JOE SAKIC

Executives around the NHL expect plenty of movement before free agency opens Wednesday.

While Julien BriseBois knows exactly how confident he is about the possibility of re-signing playoff performer Ondrej Palat and veteran defenseman Jan Rutta, he's not saying. "Still working on that," the two-time Stanley Cup-winning general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning said. Colorado, which beat Tampa Bay in the Cup Final, is looking to sign postseason standout Valeri Nichushkin among a group of potential free agents, and others such as Calgary MVP candidate Johnny Gaudreau, Pittsburgh center Evgeni Malkin and Florida trade deadline pickup Claude Giroux could all get new deals to stay rather than hitting the open market.

Japan's NHK television says former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has died after being shot during a campaign speech. (July 8)

The parade through the streets of Denver to celebrate the Colorado Avalanche’s Stanley Cup title offered a little bit of everything.

The city will celebrate the Colorado Avalanche’s Stanley Cup title with a parade through the streets of downtown Denver.

The Colorado Avalanche winning the Stanley Cup showed the value of speed and skill in a league dramatically tilting in that direction.

Nathan MacKinnon saved his best performance in the Stanley Cup Final for when it mattered most.

Cale Makar has won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP after leading the Colorado Avalanche to their first Stanley Cup title since 2001 and third in franchise history.

The Avalanche took down the two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 on Sunday in game 6 of the finals.

The Colorado Avalanche have won the Stanley Cup after dethroning the two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Stanley Cup Final between the Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning shows the value of hitting on top picks in the NHL draft.

Colorado Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon has upped his game by dialing it down.

Andre Burakovsky scored 1:23 into overtime and the Colorado Avalanche opened the Stanley Cup Final with a 4-3 victory over the two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday night.

The Colorado Avalanche didn't need to be fully healthy to sweep the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference final.

Nazem Kadri had three assists in a 2:04 span in the second period, backup Pavel Francouz stopped 24 shots for his second career playoff shutout and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-0 on Thursday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.

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The Florida Panthers are on the brink of getting swept out of the second round of the playoffs by the back-to-back defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning.

The combination of jumbled standings in the Western Conference and a flat salary cap has stalled much of the trade market around the NHL.

The end of the NHL draft only ushers in more questions about what's coming next this offseason.

New Jersey Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald has been talking to Colorado counterpart Joe Sakic for almost two years about acquiring defenseman Ryan Graves. It led the two general managers to renew their discussions about the 26-year-old Graves, and they beat the deadline with a deal on Thursday night. “I slept very well,” Fitzgerald said Friday, less than a day after he sent forward Mikhail Maltsev and a second-round pick in this year's draft to the Avalanche for the former New York Rangers draft pick.

Jonathan Marchessault and Max Pacioretty scored 45 seconds apart in the third period to lift the Vegas Golden Knights to a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche in Game 3 of their second-round playoff series.

Mikko Rantanen scored a power-play goal 2:07 into overtime, Philipp Grubauer outdueled fellow Vezina Trophy finalist Marc-Andre Fleury and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 to take a 2-0 lead in their second-round playoff series.

Some of the NHL's top teams got a head start on the trade deadline by making moves.

The Colorado Avalanche have acquired goaltender Devan Dubynk from the San Jose Sharks for defenseman Greg Pateryn and a fifth-round pick in the 2021 draft.

Colorado Avalanche right wing Joonas Donskoi reacts after scoring a goal against the Arizona Coyotes in the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, march 31, 2021, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)DENVER – Joonas Donskoi scored three times during Colorado’s five-goal first period, and the Avalanche beat the Arizona Coyotes 9-3 on Wednesday night in front of home fans for the first time this season. To celebrate Donskoi’s accomplishment, fans tossed hats onto the ice — just like old times. Andre Burakovsky and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare also scored in a wild first period that included Arizona goals by Michael Bunting and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. AdGabriel Landeskog finished with two goals, Mikko Rantanen added another and Burakovsky scored his second with 3:11 remaining on an assist by Donskoi.

Kiviranta was playing only his third postseason game, with Andrew Cogliano unfit to play, after scoring once in 11 regular-season games. There had never been an NHL Game 7 played at a neutral site before the two games. The series was back and forth, starting from Game 1 and tonight the game itself was no different. The Stars beat the Avs in the Western Conference finals in 1999 and 2000 to make it to the Stanley Cup final. His sixth power play goal matched Joe Sakic (1996) for the second-most in an Avalanche postseason behind Michel Goulets seven in 1985.