Avalanche make key moves, re-sign two defenseman in a span of minutes

The Colorado Avalanche re-signed two defenseman in a matter of minutes on Friday.

Both Brett Kulak and Brent Burns will be back next season.

And Kulak will remain with the Avs for five seasons, while Burns earned another one-year deal. Here are some of the details.

Brett Kulak, five years x $4.5M AAV
Brent Burns, one year, base salary is $850k but can earn just over $2M more in performance bonuses.
Great to have Burns back for another year! https://t.co/Ceecg90PdB

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) June 26, 2026

Avalanche GM Joe Sakic dumped the salaries of Valeri Nichushkin, Jack Drury and Ross Colton over the past 10 days and now some of that salary cap space goes to Kulak and Burns.

It’s a little surprising to see the 32-year-old Kulak get $4.5 million per year over the next five seasons, but clearly that was his market value. Colorado acquired him for Samuel Girard in February from the Penguins and Kulak scored an iconic OT goal in the playoffs, sending the Minnesota Wild home.

Burns, 41, is chasing a Stanley Cup at the end of a legendary career. He and the Avalanche came up short of that goal last season, but Burns will give it another go in 2026-27. He’s owed less than $1 million, but can reportedly earn over $2M with incentives.

He left some things to be desired on the defensive side of things last season, but still scored 12 goals and added 23 assists. He also had a career-best plus-33 rating and logged 18:53 time on ice per game over 82 showings for Colorado. His incredible iron-man streak remains intact.

The Avalanche now have all of their top six defenseman under contract for the coming season. The big question in the group now is what will Cale Makar’s looming extension look like?

That’s likely next on the list for Sakic.

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