Breaking down the 2025-26 Avalanche schedule

The fun begins October 7th!

After a delay to see if any new transactions could squeeze slightly more juice out of the schedule for the upcoming 2025-26 NHL season, the full 82-game slate for every team has finally been revealed.

For the Colorado Avalanche, fans had to wait 10 extra minutes for the schedule but it was finally revealed and the 2025-26 season will begin October 7th in Los Angeles. It will be a quick turnaround to arrive back home to host the Utah Mammoth at Ball Arena on October 9th. The Dallas Stars arrive that weekend on October 11th to spice up the season early as part of the NHL’s all 32 teams in action slate.

October 28th is another such date with all 32 teams in action but this one will have the traditional frozen frenzy scheduling with staggered start times. Colorado has a “normal” 7 p.m. MT start, though, as they host New Jersey that evening.

On Halloween the Avalanche have a 1 p.m. MT matinee match against the Golden Knights as part of their Nevada Day celebrations, which will be one of the staggering 18 daytime offerings on this Avalanche schedule. Maybe the league took the age of Colorado’s roster into account to arrive at this decision.

The most significant homecoming on the Avalanche schedule is when Brock Nelson takes a trip back to the Island to face New York on December 4th to start off one of three four-game road trips. The longest homestand is seven games at Ball Arena from January 8th to 23rd.

As we know, the NHL will take a near three-week break from February 6th-24th for players to participate in the Milano Cortina Olympics. Colorado will have their last game on February 4th against San Jose and resume playing on February 25th in Utah. March as a result will be especially jam-packed with 15 games that month.

There are multiple home-and-home mini-series starting with New Jersey in October, then Detroit in January, Winnipeg in March, and St. Louis in April. Though not a true home-and-home, Colorado will host and visit Boston within a week in October.

The regular season ends on Thursday, April 16th against the Seattle Kraken as the last of five consecutive games against the Pacific division. Colorado should know their position in the Central division before this final stretch.