On Sunday in Vancouver, Avalanche coach Jared Bednar showed his faith in Gavin Brindley.
On Tuesday in Denver, the Colorado front office followed suit.
Two days after Bednar moved the fourth-line forward to the first line in the third period and then sent him back onto the ice for overtime, resulting in Brindley’s first career game-winning goal, the Avs announced they signed Brindley to a two-year extension.
That extension, which carries an average annual value of $875,000 and runs through the 2027-28 season, is evidence that Colorado believes the 21-year-old can emerge as a fixture in the offense over the next three years.
“I think he can be a (first- or second-line) forward in this league,” Bednar said. “He plays bigger than his size, the motor, the relentlessness, the skill level and the brain to go with it is all there. His (ceiling) is really high. He’s being used in that (fourth-line) role because there’s guys I trust higher in the lineup, and who have played those roles before.
“… (What he did in Vancouver), that’s repeatable from him. We’ll keep trying to move him up when he’s really going, or when other guys are struggling. If not, he just makes our team deeper and more dangerous offensively when he’s playing in the bottom six (forwards).”
Considering where Brindley’s stock was just five months ago when the Avs traded for him, Tuesday’s announcement speaks to the strong impression he’s made in his short time in Colorado.
The Avs sent forwards Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood to the Blue Jackets on June 27 in a cap-clearing move, and got Brindley and two draft picks in return. Taken No. 34 overall by Columbus in 2023, Brindley was coming off a poor debut in his first full professional season for the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League. In 52 games, he tallied 17 points, including only six goals.
That made him expendable in a trade that Brindley says “definitely put a chip on my shoulder.”
“Coming off last year, not the best year for myself, I just got back to my game and got back to what I know works,” Brindley said. “I had a lot of different emotions after the trade. There’s positives and negatives to getting traded that young, but (in retrospect), it’s good to go through it early, experience that, experience the downs of last year, learn from it and get better and grow.”
Brindley said extension talks between his agent and the Avs heated up over the last few weeks and came to a head on Monday. In 14 games entering Tuesday night’s showdown with Anaheim, Brindley had five points (three goals, two assists) while becoming a lineup regular. That’s in stark contrast to the previous two years, when he barely got a cup of coffee with Columbus (one game in 2023-24) in the NHL.
Parker Kelly, who plays on the fourth line with Brindley, noted that Brindley “has done a great job of coming in and picking up what we’ve built here.”
“Gavin’s been making plays and obviously we saw him get onto the top line (in Vancouver) and then he buries the game-winner in overtime,” Kelly said. “He was probably our best player throughout the majority of that game.
“But where I’ve really seen his growth (on the fourth line) is his understanding of the game. … Sometimes he just needs to make the safe play, and he’s been doing a really good job of picking his spots, making plays when he can and being smart with the puck when he doesn’t have plays to make.”
Brindley has also earned roles on both the penalty kill and the power play — he’s now on the second unit for the latter. That’s another indication of Bednar’s growing trust in the young forward, who would’ve entered restricted free agency this summer without an extension.
“He’s a well-rounded player who is willing to learn and add to his toolbox to be able to get more minutes,” Bednar said.
Brindley has been on the ice for an average of 8 minutes, 58 seconds this season, but all indications are his arrow is pointing up.
Projecting down the line, he could eventually be a replacement for Artturi Lehkonen on the first line if he continues to develop. Lehkonen is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in 2027-28.
The Avs are currently the betting favorite to win the Stanley Cup this season, with +550 odds, according to BetMGM. Center Nathan MacKinnon led the league with 29 points and 14 goals heading into Tuesday’s game, while Cale Makar has been the NHL’s most productive defenseman as the reigning Norris Memorial Trophy winner has 22 points.
“The possibility to win (is what’s most exciting),” Brindley said. “Every year, we have a great chance to make a deep run. … It’s awesome to be locked into that possibility through 2027-28.”
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