DENVER (AP) — Entering the final year of his contact — with no imminent extension — doesn't add any extra pressure for Colorado coach Jared Bednar so long as one thing still holds true.
“That our players feel like I’m the right coach for this team,” Bednar said.
The endorsements were ringing for the franchise's all-time coaching wins leader as players reported Wednesday for physicals before training camp
. A sampling:— Standout forward Nathan MacKinnon:
“He’s done an amazing job of coaching.”
— Captain Gabriel Landeskog: “You know what you’re going to get when you see him after a tough loss, after a big win. ... Bedsy’s always been the same.”
— Defenseman Devon Toews: “He gives us a good plan on every night to attack that team and try to put our best foot forward to win the game."
— Defenseman Josh Manson: "I believe in Bedsy.”
It was a difficult finish for Bednar and the Avalanche after a regular season in which they won the Presidents’ Cup for the league’s best record. They were cruising through the playoffs, too — going 8-1 — before being swept by Vegas in the Western Conference Final. This after losing to Dallas the year before in the first round, again to Dallas in the second round in 2024 and Seattle in the first round in '23.
The championship window remains open for a nucleus of Landeskog, Cale Makar and MacKinnon that's still intact from the 2022 Stanley Cup title team under Bednar.
“I don’t see a reason why, with the star players that we have, our window can’t stay open,” Bednar said. “We can be a good team for a long time.”
Bednar acknowledged he's had discussions with president of hockey operations/general manager Joe Sakic over an extension, but “we’re not there yet. So it’s just kind of business as usual.”
The longtime coach vowed to tweak his approach this season and put a priority on working with younger players.
His players are receptive.
“If there are things that Bedsy feels like he wants to try differently, absolutely,” Landeskog said. “There are things that we all feel like we could try, we’re going to experiment with, see how this goes, and so forth. That’s just human nature. If you’re not doing that, then I don’t think you’re really trying to get better.”
Gone via trade this season is Valeri Nichushkin, who Landeskog described as "a unicorn” for the things he can do on the ice. But joining the team is veteran Jaden Schwartz, who lobbied to become part of the perennial Cup contenders.
“We know we don’t have 15 years here," MacKinnon said, "so we’ve got to get it done soon for sure.”
MacKinnon compared the situation to what transpired in Carolina, where the Hurricanes supported coach Rod Brind’Amour over the years and it paid off with a title last season.
“I'm sure there were questions around him, his coaching, and he just stuck with it,” MacKinnon said. “That's what we have to do as well.”
Bednar trails only Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper as the longest-tenured current head coach. The Avalanche have an NHL-best 342-146-48 mark in the regular season since 2019-20.
“He puts us in good spots to be the best version of ourselves," Toews said. "He tells us how it is. When it’s good, it’s good, and when it’s bad, it’s bad. He doesn’t sugarcoat it, which is great.”
Makar may be sitting out the start of training camp as he deals with a lower-body injury. The two-time Norris Trophy winner had the injury recently pop up.
Bednar said it's unrelated to the injury Makar suffered last season that sidelined him for the opening two games of the conference final.
“I don’t think it’s anything to be worried about at this point," Bednar said. “Just kind of playing it safe with him and our organization, but at some point in camp, he’ll be full go.”
Makar signed a $163.2 million, eight-year extension last month — it kicks in next season — that will make him the highest paid player in the league.
“Someone like Cale deserves that money,” MacKinnon said. “He’s the best D-man of all-time and he’s going to play his whole career here, which is awesome.”
Defenseman Brent Burns said he never really contemplated retirement before signing a one-year contract extension this summer. The 41-year-old is 57 games away from matching the ironman streak of Phil Kessel, who played in 1,064 consecutive regular season contests.
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