by no means has to be Makar. Assuming they’ll prefer a waiver-exempt forward, Colorado could also recall Ivan Ivan, Matthew Stienburg, or Tristen Nielsen instead.
Mammoth To Host Winter Classic In 2027
5:00 p.m.: According to Brogan Houston of Deseret News Sports, the Mammoth will host the Colorado Avalanche in the 2027 Winter Classic, as predicted. As previously noted, it will be the Mammoth’s first outdoor game, whereas it’ll be Colorado’s fourth. Still, it’ll be the Avalanche’s first time playing in the Winter Classic, and their first as an ‘away’ team for an outdoor matchup.
10:05 a.m.: The NHL and Mammoth ownership are expected to announce an outdoor game awarded to the Utah franchise for next season, Frank Seravalli of Victory+ reports. With the Stars already announced as the host of a Stadium Series game in February 2027, it will likely be a Winter Classic game being hosted by the NHL’s newest franchise, although the league has opted for two Stadium Series events per year in the past.
Utah is one of five teams to never host an outdoor game, but they’re the only franchise to never have appeared in one, even if you opt to include the legally distinct Coyotes franchise in that definition. The Panthers were the last team with that designation, but can no longer lay claim to it after hosting the Winter Classic in Miami last week.
The league has historically shown a propensity to award special events to new franchises as soon as logistically possible. The Kraken hosted their closest expansion brethren, the Golden Knights, in the Winter Classic in just their third year of existence in 2023-24.
Just like Seattle, year three in Utah will mark the first time the Mammoth head outdoors. After next season, only the Canadiens, Ducks, and Golden Knights will be left without a hometown appearance – unless you prefer to count the 2021 Lake Tahoe games as a host contest for Vegas (they were technically the visiting team against the Avalanche). The Lightning haven’t hosted one yet either but have the Stadium Series on their home turf next month.
Jack Johnson Announces Retirement
Signing a one-year, league-minimum contract with the Colorado Avalanche for the 2021-22 campaign, Johnson played in 13 games for the Avalanche during the 2022 postseason, helping the team win its first Stanley Cup championship in 21 years.
Salary cap limitations prevented the Avalanche from re-signing Johnson the following year, but they subsequently acquired him again at the trade deadline from the Chicago Blackhawks. He experienced a brief offensive resurgence with Colorado during the 2023-24 season, before ultimately finishing his career with Columbus last season. He briefly attempted to make the Minnesota Wild’s roster last September, though he didn’t make the roster.