Aarif Deen
Former Avalanche center and 10-year NHL veteran Pierre-Edouard Bellemare made his retirement official on Thursday.
The 41-year-old spent two seasons with the Avalanche from 2019 to 2021, and they were far and away his most productive years. In 2019-20, Bellemare recorded a career-high nine goals and a career-best 22 points in just 63 games before COVID ended the regular season early.
In 2021, he matched those nine goals, getting there in just 53 games as Colorado’s fourth-line center. Bellemare departed the organization after that to play for the Tampa Bay Lightning for two seasons before ending his career with the Seattle Kraken in 2023-24. He took part in the 2022 Stanley Cup Final for the Lightning.
He joined the Avs on a two-year deal carrying a $1.8 million AAV in the summer of 2019. That was when Colorado also added Nazem Kadri, Andre Burakovsky, and Joonas Donskoi and catapulted up the standings. Before that, Bellemare played two years in Philadelphia and two more in Vegas. He was part of the 2017-18 first-year Golden Knights that went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final.
Bellemare tried to give it one more go in the NHL on a professional tryout with the Avs in September 2024. He was cut from the roster before signing a contract. His last notable games were at the 2026 Winter Olympics, where Bellemare captained Team France and told reporters following their final game that his career was coming to an end.