# 2021–22 Colorado Avalanche season

The 2021–22 Colorado Avalanche season was the 43rd season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that joined the league in 1979, 26th playing season since the franchise relocated from Quebec prior to the start of the 1995–96 NHL season, and 50th season overall, including their play in the World Hockey Association (WHA), where the franchise was established in 1972.
On April 5, 2022, the Avalanche clinched a playoff berth after a 6–4 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins. On April 16, the Avalanche clinched the Central Division along with the top seed in the Western Conference after a 7–4 win against the Carolina Hurricanes. They went on to earn 119 points, breaking the franchise record set in 2000-01.
On June 6, the Avalanche swept the Edmonton Oilers to advance to their first Stanley Cup Finals since 2001. On June 26, 2022, the Avalanche won their third Stanley Cup and first since 2001 after they defeated the two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Finals, in six games.

## Standings
### Divisional standings

Central Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | z – Colorado Avalanche | 82 | 56 | 19 | 7 | 46 | 312 | 234 | +78 | 119 |
| 2 | x – Minnesota Wild | 82 | 53 | 22 | 7 | 37 | 310 | 253 | +57 | 113 |
| 3 | x – St. Louis Blues | 82 | 49 | 22 | 11 | 43 | 311 | 242 | +69 | 109 |
| 4 | x – Dallas Stars | 82 | 46 | 30 | 6 | 31 | 238 | 246 | −8 | 98 |
| 5 | x – Nashville Predators | 82 | 45 | 30 | 7 | 35 | 266 | 252 | +14 | 97 |
| 6 | e – Winnipeg Jets | 82 | 39 | 32 | 11 | 31 | 252 | 257 | −5 | 89 |
| 7 | e – Chicago Blackhawks | 82 | 28 | 42 | 12 | 16 | 219 | 291 | −72 | 68 |
| 8 | e – Arizona Coyotes | 82 | 25 | 50 | 7 | 18 | 207 | 313 | −106 | 57 |

### Conference standings

Western Conference Wild Card :
| Pos | Div | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | CE | x – Dallas Stars | 82 | 46 | 30 | 6 | 31 | 238 | 246 | −8 | 98 |
| 2 | CE | x – Nashville Predators | 82 | 45 | 30 | 7 | 35 | 266 | 252 | +14 | 97 |
| 3 | PA | e – Vegas Golden Knights | 82 | 43 | 31 | 8 | 34 | 266 | 248 | +18 | 94 |
| 4 | PA | e – Vancouver Canucks | 82 | 40 | 30 | 12 | 32 | 249 | 236 | +13 | 92 |
| 5 | CE | e – Winnipeg Jets | 82 | 39 | 32 | 11 | 32 | 252 | 257 | −5 | 89 |
| 6 | PA | e – San Jose Sharks | 82 | 32 | 37 | 13 | 22 | 214 | 264 | −50 | 77 |
| 7 | PA | e – Anaheim Ducks | 82 | 31 | 37 | 14 | 22 | 232 | 271 | −39 | 76 |
| 8 | CE | e – Chicago Blackhawks | 82 | 28 | 42 | 12 | 16 | 219 | 291 | −72 | 68 |
| 9 | PA | e – Seattle Kraken | 82 | 27 | 49 | 6 | 23 | 216 | 285 | −69 | 60 |
| 10 | CE | e – Arizona Coyotes | 82 | 25 | 50 | 7 | 18 | 207 | 313 | −106 | 57 |

## Schedule and results
### Regular season

2021–22 game log :

### Playoffs

2022 Stanley Cup playoffs :
Legend:
  Win
  Loss :

## Player statistics

Final stats

### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
| Mikko Rantanen | 75 | 36 | 56 | 92 | +35 | 56 |
| Nathan MacKinnon | 65 | 32 | 56 | 88 | +22 | 42 |
| Nazem Kadri | 71 | 28 | 59 | 87 | +13 | 71 |
| Cale Makar | 77 | 28 | 58 | 86 | +48 | 26 |
| André Burakovsky | 80 | 22 | 39 | 61 | +12 | 18 |
| Gabriel Landeskog | 51 | 30 | 29 | 59 | +27 | 78 |
| Devon Toews | 66 | 13 | 44 | 57 | +52 | 20 |
| Valeri Nichushkin | 62 | 25 | 27 | 52 | +21 | 14 |
| J. T. Compher | 70 | 18 | 15 | 33 | +6 | 25 |
| Alex Newhook | 71 | 13 | 20 | 33 | +11 | 12 |
| Sam Girard | 67 | 5 | 23 | 28 | −4 | 20 |
| Erik Johnson | 77 | 8 | 17 | 25 | +22 | 24 |
| Logan O'Connor | 81 | 8 | 16 | 24 | +10 | 38 |
| Nicolas Aubé-Kubel$^†$ | 67 | 11 | 11 | 22 | +14 | 41 |
| Bowen Byram | 30 | 5 | 12 | 17 | +7 | 12 |
| Darren Helm | 68 | 7 | 8 | 15 | −5 | 14 |
| Tyson Jost$^‡$ | 59 | 6 | 8 | 14 | +1 | 30 |
| Artturi Lehkonen$^†$ | 16 | 6 | 3 | 9 | +1 | 8 |
| Jack Johnson | 74 | 1 | 8 | 9 | +5 | 42 |
| Josh Manson$^†$ | 22 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −11 | 12 |
| Kurtis MacDermid | 58 | 2 | 3 | 5 | +1 | 89 |
| Ryan Murray | 37 | 0 | 4 | 4 | −3 | 2 |
| Jayson Megna | 20 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −2 | 4 |
| Nico Sturm$^†$ | 21 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −2 | 6 |
| Kiefer Sherwood | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | +3 | 0 |
| Ben Meyers | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −2 | 0 |
| Andrew Cogliano$^†$ | 18 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −2 | 8 |
| Dylan Sikura | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 0 |
| Mikhail Maltsev | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −5 | 2 |
| Sampo Ranta | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −4 | 2 |
| Jacob MacDonald | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 2 |
| Martin Kaut | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +2 | 0 |
| Justin Barron | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
| Stefan Matteau | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jordan Gross | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Cale Makar | 20 | 8 | 21 | 29 | +7 | 10 |
| Mikko Rantanen | 20 | 5 | 20 | 25 | +3 | 4 |
| Nathan MacKinnon | 20 | 13 | 11 | 24 | +11 | 8 |
| Gabriel Landeskog | 20 | 11 | 11 | 22 | +15 | 6 |
| Valeri Nichushkin | 20 | 9 | 6 | 15 | +6 | 8 |
| Nazem Kadri | 16 | 7 | 8 | 15 | +7 | 8 |
| Devon Toews | 20 | 5 | 10 | 15 | +5 | 8 |
| Artturi Lehkonen | 20 | 8 | 6 | 14 | +2 | 20 |
| Bowen Byram | 20 | 0 | 9 | 9 | +15 | 10 |
| J. T. Compher | 20 | 5 | 3 | 8 | –1 | 10 |
| André Burakovsky | 12 | 3 | 5 | 8 | +3 | 2 |
| Josh Manson | 20 | 3 | 5 | 8 | +6 | 12 |
| Andrew Cogliano | 16 | 3 | 3 | 6 | +5 | 16 |
| Darren Helm | 20 | 2 | 3 | 5 | +3 | 12 |
| Erik Johnson | 20 | 1 | 4 | 5 | +10 | 4 |
| Logan O'Connor | 17 | 1 | 3 | 4 | +2 | 9 |
| Alex Newhook | 12 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Sam Girard | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 0 |
| Nico Sturm | 13 | 0 | 2 | 2 | +2 | 2 |
| Nicolas Aubé-Kubel | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +2 | 4 |
| Jack Johnson | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 10 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Darcy Kuemper | 57 | 57 | 3,258:07 | 37 | 12 | 4 | 138 | 2.52 | 1,754 | .921 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Pavel Francouz | 21 | 18 | 1,200:09 | 15 | 5 | 1 | 51 | 2.55 | 608 | .916 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jonas Johansson$^‡$ | 9 | 6 | 370:18 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 23 | 3.73 | 200 | .885 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Justus Annunen | 2 | 1 | 96:46 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4.34 | 51 | .863 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Darcy Kuemper | 16 | 16 | 886:50 | 10 | 4 | 38 | 2.57 | 386 | .902 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Pavel Francouz | 7 | 4 | 341:11 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 2.81 | 170 | .906 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 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.

### Suspensions/fines

| Player | Explanation | Length | Salary | Date issued |
| Gabriel Landeskog | Boarding against Chicago Blackhawks forward Kirby Dach during NHL game no. 5 in Colorado on Wednesday, October 13, 2021, at 16:22 of the third period. | 2 games | $70,000 | October 14, 2021 |

## Transactions

The Avalanche have been involved in the following transactions during the 2021–22 season.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| July 15, 2021 (2021-07-15) | To New Jersey DevilsRyan Graves | To Colorado AvalancheMikhail Maltsev NYI 2nd-round pick in 2021 |
| July 27, 2021 (2021-07-27) | To Seattle Kraken4th-round pick in 2023 | To Colorado AvalancheKurtis MacDermid |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | To Arizona CoyotesConor Timmins 1st-round pick in 2022 Conditional 3rd-round pick in 2024 | To Colorado AvalancheDarcy Kuemper |
| March 14, 2022 (2022-03-14) | To Anaheim DucksDrew Helleson 2nd-round pick in 2023 | To Colorado AvalancheJosh Manson |
| March 15, 2022 (2022-03-15) | To Minnesota WildTyson Jost | To Colorado AvalancheNico Sturm |
| March 21, 2022 (2022-03-21) | To Montreal CanadiensJustin Barron 2nd-round pick in 2024 | To Colorado AvalancheArtturi Lehkonen |
| March 21, 2022 (2022-03-21) | To San Jose Sharks5th-round pick in 2024 | To Colorado AvalancheAndrew Cogliano |
Notes:
* Arizona will receive a third-round pick in 2024 if Colorado wins the 2022 Stanley Cup and Kuemper plays in 50% of their playoff games; otherwise no pick will be exchanged.

### Players acquired

| Date | Player | Former team | Term | Via |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Roland McKeown | Carolina Hurricanes | 2-year | Free agency |
| July 29, 2021 (2021-07-29) | Darren Helm | Detroit Red Wings | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 29, 2021 (2021-07-29) | Stefan Matteau | Columbus Blue Jackets | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 29, 2021 (2021-07-29) | Dylan Sikura | Vegas Golden Knights | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 31, 2021 (2021-07-31) | Jordan Gross | Arizona Coyotes | 1-year | Free agency |
| August 2, 2021 (2021-08-02) | Ryan Murray | New Jersey Devils | 1-year | Free agency |
| November 13, 2021 (2021-11-13) | Nicolas Aube-Kubel | Philadelphia Flyers | | Waivers |
| December 16, 2021 (2021-12-16) | Callahan Burke | Colorado Eagles (AHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| April 12, 2022 (2022-04-12) | Wyatt Aamodt | Minnesota State Mavericks (CCHA) | 1-year | Free agency |
| April 13, 2022 (2022-04-13) | Ben Meyers | Minnesota Golden Gophers (B1G) | 2-year | Free agency |
| June 13, 2022 (2022-06-13) | Lukas Sedlak | Traktor Chelyabinsk (KHL) | 1-year | Free agency |

### Players lost

| Date | Player | New team | Term | Via |
| July 21, 2021 (2021-07-21) | Joonas Donskoi | Seattle Kraken | | Expansion draft |
| July 22, 2021 (2021-07-22) | Matt Calvert | | | Retirement |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Pierre-Edouard Bellemare | Tampa Bay Lightning | 2-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Kyle Burroughs | Vancouver Canucks | 2-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Sheldon Dries | Vancouver Canucks | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Philipp Grubauer | Seattle Kraken | 6-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Patrik Nemeth | New York Rangers | 3-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Liam O'Brien | Arizona Coyotes | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | T. J. Tynan | Los Angeles Kings | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Adam Werner | Calgary Flames | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 29, 2021 (2021-07-29) | Dan Renouf | Detroit Red Wings | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 29, 2021 (2021-07-29) | Brandon Saad | St. Louis Blues | 5-year | Free agency |
| August 5, 2021 (2021-08-05) | Mike Vecchione | Washington Capitals | 1-year | Free agency |
| December 13, 2021 (2021-12-13) | Jonas Johansson | Florida Panthers | | Waivers |
| June 15, 2022 (2022-06-15) | Andreas Wingerli | Skellefteå AIK (SHL) | Unknown | Free agency |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Term | Contract type |
| July 22, 2021 (2021-07-22) | Kiefer Sherwood | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 24, 2021 (2021-07-24) | Cale Makar | 6-year | Re-signing |
| July 27, 2021 (2021-07-27) | Gabriel Landeskog | 8-year | Re-signing |
| August 6, 2021 (2021-08-06) | Oskar Olausson | 3-year | Entry-level |
| August 16, 2021 (2021-08-16) | Dennis Gilbert | 1-year | Re-signing |
| September 22, 2021 (2021-09-22) | Logan O'Connor | 1-year | Re-signing |
| March 12, 2022 (2022-03-12) | Pavel Francouz | 2-year | Extension |
| April 5, 2022 (2022-04-05) | Kurtis MacDermid | 2-year | Extension |
| May 2, 2022 (2022-05-02) | Danila Zhuravlyov | 2-year | Entry-level |
| July 5, 2022 (2022-07-05) | Andrew Cogliano | 1-year | Extension |

## Draft picks

Below are the Colorado Avalanche's selections at the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on July 23 and 24, 2021, virtually via video conference call from the NHL Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
| Round | # | Player | Pos. | Nationality | Team (League) |
| 1 | 28 | Oskar Olausson | RW | Sweden | HV71 (SHL) |
| 2 | 61 | Sean Behrens | D | United States | U.S. NTDP (USHL) |
| 3 | 92 | Andrei Buyalsky | C | Kazakhstan | Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL) |
| 7 | 220 | Taylor Makar | LW | Canada | Brooks Bandits (AJHL) |