2020–21 Colorado Avalanche season

The 2020–21 Colorado Avalanche season was the 26th operational season and 25th playing season since the franchise relocated from Quebec prior to the start of the 1995–96 NHL season. As well as the franchise's 42nd season in the National Hockey League and 49th season overall. The Avalanche commemorated their 25th anniversary this season.
On December 20, 2020, the league temporarily realigned into four divisions with no conferences due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing closure of the Canada–United States border. As a result of this realignment, the Avalanche played this season in the West Division and only played against the other teams in their new division during the regular season and the first two rounds of the playoffs.
On April 22, the Avalanche clinched a playoff berth following a 4–2 win over the St. Louis Blues. They clinched their third Presidents' Trophy, as well as their tenth division championship, with a 5-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings in their last game of the season on May 13. The Avalanche swept the St. Louis Blues in the First Round, with a 5–2 win in game four. In the Second Round, the Avalanche initially led the series 2–0, but were later eliminated from the playoffs after they lost 4 straight to the Vegas Golden Knights.
==Standings== 
===Divisional standings===
==Schedule and results==
===Regular season===
The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020.
2020–21 game log 	2020–21 game log 	2020–21 game log 	2020–21 game log 	2020–21 game log 	2020–21 game log 	2020–21 game log 	2020–21 game log 	2020–21 game log 	2020–21 game log 	2020–21 game log
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January: 6–3–1 (Home: 3–1–0 ; Road: 3–2–1)	January: 6–3–1 (Home: 3–1–0 ; Road: 3–2–1)	January: 6–3–1 (Home: 3–1–0 ; Road: 3–2–1)	January: 6–3–1 (Home: 3–1–0 ; Road: 3–2–1)	January: 6–3–1 (Home: 3–1–0 ; Road: 3–2–1)	January: 6–3–1 (Home: 3–1–0 ; Road: 3–2–1)	January: 6–3–1 (Home: 3–1–0 ; Road: 3–2–1)	January: 6–3–1 (Home: 3–1–0 ; Road: 3–2–1)	January: 6–3–1 (Home: 3–1–0 ; Road: 3–2–1)	January: 6–3–1 (Home: 3–1–0 ; Road: 3–2–1)	January: 6–3–1 (Home: 3–1–0 ; Road: 3–2–1)
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score 	Home 	OT 	Decision 	Attendance 	Record 	Pts 	Recap
1 	January 13 	St. Louis 	4–1 	Colorado 	 	Grubauer 	0 	0–1–0 	0 	Recap
2 	January 15 	St. Louis 	0–8 	Colorado 	 	Grubauer 	0 	1–1–0 	2 	Recap
3 	January 19 	Colorado 	3–2 	Los Angeles 	 	Grubauer 	0 	2–1–0 	4 	Recap
4 	January 21 	Colorado 	2–4 	Los Angeles 	 	Miska 	0 	2–2–0 	4 	Recap
5 	January 22 	Colorado 	3–2 	Anaheim 	OT 	Grubauer 	0 	3–2–0 	6 	Recap
6 	January 24 	Colorado 	1–3 	Anaheim 	 	Grubauer 	0 	3–3–0 	6 	Recap
7 	January 26 	San Jose 	3–7 	Colorado 	 	Grubauer 	0 	4–3–0 	8 	Recap
8 	January 28 	San Jose 	0–3 	Colorado 	 	Grubauer 	0 	5–3–0 	10 	Recap
9 	January 30 	Colorado 	5–1 	Minnesota 	 	Grubauer 	0 	6–3–0 	12 	Recap
10 	January 31 	Colorado 	3–4 	Minnesota 	OT 	Miska 	0 	6–3–1 	13 	Recap
===Playoffs===
2021 Stanley Cup playoffs 	2021 Stanley Cup playoffs 	2021 Stanley Cup playoffs 	2021 Stanley Cup playoffs 	2021 Stanley Cup playoffs 	2021 Stanley Cup playoffs 	2021 Stanley Cup playoffs 	2021 Stanley Cup playoffs 	2021 Stanley Cup playoffs 	2021 Stanley Cup playoffs
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West Division First Round vs. (W4) St. Louis Blues: Colorado won 4–0	West Division First Round vs. (W4) St. Louis Blues: Colorado won 4–0	West Division First Round vs. (W4) St. Louis Blues: Colorado won 4–0	West Division First Round vs. (W4) St. Louis Blues: Colorado won 4–0	West Division First Round vs. (W4) St. Louis Blues: Colorado won 4–0	West Division First Round vs. (W4) St. Louis Blues: Colorado won 4–0	West Division First Round vs. (W4) St. Louis Blues: Colorado won 4–0	West Division First Round vs. (W4) St. Louis Blues: Colorado won 4–0	West Division First Round vs. (W4) St. Louis Blues: Colorado won 4–0	West Division First Round vs. (W4) St. Louis Blues: Colorado won 4–0
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score 	Home 	OT 	Decision 	Attendance 	Series 	Recap
1 	May 17 	St. Louis 	1–4 	Colorado 	 	Grubauer 	7,741 	1–0 	Recap
2 	May 19 	St. Louis 	3–6 	Colorado 	 	Grubauer 	7,739 	2–0 	Recap
3 	May 21 	Colorado 	5–1 	St. Louis 	 	Grubauer 	9,000 	3–0 	Recap
4 	May 23 	Colorado 	5–2 	St. Louis 	 	Grubauer 	9,000 	4–0 	Recap
==Player statistics==
Through June 8, 2021>
;Skaters
Regular season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	
 	52	30	36	66	+30	34
 	48	20	45	65	+22	37
 	54	20	32	52	+14	34
 	53	19	25	44	+4 	10
 	44	8 	36	44	+17	12
 	56	11	21	32	−7 	34
 	48	5 	27	32	+15	16
 	51	17	14	31	+14	10
 	53	9 	22	31	+29	16
 	44	15	9 	24	+1 	12
 	55	10	11	21	+9 	4
 	48	10	8 	18	+10	19
 	54	7 	10	17	+14	24
 	54	2 	13	15	+15	55
 	53	9 	2 	11	+6 	21
 	33	1 	8 	9 	+14	8
 	31	0 	7 	7 	+6 	8
 	22	3 	2 	5 	+6 	6
 	18	0 	3 	3 	−2 	6
 	18	0 	3 	3 	–1 	16
 	15	0 	3 	3 	+2 	0
 	12	0 	3 	3 	+1 	40
 	6 	0 	3 	3 	+5 	2
† 	13	1 	1 	2 	+6 	6
 	19	0 	2 	2 	+1 	23
† 	11	0 	2 	2 	0 	4
 	7 	0 	2 	2 	+2 	0
 	5 	0 	1 	1 	+1 	5
 	4 	0 	1 	1 	+2 	2
†‡ 	8 	0 	0 	0 	−2 	4
 	5 	0 	0 	0 	−1 	4
 	3 	0 	0 	0 	0 	5
 	3 	0 	0 	0 	+1 	4
 	3 	0 	0 	0 	−1 	4
‡ 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
Playoffs
Player	 	 	 	 	 	
 	9	8	5	13	+6	2
 	9	4	8	12	+3	9
 	9	4	8	12	+5	4
 	9	2	7	9 	+1	2
 	9	7	0	7 	+4	12
 	9	1	5	6 	+6	8
 	9	3	2	5 	0 	0
 	9	0	5	5 	+9	2
 	9	0	5	5 	–1	2
 	9	2	2	4 	0 	4
 	9	1	2	3 	–2	10
 	9	0	3	3 	–1	4
 	9	1	1	2 	+3	4
 	7	1	1	2 	+2	2
 	4	1	1	2 	–1	2
 	9	0	2	2 	+2	0
 	9	0	1	1 	+2	6
 	2	0	1	1 	–1	10
 	2	0	1	1 	0 	0
 	9	0	0	0 	–1	0
 	2	0	0	0 	–1	0
 	1	0	0	0 	–1	0
;Goaltenders
Regular season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	40	39	2366:07	30	9	1	77	1.95	993	.922	7	0	0	0
† 	8 	7 	436:57 	5 	1	1	15	2.06	173	.913	1	0	0	0
† 	5 	5 	294:38 	3 	2	0	16	3.26	140	.886	0	0	0	0
 	5 	5 	259:48 	1 	1	2	18	4.16	111	.838	0	0	0	0
Playoffs
Player	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	9	9	541:02	6	3	21	2.33	279	.925	0	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 2020–21 season
===Trades===
Date	Details 	Details 	Ref
 	To Chicago BlackhawksNikita ZadorovAnton Lindholm 	To Colorado AvalancheBrandon SaadDennis Gilbert	
 	To New York IslandersA. J. Greer 	To Colorado AvalancheKyle Burroughs 	
 	To New York Islanders2nd-round pick in 20212nd-round pick in 2022	To Colorado AvalancheDevon Toews 	
 	To Minnesota WildIan Cole 	To Colorado AvalancheGreg Pateryn 	
 	To Buffalo Sabres6th-round pick in 2021 	To Colorado AvalancheJonas Johansson 	
 	To Detroit Red Wings4th-round pick in 2022 	To Colorado AvalanchePatrik Nemeth 	
 	To San Jose SharksGreg Pateryn5th-round pick in 2021 	To Colorado AvalancheDevan Dubnyk 	
===Free agents===
Date	Player 	Team 	Contract term	Ref
 	Vladislav Kamenev 	to SKA Saint Petersburg (KHL)	2-year 	
 	Mark Barberio 	to Lausanne HC (NL) 	3-year 	
 	Miikka Salomaki 	from Toronto Maple Leafs 	1-year 	
 	Kiefer Sherwood 	from Anaheim Ducks 	1-year 	
 	Mike Vecchione 	from St. Louis Blues 	1-year 	
 	Mark Alt 	to Los Angeles Kings 	1-year 	
 	Vladislav Namestnikov	to Detroit Red Wings 	2-year 	
 	Matt Nieto 	to San Jose Sharks 	1-year 	
 	Antoine Bibeau 	to Carolina Hurricanes 	1-year 	
 	Michael Hutchinson 	to Toronto Maple Leafs 	2-year 	
 	Kevin Connauton 	to Florida Panthers 	1-year 	
===Retirement===
Date	Player 	Ref
 	Colin Wilson	
===Signings===
Date	Player 	Contract term	Ref
 	Logan O'Connor 	2-year 	
 	Sheldon Dries 	1-year 	
 	Andre Burakovsky 	2-year 	
 	Valeri Nichushkin	2-year 	
 	Jayson Megna 	1-year 	
 	Ryan Graves 	3-year 	
 	Tyson Jost 	1-year 	
 	Hunter Miska 	2-year 	
 	Devon Toews 	4-year 	
 	Kyle Burroughs 	1-year 	
 	Alex Newhook 	3-year 	
==Draft picks==
Below are the Colorado Avalanches' selection at the 2020 NHL Draft that was held on October 6–7 at NHL Network Studios.
Round	# 	Player 	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (league)
1 	25 	Justin Barron 	D 	 	Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)
3 	75 	Jean-Luc Foudy	C 	 	Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
4 	118	Colby Ambrosio	C 	 	Tri-City Storm (USHL)
5 	139	Ryder Rolston 	RW 	 	Waterloo Blackhawks (USHL)
6 	167	Nils Aman 	C 	 	New Hampshire Wildcats (H-East)
==Notes==
==References==
Colorado Avalanche
Category:Colorado Avalanche seasons