While the first couple of days in July are a whirlwind for player movement and roster construction, the NHL collectively downshifts several gears by the second week of the month.
Once the draft, a couple of days of free agency and development camps are complete, it’s time for the real offseason to begin. For the players who remain without a contract, this can be a trying time.
When this period of relative roster stagnation began, the Avalanche did not have enough NHL forwards. With Logan O’Connor expected to miss the start of the 2025-26 season, the Avs spent July with nine healthy NHL forwards, plus a guy with no North American experience, Zakhar Bardakov, expected to compete for one of the open spots.