Important NHL, Avalanche Offseason Calendar Dates

Is it too early to start thinking about next season yet? This is the NHL, so not really. This sport is basically a 10-month season for teams that win the Stanley Cup, and the latest rights holder to that Cup is the Colorado Avalanche.

The NHL draft is July 7 and 8 in Montreal, so that’s one critical offseason thing fans can get ready for. Remember, the Avs do not own a first-round pick this year, having traded it to Arizona for Darcy Kuemper (are we OK with not having that pick now?).

Thanks to our friends at PuckPedia, here are some other key NHL offseason dates, starting with the NHL buyout window:

1st Buyout Window:
In standard years, starts later of June 15 and 48 hours after the cup is awarded.

In the 21-22 Critical Dates Calendar, the buyout window is set to open July 1, 2022 (closes July 12). This is due to adjusted/later calendar this season.

Other key dates:
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— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) June 25, 2022

July 11 – Qualifying Offer deadline
July 12 – 1st Buyout window closes
July 12 – Ability to offer player own player 8-years ends
July 17 – Player elected Arbitration deadline
July 27 – 1st day of Arbitration hearings

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— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) June 25, 2022

Do I think the Colorado Avalanche will buy out any existing player’s contract? No, I don’t.

NHL free agency starts July 13 at 10 a.m. mountain time. The Avs have the following players who could become UFA: Nazem Kadri, Josh Manson, Andre Burakovsky, Darcy Kuemper, Valeri Nichushkin, Darren Helm, Andrew Cogliano, Nico Sturm and Ryan Murray,

Gulp. That’s a lot of key guys. The Avalanche currently has $26.45 million of cap space, according to PuckPedia.

So, as much as Joe Sakic probably would love to get some r’n’r out of town for a while, he’s still going to be a busy man the next three weeks or so.