Brent Burns, Avalanche Agree to Contract in NHL Free Agency After Hurricanes Stint

Brent Burns is heading to Colorado for his 22nd NHL season.

Burns signed a one-year contract to join the Colorado Avalanche in free agency, the team announced Wednesday.

Burns spent the last three seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes.

He hit free agency when the eight-year, $8 million AAV deal he signed with the San Jose Sharks in 2016 expired following his 2024-25 campaign with the Canes.

The Sharks had retained 34 percent of that cap hit as part of the trade that sent Burns to Carolina in 2022, leaving the Canes to pay an annual cap hit of $5.36 million.

Burns played a significant role for Carolina in his age-39 season, skating on the Hurricanes' top pairing alongside Jaccob Slavin in addition spending time on both the power play and penalty kill.

He averaged 20:57 of ice time through 82 regular-season games, which marked his lowest total in more than a decade but still ranked second to Slavin among all Hurricanes skaters.

Burns then skated 22:55 per night through 15 playoff games before the Canes were eliminated from Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals by the Florida Panthers.

Burns, who entered the NHL as a forward and played that position for the Sharks between 2012 and 2014, is no longer the generator of offense he once was. He was limited to six goals last season, his lowest output since 2009-10.

Despite the decrease in his shot volume, Burns still remained a defensive stalwart and one of the Hurricanes' most reliable players.

Burns has yet to miss a regular-season game in Carolina, having made 246 consecutive regular-season appearances since his Hurricanes debut.

Burns might see his playing time drop next season, although he will likely continue to skate on special teams.

Whatever role he takes on, Burns will hope to seek the first Stanley Cup of his career with his new team next spring.

Burns spent seven seasons with the Minnesota Wild and 11 with the Sharks, where he won the Norris Trophy in 2017, before joining the Hurricanes in 2022.

Next season he could join Ryan Suter, who is also seeking a new contract this offseason, as the second active NHL player to skate in his 1,500th career game.