Defenseman Brent Burns Signs One-Year Deal with Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche announced on Wednesday afternoon that they have signed defenseman Brent Burns to a one-year, $1M contract for the 2025-26 season.

Burns, 40, spent the last three seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes after being acquired in a trade from the San Jose Sharks. In Raleigh, he played top-pair minutes with defensive partner Jaccob Slavin. In his first year with the Hurricanes, 2022-23, he totaled 61 points (18g/43a). This past season, only collecting 29 points (6g/23a), is tied for his worst in the last 10 seasons of his career.

Despite a statistically disappointing year for the defenseman, he still has a lot to offer as a veteran on a talented Avalanche blue line.

The 2017 Norris Trophy winner will occupy a defensive core led by two-time Norris Trophy winner Cale Makar and his defensive partner, Devon Toews. In his first appearance with the Colorado media, he touched on his excitement to learn from some of the talent in Denver while bringing experience of his own into the locker room.

I just want to come in and join the group to fit in… I just want to bring some energy, bring some fun, some experience. Obviously, there’s a lot of guys there that I can learn from… I think it’s always a big part of playing with different guys, everybody can learn from everybody. I’m sure for me, it’s going to be great and hopefully some of these guys will see some different things and can learn from me. I’m looking forward to being part of a special group.

- Burns on how he sees himself fitting into Colorado’s D-core.

With the Colorado media, Burns also had some great things to say about his time in Raleigh under former head coach Rod Brind’Amour, calling him special and going as far as to say, “I can’t speak highly enough about him.”

In his time in Minnesota to the last couple of years with Slavin, who he called “a huge blessing” to play next to, one thing has been fairly constant: his jersey number. For the entirety of his career, he’s worn just two numbers: 8 and 88. With both of those numbers taken by Cale Makar and former Hurricanes teammate Martin Necas, he will have to stray from the beaten path. When asked about it, he mentioned that he’s leaning toward sporting #84 this upcoming season, but nothing is “set in stone.”