# 2018–19 Colorado Avalanche season

The 2018–19 Colorado Avalanche season was the 24th operational season and 23rd playing season since the franchise relocated from Quebec prior to the start of the 1995–96 NHL season. As well as the franchise's 40th season in the National Hockey League and 47th season overall.
On April 4, 2019, the Avalanche clinched a playoff spot after a 3–2 overtime win against the Winnipeg Jets. In the playoffs, the Avalanche defeated the Calgary Flames 4–1 in the first round to secure their first playoff series win since 2008. Their season, however, would come to an end after losing to the San Jose Sharks in seven games in the second round.

## Standings

Central Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | y – Nashville Predators | 82 | 47 | 29 | 6 | 43 | 240 | 214 | +26 | 100 |
| 2 | x – Winnipeg Jets | 82 | 47 | 30 | 5 | 45 | 272 | 244 | +28 | 99 |
| 3 | x – St. Louis Blues | 82 | 45 | 28 | 9 | 42 | 247 | 223 | +24 | 99 |
| 4 | x – Dallas Stars | 82 | 43 | 32 | 7 | 42 | 210 | 202 | +8 | 93 |
| 5 | x – Colorado Avalanche | 82 | 38 | 30 | 14 | 36 | 260 | 246 | +14 | 90 |
| 6 | Chicago Blackhawks | 82 | 36 | 34 | 12 | 33 | 270 | 292 | −22 | 84 |
| 7 | Minnesota Wild | 82 | 37 | 36 | 9 | 36 | 211 | 237 | −26 | 83 |
Western Conference Wild Card :
| Pos | Div | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | CE | x – Dallas Stars | 82 | 43 | 32 | 7 | 42 | 210 | 202 | +8 | 93 |
| 2 | CE | x – Colorado Avalanche | 82 | 38 | 30 | 14 | 36 | 260 | 246 | +14 | 90 |
| 3 | PA | Arizona Coyotes | 82 | 39 | 35 | 8 | 35 | 213 | 223 | −10 | 86 |
| 4 | CE | Chicago Blackhawks | 82 | 36 | 34 | 12 | 33 | 270 | 292 | −22 | 84 |
| 5 | CE | Minnesota Wild | 82 | 37 | 36 | 9 | 36 | 211 | 237 | −26 | 83 |
| 6 | PA | Vancouver Canucks | 82 | 35 | 36 | 11 | 29 | 225 | 254 | −29 | 81 |
| 7 | PA | Anaheim Ducks | 82 | 35 | 37 | 10 | 32 | 199 | 251 | −52 | 80 |
| 8 | PA | Edmonton Oilers | 82 | 35 | 38 | 9 | 32 | 232 | 274 | −42 | 79 |
| 9 | PA | Los Angeles Kings | 82 | 31 | 42 | 9 | 28 | 202 | 263 | −61 | 71 |

## Schedule and results
### Preseason

The preseason schedule was published on June 13, 2018.

### Regular season

The regular season schedule was released on June 21, 2018.
2018–19 game log :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

### Playoffs

The Avalanche faced the Calgary Flames in the first round of the playoffs, and defeated them in five games.
The Avalanche faced the San Jose Sharks in the second round of the playoffs, and were defeated in seven games.
2019 Stanley Cup playoffs :
Legend:
  Win
  Loss :

## Player statistics

Final stats

### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Nathan MacKinnon | 82 | 41 | 58 | 99 | +20 | 34 |
| Mikko Rantanen | 74 | 31 | 56 | 87 | +13 | 54 |
| Gabriel Landeskog | 73 | 34 | 41 | 75 | +17 | 51 |
| Tyson Barrie | 78 | 14 | 45 | 59 | −3 | 36 |
| Carl Soderberg | 82 | 23 | 26 | 49 | −5 | 26 |
| Alexander Kerfoot | 78 | 15 | 27 | 42 | −9 | 38 |
| J. T. Compher | 66 | 16 | 16 | 32 | −8 | 31 |
| Colin Wilson | 65 | 12 | 15 | 27 | −6 | 8 |
| Samuel Girard | 82 | 4 | 23 | 27 | +8 | 6 |
| Matt Calvert | 82 | 11 | 15 | 26 | −10 | 58 |
| Tyson Jost | 70 | 11 | 15 | 26 | −2 | 14 |
| Erik Johnson | 80 | 7 | 18 | 25 | +8 | 38 |
| Matt Nieto | 64 | 4 | 19 | 23 | +2 | 8 |
| Sven Andrighetto | 64 | 7 | 10 | 17 | +10 | 14 |
| Ian Cole | 71 | 2 | 13 | 15 | −1 | 115 |
| Nikita Zadorov | 70 | 7 | 7 | 14 | +19 | 75 |
| Patrik Nemeth | 74 | 1 | 9 | 10 | +5 | 53 |
| Gabriel Bourque | 55 | 2 | 6 | 8 | +3 | 10 |
| Sheldon Dries | 40 | 3 | 3 | 6 | −7 | 26 |
| Ryan Graves | 26 | 3 | 2 | 5 | +4 | 2 |
| Vladislav Kamenev | 23 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 10 |
| Derick Brassard$^†$ | 20 | 4 | 0 | 4 | −7 | 8 |
| A.J. Greer | 15 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −2 | 14 |
| Andrew Agozzino | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | +2 | 0 |
| Mark Barberio | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −6 | 4 |
| Dominic Toninato | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Marko Dano$^‡$ | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 7 |
| Logan O'Connor | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 0 |
| Mark Alt | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Anton Lindholm | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Mikko Rantanen | 12 | 6 | 8 | 14 | −1 | 4 |
| Nathan MacKinnon | 12 | 6 | 7 | 13 | −4 | 2 |
| Colin Wilson | 12 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 2 |
| Gabriel Landeskog | 12 | 3 | 5 | 8 | −2 | 10 |
| Tyson Barrie | 12 | 1 | 7 | 8 | +1 | 4 |
| Matt Nieto | 12 | 4 | 3 | 7 | +6 | 2 |
| J. T. Compher | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | +1 | 0 |
| Cale Makar | 10 | 1 | 5 | 6 | +3 | 0 |
| Ian Cole | 12 | 0 | 5 | 5 | +6 | 16 |
| Tyson Jost | 12 | 3 | 1 | 4 | +3 | 0 |
| Matt Calvert | 8 | 0 | 4 | 4 | +3 | 18 |
| Erik Johnson | 12 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −1 | 4 |
| Alexander Kerfoot | 12 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −1 | 6 |
| Carl Soderberg | 12 | 0 | 2 | 2 | +4 | 8 |
| Samuel Girard | 9 | 0 | 2 | 2 | +3 | 0 |
| Gabriel Bourque | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Derick Brassard | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −2 | 8 |
| Nikita Zadorov | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −5 | 24 |
| Patrik Nemeth | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +4 | 4 |
| Sven Andrighetto | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 2 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Pavel Francouz | 2 | 0 | 61:11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1.96 | 35 | .943 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Philipp Grubauer | 37 | 33 | 2020:44 | 18 | 9 | 5 | 89 | 2.64 | 1071 | .917 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Semyon Varlamov | 49 | 49 | 2839:12 | 20 | 19 | 9 | 136 | 2.87 | 1496 | .909 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Philipp Grubauer | 12 | 12 | 731:47 | 7 | 5 | 28 | 2.30 | 373 | .925 | 1 | 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 2018–19 season.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| June 22, 2018 (2018-06-22) | To Washington Capitals2nd-round pick in 2018 | To Colorado AvalanchePhilipp Grubauer Brooks Orpik |
| June 23, 2018 (2018-06-23) | To Pittsburgh PenguinsNSH's 2nd-round pick in 2018 | To Colorado AvalancheOTT's 3rd-round pick in 2018 5th-round pick in 2018 |
| February 6, 2019 (2019-02-06) | To Ottawa SenatorsJ. C. Beaudin | To Colorado AvalancheMax McCormick |
| February 25, 2019 (2019-02-25) | To Florida Panthers3rd-round pick in 2020 | To Colorado AvalancheDerick Brassard Conditional 6th-round pick in 2020 |

### Free agents

| Date | Player | Team | Contract term |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Jonathan Bernier | to Detroit Red Wings | 3-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Matt Calvert | from Columbus Blue Jackets | 3-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Ian Cole | from Columbus Blue Jackets | 3-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Blake Comeau | to Dallas Stars | 3-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Rocco Grimaldi | to Nashville Predators | 1-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Andrew Hammond | to Minnesota Wild | 1-year |
| July 2, 2018 (2018-07-02) | Sheldon Dries | from Texas Stars (AHL) | 1-year |
| July 2, 2018 (2018-07-02) | Scott Kosmachuk | from Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL) | 1-year |
| July 3, 2018 (2018-07-03) | Nail Yakupov | to SKA Saint Petersburg (KHL) | 1-year |
| July 4, 2018 (2018-07-04) | Felix Girard | to Manitoba Moose (AHL) | 1-year |
| July 23, 2018 (2018-07-23) | Logan O'Connor | from Denver Pioneers (NCHC) | 2-year |
| July 24, 2018 (2018-07-24) | Brooks Orpik | to Washington Capitals | 1-year |
| August 30, 2018 (2018-08-30) | Jesse Graham | to Utica Comets (AHL) | 1-year |

### Waivers

| Date | Player | Team | Ref |
| October 15, 2018 (2018-10-15) | Marko Dano | from Winnipeg Jets | |
| November 23, 2018 (2018-11-23) | Marko Dano | to Winnipeg Jets | |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Contract term |
| June 23, 2018 (2018-06-23) | Philipp Grubauer | 3-year |
| July 2, 2018 (2018-07-02) | Joe Cannata | 1-year |
| July 5, 2018 (2018-07-05) | Martin Kaut | 3-year |
| July 6, 2018 (2018-07-06) | Matt Nieto | 2-year |
| July 16, 2018 (2018-07-16) | Mason Geertsen | 1-year |
| July 16, 2018 (2018-07-16) | Ryan Graves | 1-year |
| July 16, 2018 (2018-07-16) | Spencer Martin | 1-year |
| August 2, 2018 (2018-08-02) | Patrik Nemeth | 1-year |
| March 1, 2019 (2019-03-01) | Nick Henry | 3-year |
| March 29, 2019 (2019-03-29) | Shane Bowers | 3-year |
| April 14, 2019 (2019-04-14) | Cale Makar | 3-year |
| May 13, 2019 (2019-05-13) | Adam Werner | 2-year |
| May 24, 2019 (2019-05-24) | Pavel Francouz | 1-year |

## Draft picks

Below are the Colorado Avalanche's selections at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on June 22 and 23, 2018, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 16 | Martin Kaut | RW | Czech Republic | Dynamo Pardubice (ELH) |
| 3 | 64$^1$ | Justus Annunen | G | Finland | Karpat U20 (Nuorten SM-liiga) |
| 3 | 78 | Sampo Ranta | LW | Finland | Sioux City Musketeers (USHL) |
| 4 | 109 | Tyler Weiss | LW | United States | U.S. NTDP (USHL) |
| 5 | 140 | Brandon Saigeon | C | Canada | Hamilton Bulldogs (OHL) |
| 5 | 146$^2$ | Danila Zhuravlyov | D | Russia | Irbis Kazan (MHL) |
| 6 | 171 | Nikolai Kovalenko | RW | Russia | Loko Yaroslavl (MHL) |
| 7 | 202 | Shamil Shmakov | G | Russia | Sibirskie Snaypery (MHL) |
Notes:
* The Ottawa Senators' third-round pick went to the Colorado Avalanche as the result of a trade on June 23, 2018, that sent Nashville's second-round pick in 2018 (58th overall) to Pittsburgh in exchange for a fifth-round pick in 2018 (146th overall) and this pick.
* The Pittsburgh Penguins' fifth-round pick went to the Colorado Avalanche as the result of a trade on June 23, 2018, that sent Nashville's second-round pick in 2018 (58th overall) to Pittsburgh in exchange for Ottawa's third-round pick in 2018 (64th overall) and this pick.