The Case for Keeping or Firing Jared Bednar

The Colorado Avalanche won the Presidents' Trophy as the top team during the NHL regular season. They finished with an incredible record of 55-16-11 for 121 points. With a stacked roster, the Avs entered the playoffs as the favorite to hoist the Stanley Cup.

After sweeping the Los Angeles Kings in the first round and then dispatching the Minnesota Wild in five games in the second round, it appeared that the Avs were well on their way to winning the cup. But they ran into the red-hot Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Finals, and were shockingly swept out of the postseason in four games.

Now, the future of head coach Jared Bednar is in question. Do the Avs keep him, or do they fire him? There's a real case to be made for both options, and it will certainly be interesting to see what Avalanche president Joe Sakic decides to do.

The Case for Keeping Jared Bednar

The Avalanche hired Bednar in 2016, and he has been the team's head coach ever since. In his 10 years with the Avs, he has a 445-262-75 record during the regular season, leading the Avs to the playoffs in every season after missing it in his debut year with the team.

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In 2022, the Avalanche captured the third Stanley Cup in franchise history when the Avs beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games. Speaking of Tampa Bay, Bendar is currently the second-longest tenured NHL head coach, behind only Jon Cooper of the Lightning.

In an NHL where coaches are routinely hired and fired, Bednar's longevity with the Avalanche is something to behold. By winning the Stanley Cup four years ago, he proved that he has what it takes to lead his team to the promised land.

But after winning the cup, the Avs haven't made it back to the finals. This season, the Avalanche were the top team in the regular season, and they acquired big pieces at the NHL trade deadline to put them over the top. Alas, it wasn't meant to be, as they ran into a buzzsaw Vegas squad that knocked them out of the postseason in a four-game sweep.

Due to Bednar's success with the Avs during the regular season and his previous Stanley Cup win, he should get the chance to run it back next year and give it another shot in Colorado. But it's not a lock for that to happen, as there is a very real case for the team to move on.

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The Case for Firing Jared Bednar

Although considering firing Bednar before the playoffs began would have been an insane thought, after the Avs were swept by Vegas in the Western Conference Finals, it's something the team is no doubt going to think about.

After all, it's much easier for the Avs to fire their coach than trade their players. As much success as Bednar has had in the regular season, and as much goodwill as his Stanley Cup victory four years ago has bought him, it's still no guarantee that he sticks around.

To that end, Colorado has to look no further than across the ice at what the Vegas Golden Knights did. In March, the Golden Knights made the shocking decision to fire head coach Bruce Cassidy with just eight games remaining in the season, just three years after he coached Vegas to the Stanley Cup. The Golden Knights replaced Cassidy with John Tortorella, who is coaching his sixth NHL team.

The move to bring in Tortorella, who was fired by the Philadelphia Flyers after missing the playoffs last season, to replace Cassidy so late in the season was one that very few agreed with at the time.

But it's proven to be a genius move for the Golden Knights, as Tortorella has his team in the Stanley Cup Finals, where they await the winner of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Montreal Canadiens.

For Cassidy, it must hurt to see the team that he coached basically all season go this far without him behind the bench. But for the Golden Knights, the only thing that matters is the crest on their sweater, not the coach on the bench. Firing Cassidy was a controversial move at the time, but one that looks like a masterstroke in hindsight.

If Colorado fires Bednar, it won't seem fair for a coach who has been nothing but a good soldier for the franchise for a decade. But the ultimate goal is to win the Stanley Cup, and if Colorado management doesn't think Bednar can lead them back to it, then they have to bite the bullet and fire him.

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This story was originally published May 27, 2026 at 6:51 AM.