Jared Bednar, Avalanche Agree to New Contract Ahead of 2026-27 NHL Season

The Colorado Avalanche are recommitting to their longtime head coach after last season's Presidents' Trophy win and Western Conference Finals loss.

The Avalanche have signed Jared Bednar to a four-year contract extension, the team announced Wednesday.

The Avalanche are preparing to open the 2026-27 season Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Kings.

The new contract is set to keep Bednar in Colorado through the 2030-31 season.

Bednar is heading into his 11th season with the Avalanche, which he led to a Stanley Cup in 2022.

The news comes after president of hockey operations Joe Sakic added general manager to his job title following Chris MacFarland's departure for the Nashville Predators.

Bednar said in a Wednesday appearance on Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 he had engaged in contract talks with Sakic throughout the offseason.

"Joe and I have had multiple conversations over the summer... I don't think either one of us was like, 'We have to have it done by this date,' but it's nice to get it put to bed and just be able to focus on what we have to do this season," Bednar said.

An ECHL Hall of Famer who coached teams to championships in the ECHL and AHL, Bednar had no NHL experience either as a player or coach when he was hired to replace Patrick Roy as head coach ahead of the 2016-17 season.

The Avs won 22 games in Bednar's first season as head coach, a finish that allowed the franchise to select Cale Makar with the fourth pick of the 2017 draft.

Colorado has qualified for the playoffs in every season since, including three straight trips to the second round ahead of the team's championship run in 2022.

Over that span Bednar has been at the helm for the development of some of the best players in the NHL in Makar, Nathan MacKinnon and former Avalanche star Mikko Rantanen.

The Avalanche are now coming off a franchise-record 121-point regular-season followed by the team's deepest playoff push since the Cup season, although the run ended with a conference finals sweep by the Vegas Golden Knights.

Sakic already showed his belief in the Avalanche's current stars by signing Makar to an extension currently set to make him the highest-paid player in the NHL.

The new contract for Bednar is another sign of faith this core can help the Avs compete for another Stanley Cup in the immediate future.

Bednar, 54, boasts a 445-262-75 regular-season record and 60-40-1 mark in the playoffs. He is the second-longest tenured coach in the NHL behind the Tampa Bay Lightning's Jon Cooper.