It’s time for another Mile High Pollster, but this time of the offseason variety!
How have the departure of Chris MacFarland, the renewal of Joe Sakic, and his subsequent moves following the shake-up in organizational structure affected fans’ confidence going into the 2026-27 season?
We still don’t know when or how much that Cale Makar contract will take from the books, and will the Avalanche lineup actually be forced to lean on a youth movement this season?
Let’s see what the polls say!
Confidence is Weighing
The offseason
has been a bit less palatable than years past, according to Avalanche fans, as almost half of the 195 voters say they aren’t as confident in this Avalanche club as they were compared to last season. With the trade of Val Nichushkin and disappointment of being swept in the conference final, it’s understandable.
Just look at our poll last September, where 77.7% of fans agreed the Avalanche were a Cup contender (as constructed at the time). That’s a pretty startling contrast in my opinion.
Moreover, only 4.1% of voters say they are “more confident” in this group compared to last year, which feels pretty bleak. Looks like we’ve taken the untimely elimination and changes pretty hard so far.
Norris Tax
It is July 17, and we still don’t have word on Cale Makar’s pending contract extension. I say pending, as both sides have been adamant about getting a deal done and not overly worried about it. I’m a bit more skeptical as a result of dealings of years’ past, but I do believe Joe Sakic when he says that Cale will “retire an Avalanche”.
Now let’s talk about that number.
Cale has pretty much all the ammo he needs to get at least 18M after some of the deals we’ve seen come in for lesser players. The rumor mill still churns with talk of Cale taking a pay cut for the betterment of the team, but due to inflation, many have lost sight of what that would look like.
I’m here to tell you anything short of $20M is a cut for Cale Makar. Voters think the number will come in between $ 17M and $18M.
Fight for Your Right
The Avalanche went for broke pretty much the last three seasons in an attempt to secure another cup, but unfortunately that didn’t work out, and now they are left with the shortcomings of the ‘cup or bust’ strategy.
Cap dumping top six forwards and then balancing the books with young bottom six talent essentially means someone who wasn’t on the roster at all last season should become a mainstay, and as we look at the crop, there are a lot of young guns to pick from now.
Will T.J. Hughes emerge as an NHLer early on? Can Gavin Bridnley make the jump full-time?
Let us know what you think of these poll results in the comments!
