Where Will Ross Colton Fit In The Avs Lineup? (+)

Ross Colton is ready for game action after he ended last season with a lower-body injury. He rehabbed to begin his summer and spent the rest of it relaxing, with no changes to his offseason conditioning. His energy and excitement to get the season started match that of his teammates.

“Anytime you come into training camp and there’s just a sense of you can do it, you kind of look around the room — we have the talent to do it. It’s just a matter of piecing it together. There’s that excitement, there’s that determination,” Colton said. “I came off the ice first day, that day one of training camp — it felt like an end of the year of practice. Guys were flying around, buzzing, we were snapping around. Even Bedsy (head coach Jared Bednar) said that was high tempo and really good first couple of days. So, just excitement and camp’s long, I’m ready for some games.”

The 29-year-old has a different sense coming into his third season with the Avalanche than he did in his past two. He said it’s “nothing too crazy” but noted the important changes.

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“Having Landy (Gabriel Landeskog) back, that’s been a big talk. And then you bring back Brock (Nelson), and we solidified both goalies. We know we have the talent in here to do it, we just got to piece it together. Maybe at times, at the start of the season, we have a little bit of uncertainty. But besides OC (Logan O’Connor) going into this year, we’re pretty deep right now. Just a matter of, we got to hit the ground running, find our stride, and get into game mode right away.”

Finding the Right Fit for Colton

The Robbinsville, New Jersey native started last season on fire, then suffered a broken foot, which sidelined him for over a month. When he returned from injury, he struggled to produce. He earned nine points in his first 10 games before getting injured, and just 20 in his remaining 51 games.

He shuffled around lines and positions and didn’t quite find the perfect fit to boost his game. He may do the same to start the 2025-26 season with O’Connor out until early November. Parker Kelly and Jack Drury are in the forefront for the bottom six centers, so it is more likely Colton will remain on the wing. But Bednar is not set on any combination just yet.

“He’s really good at pushing out of the zone and when the pucks go deep, he is all over the D. And he’s a physical guy, he’s disruptive, he creates a bunch of scoring chances off that. It helps him get involved in the game, as it does Kelly, so if I move him to the middle, you lose that …,” Bednar said. “I don’t want to take a guy and move him in there if we can explore options with the three young guys and we can put one of them in at center and keep those guys on the wing, would be ideal.”

The Importance of Chemistry and How it Changes

Colton is a versatile player and will get a look at the center position to see how he fits, according to Bednar. He didn’t play in either of the first two exhibition games but will likely play on Saturday against the Dallas Stars at Ball Arena. No matter where he ends up playing, he hopes to find his groove and chemistry, which won’t happen immediately.

“You could be a great practice player, but it could just not translate at all onto the ice. I’ve been playing with Jurs (Drury) and Olie (Victor Olofsson) in these first couple skates, and we’ve been doing a really good job,” Colton said. “We’re snapping around a little bit in the 5-on-5, 3-on-2 stuff, but we’ll have to see, once we get into a game, if it translates — it could go the complete opposite way. I hope it doesn’t, because I like playing with those guys, but we’ll see. These first couple months, even in the season, Bedsy’s going to be juggling lines just trying to find the right rhythm. So I don’t like to look too much into who I’m playing with on a given day.”

Colton has also played on the power play and was part of the second unit in practice on Tuesday. That group included Brent Burns, Gabriel Landeskog, Artturi Lehkonen and Olofsson. Just another combo Bednar was trying out, but we’ll see what sticks.

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The opening night lineup will not be revealed until game day. The top six players are set, but where they will play is not definite. As for the bottom six, Colton, Drury, Olofsson, Kelly and Joel Kiviranta are in. Who slides into the empty spot is still up for grabs, and how those lines pan out will be what is determined in preseason.

Colton’s Offseason Moves

On a personal note, Colton got engaged to his longtime girlfriend and spent most of his summer back home in New Jersey. He has a nice glow from his time on the beach, but is all business now that it’s over.

Colton misses his former teammate, Miles Wood, who has a new spot in Columbus with the Blue Jackets, but wishes him the best on his new team. The friendship (or as I referred to it, the bromance) the two formed during their time together is not broken, and they regularly keep in touch. The two will face off against each other early in the season at Nationwide Arena on Oct. 16, but Wood won’t be back at Ball Arena until Jan. 10, 2026.