Jared Bednar

Head Coach

 

Jared Bednar, the only individual to win a championship in the NHL, AHL and ECHL as a head coach, is in his 10th season as the Avalanche’s head coach. Hired on Aug. 25, 2016, Bednar is the second-longest tenured coach in the NHL behind only Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper (March 25, 2013).

Bednar, 53, guided the Avalanche to their fourth straight 100-point season in 2024-25 and qualified for the playoffs for the eighth straight campaign. Colorado’s eight consecutive playoff berths mark the second-longest stretch in franchise history behind an 11-year run from 1995-96 through 2005-06, as well as tied for the second-longest active streak in the NHL. Jared is the first coach in Avalanche/Nordiques history to lead his teams to eight consecutive postseason berths, passing Michel Bergeron for that honor this past season.

 

Bednar is the winningest coach in Avalanche/Nordiques franchise history with a 390-246-64 (.603) record in 700 regular-season games behind the bench. The 390 victories are the seventh-most by an NHL bench boss through his first 700 games. He owns a 52-35-1 (.591) record in 88 postseason contests, the sixth-best playoff winning percentage all time (min. 50 games) behind Glen Sather (.706), Toe Blake (.689), Scotty Bowman (.632), Hap Day (.613) and Larry Robinson (.596). Bednar, who signed a three-year extension through 2026-27 on March 21, 2023, also has the most playoff wins in franchise history.

 

Under Bednar’s tutelage, Colorado has produced an NHL-best 287-130-37 (.673) regular-season record since 2019-20, including a 49-29-4 record in 2024-25. The influx of victories that season elevated Bednar into a tie for 43rd all-time on the coaching ledger as well as 16th in wins for a single franchise. The head coach recorded his 300th career victory on Nov. 13, 2023 at Seattle, becoming the 53rd in NHL history to win 300 games and 32nd to do it with one franchise. On that night, he tied Mike Keenan as the 12th fastest to 300 wins (550 contests). Just 10 wins shy of 400, Bednar looks to join a group of 41 head coaches who have captured 400 victories in his career, and just 15 who have hit that benchmark with one franchise.

 

In the last two seasons, Bednar has overseen Nathan MacKinnon’s Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award campaign (2023-24) and Cale Makar taking home his second career Norris Trophy (2024-25). It’s the first time since 2017-18 and 2018-19 that a coach has been behind the bench for players that he coached winning a Hart and a Norris Trophy in consecutive seasons.

 

The 2025-26 campaign marks Bednar’s 24th season of coaching professional hockey, 16 of which have been as a head coach. He posted a .603 winning percentage as a minor league head coach (251-158-23-19).

 

Bednar led the 2021-22 Avalanche to their most successful regular season in franchise history (56-19-7, 119 points) and continued that into the postseason with a 16-4 mark en route to capturing the Stanley Cup. The Stanley Cup championship completed the trio of league titles: Calder Cup with the Lake Erie Monsters in 2016 and a Kelly Cup with the South Carolina Stingrays in 2009. Colorado’s 72 combined regular season and playoff victories in 2021-22 matched the NHL record set by the 1976-77 Canadiens, 1983-84 Oilers and 1995-96 Red Wings. Bednar coached the Central Division during the 2022 NHL All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas, the first Avalanche bench boss to serve as a head coach at the All-Star Game. Bednar passed Bob Hartley for the most wins by an Avalanche coach (194) on Nov. 24, 2021 and then became the franchise’s all-time winningest coach with his 266th victory on Jan. 24, 2023 against the Washington Capitals.

 

The Saskatchewan native led the Avalanche to the Presidents’ Trophy and Honda West Division championship in 2020-21. The Avs, who finished last in the league in 2016-17, became the first NHL club to go from worst to first in four seasons or less since the 1970-71 Bruins.

 

Bednar was a finalist for the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s coach of the year during his second season in 2017-18. He led the Avs to a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 43-30-9 record (95 points), a jump of 47 points from the previous year. Colorado’s 47-point turnaround equaled the fourth-highest year-to-year improvement in NHL history. He joined Harry Sinden in 1967-68 as the only coaches in NHL history to record at least 20 more wins in their second season as a head coach than in his first. Sinden led the Bruins to 37 victories in 1967-68 after winning 17 games in 1966-67.

 

In 2019-20, Bednar guided the Avalanche to a second-place finish in the Central Division and the Western Conference with 92 points in 70 games during the shortened campaign. The Avs were two points behind St. Louis (94) but played one fewer contest when the regular season was paused and eventually concluded. The Avalanche tied Tampa Bay for the third-most points in the NHL behind the Blues and Bruins (100).

 

Prior to joining the Avalanche organization, Bednar guided the Columbus Blue Jackets’ AHL affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters, to the 2016 Calder Cup championship. The Monsters finished second in the Central Division with a 43-22-6-5 record (97 points) and then proceeded to go 15-2 during the postseason, sweeping both the Western Conference Final and Calder Cup Final. Bednar served as the head coach of the Blue Jackets’ previous AHL affiliate, the Springfield Falcons, in 2014-15 and also spent two seasons as the head coach of the AHL’s Peoria Rivermen from 2010-12. He began his coaching career as an assistant with the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL in 2002-03. Bednar took over the Stingrays’ head coaching job in 2007-08 and in his second season led South Carolina to the 2009 Kelly Cup championship. He posted a .654 winning percentage (89-45-9) in two years as an ECHL head coach. Jared was an assistant coach in the AHL with Abbotsford in 2009-10 and later served two seasons as an assistant with Springfield from 2012-14.

 

The defenseman played nine seasons of professional hockey, a career that spanned parts of eight seasons in the ECHL with the Huntington Blizzard and Stingrays (1993-2002), parts of three seasons in the AHL with the St. John’s Maple Leafs and Rochester Americans (1996-2000), and one season in the IHL with the Grand Rapids Griffins in 1998-99. He was part of two Kelly Cup championship teams as a player, 1997 and 2001 with South Carolina. Prior to turning pro, Bednar spent three seasons in the Western Hockey League from 1990-93, competing with the Saskatoon Blades, Spokane Chiefs, Medicine Hat Tigers and Prince Albert Raiders. Bednar was inducted into the ECHL Hall of Fame in 2020.

 

Jared and his wife, Susan, have a son, Kruz and a daughter, Savega. Bednar, who lived in Humboldt, Saskatchewan, on two different occasions for a decade during his youth and also played for the Humboldt Broncos, is personally involved in helping the victims and families of the 2018 Humboldt Broncos bus accident. He hosts a golf tournament in Humboldt each summer and during the 2022 event brought the Stanley Cup to share with the community.

Nolan Pratt

Assistant Coach

 

Nolan Pratt is beginning his 10th season with the Avalanche after being named an assistant coach on July 15, 2016. Pratt, 50, has coached alongside Jared Bednar since the two served as assistant coaches for the American Hockey League’s Springfield Falcons in 2012-13.

 

In addition to being an assistant coach on Colorado’s 2022 Stanley Cup championship team, Pratt was also an assistant for the 2016 Calder Cup winning Lake Erie Monsters. He has been behind the bench for the Avalanche’s current run of eight straight playoff appearances.

Pratt’s duties with the team include overseeing the defense and penalty kill. The Avalanche featured the NHL’s highest-scoring blueline for the fifth straight year in 2024-25, as Colorado’s defensemen led all teams with 211 points (54g/157a). That current run is tied with the Calgary Flames (1986-91) for the longest such streak in NHL history. In previous seasons with Pratt running the defense, Colorado logged a franchise-best 241 points (62g/179a) from the backend in 2023-24, while the 62 goals tied the Avalanche/Nordiques record set in 2021-22. During its run to the 2022 Stanley Cup, Colorado’s backline registered 69 points (18g/51a), the most in a four-round postseason since the 1984-85 Oilers (77).

 

At their own end of the ice, Pratt has elevated Colorado’s defense to among one of the best in the league, as the Avalanche hold the seventh-lowest goals-per-game (2.82) of any team over the last eight seasons. Additionally, the Avalanche’s penalty kill ranks 10th in the league since 2017-18 at 80.5%.

 

Since 2017-18, the Avalanche have had at least one blueliner finish in the top-10 in Norris Trophy voting every season in that span, highlighted by Cale Makar taking home the award in both 2024-25 and 2021-22. With Pratt overseeing the defense, Makar became the first player in franchise history to capture a Norris Trophy and has set franchise records for single-season goals (30, 2024-25), assists (69, 2023-24) and points (92, 2024-25) during the 26-year-old’s young career. In fact, Makar is the only player to win multiple Norris Trophies in the last four seasons as well as the only blueliner to be nominated every year in that span.

 

The 2016-17 campaign was Pratt’s first behind the bench in the NHL after spending five seasons as an assistant coach in the American Hockey League with the Lake Erie Monsters (2015-16) and the Springfield Falcons (2011-15).

 

native of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Pratt spent 11 seasons in the NHL, playing 592 games with Hartford/Carolina, Colorado, Tampa Bay and Buffalo. He was a member of the Avalanche’s 2001 Stanley Cup championship team, and also won a Cup as a member of the Lightning in 2003-04. Selected by the Whalers in the fifth round (115th overall) of the 1993 Entry Draft, Pratt finished with 65 points (9g/56a) and 537 penalty minutes during his career, which included three points (1g/2a) in 46 games during his lone season with the Avs in 2000-01.

 

Nolan and his wife, Deborah, have two daughters, Ella and Kira.

Dave Hakstol

Assistant Coach

 

Dave Hakstol was hired as an assistant coach for the Avalanche on July 8, 2025 and is in his first season with the organization. He most recently was on an NHL bench when he was the first Head Coach of the Seattle Kraken, serving in that role from 2021-24. In those three seasons, the Kraken posted a 107-112-27 record and qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2022-23. That postseason, the team made it to the Second Round as a Wild Card on the heels of a 100-point campaign that made Hakstol a finalist for the 2023 Jack Adams Award. The Kraken improved by 19 wins and 40 standings points between seasons one and two with him as the bench boss. Hakstol spent the 2024-25 campaign as an Assistant Coach for Team Canada at the Spengler Cup.

 

A native of Drayton Valley, Alberta, Hakstol was behind the bench as an assistant for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2019-20 and 2020-21, earning a postseason berth in both seasons. In that span, the club scored 423 goals and recorded a 21.7% power play, ranking tied for third and tied for eighth in the NHL, respectively. Prior to his tenure in Toronto, Hakstol was the Head Coach for the Philadelphia Flyers over parts of the 2015-19 seasons. The Flyers compiled a 134-101-42 regular-season record and qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs twice under his tutelage.

Hakstol spent 15 seasons coaching at the University of North Dakota – his alma mater – before joining the Flyers. The final 11 of those campaigns saw Hakstol as the program’s Head Coach (2004-15). During that span, North Dakota recorded a 289-143-43 clip, reached the Frozen Four seven times, took home four conference playoff championships and three regular-season titles. He was selected as the Coach of the Year for his conference twice (2008-09 as Western Collegiate Hockey Association; 2014-15 as National Collegiate Hockey Conference).

 

Prior to joining North Dakota’s coaching ranks, Hakstol served as the Head Coach of the Sioux City Musketeers of the United States Hockey League from 1996-00 and also held the title of General Manager his final season there. In his playing days, Hakstol played five seasons of pro hockey with the International Hockey League’s Minnesota Moose (1994-96) and the Indianapolis Ice (1991-94). The defenseman competed for North Dakota from 1989-92 and was the team captain his final two seasons in Grand Forks.

 

On the international stage, Hakstol has won a silver medal twice as an assistant for Team Canada at the IIHF World Championship in 2017 and 2019.

 

Dave and his wife, Erinn, have two children, daughter Avery and son Brenden.

Jussi Parkkila

Goaltending Coach

 

Jussi Parkkila begins his ninth season as Colorado’s goaltending coach after being named to his position on July 7, 2017. The Avalanche have made the postseason in every campaign since Parkkila joined the staff, which includes three division championships, as well as the 2021 Presidents’ Trophy and the 2022 Stanley Cup.

 

During Parkkila’s time as goalie coach, Colorado’s netminders have posted the NHL’s sixth-best save percentage (.907) and the seventh-fewest goals against (2.82).

The 2024-25 Avalanche were the first team in NHL history to trade away both their Opening Night goaltenders before Christmas. From Dec. 8 on, one day before the acquisition of Mackenzie Blackwood and a week after Scott Wedgewood joined the team, the Avalanche finished the regular season allowing 2.38 goals-per-game, second best in the NHL behind only Winnipeg (2.20). Blackwood set career highs in wins (28) and shutouts (4) between Colorado and New Jersey, and also posted a 22-12-3 record with a 2.33 GAA, .913 Sv% and three shutouts in 37 games with the Avs. Meanwhile, Wedgewood produced a 13-4-1 record, a 1.99 GAA, a .917 Sv% and two shutouts over 19 games since his Colorado debut on Dec. 3.

 

Furthermore, in each of the last six seasons (2019-20 to 2024-25), Colorado has had a netminder finish among the league leaders in notable statistical categories: Blackwood’s overall Sv% (.912) and GAA (2.55) in 2024-25 saw him place eighth and ninth, respectively. Alexandar Georgiev ranked first in wins in 2022-23 (tied) and 2023-24, Darcy Kuemper finished fifth in Sv% (.921) in 2021-22, Philipp Grubauer ranked eighth in Sv% (.922) in 2020-21 and Pavel Francouz shared the fifth-best Sv% (.923) in 2019-20.

 

Prior to joining the Avalanche, Parkkila, 48, spent 12 seasons coaching goaltenders in Europe, which included a five-year stint in Russia’s KHL and two seasons in Finland’s top professional league (Liiga). He spent the 2016-17 campaign coaching goalies for the Grazz 99ers in Austria. Prior to that, Parkkila served as goaltending coach in the KHL with Avangard Omsk (2014-15), SKA St. Petersburg (2011-14) and Atlant Mytischi (2010-11).

 

After three years with the Ilves U-20 team in Finland, Parkkila began his pro coaching career with the KHL’s Yaroslavl Lokomotiv in 2007-08. The Tampere, Finland, native then moved on to coach with Tappara in Finland’s top league for two seasons (2008-10).

 

Parkkila resides in his native Finland during the offseason with his wife, Niina, and daughter, Julia.

Brett Heimlich

Assistant Coach, Video

 

Brett Heimlich enters his 11th season as a member of the Avalanche’s coaching staff. He was promoted to assistant coach in 2020. Including his time on the San Jose Sharks’ staff, Heimlich has been a part of seven division championship teams, two Presidents’ Trophy clubs and the 2022 Stanley Cup champion Avalanche.

 

In his role, Heimlich handles video replay, presents video breakdowns of game situations to coaches and players, formulates scouting reports on opposing clubs and creates highlight and specialty films for use by the coaches and players. In addition, he provides video reports for postgame individual-player performance reviews as well as statistical analysis for the coaching staff.

Heimlich, 39, joined the Avalanche after nine years with the San Jose Sharks. He first joined the Sharks organization in 2004 in event services before working his way up to video assistant and directly assisting the coaching staff. He was later promoted to video coordinator, where he communicated on headset with the club’s assistant coaches during games while controlling the team’s video capture and editing system.

 

A native of San Jose, Brett resides in Lone Tree with his wife, Amanda, son, Holden and daughter, Hadley.

Mark Popovic

Skills Coach

 

Mark Popovic begins his first season as Skills Coach for the Avalanche. The former NHLer was hired full-time by the organization on August 6, 2025.

 

Popovic, 42, has spent the last several seasons as a consultant with the Avalanche and Colorado Eagles (AHL), which included assisting with both training camp and development camp as well as working with individual players throughout the season.

In addition to his duties with the Avalanche, Popovic is the owner and founder of IGNITE HOCKEY, a hockey development company based out of Colorado. IGNITE provides both on and off-ice development for elite young hockey players. Popovic also owns Perfect Skating Denver, a similar development program for young players.

 

Selected by the Anaheim Ducks in the second round (35th overall) of the 2001 NHL Draft, Popovic played 15 years of professional hockey, which included several seasons in the National Hockey League. The defenseman recorded two goals and five assists in 81 NHL contests, 80 of which were with the Atlanta Thrashers. He made his NHL debut with Anaheim in 2003-04, appearing in one game. Popovic spent the entire 2007-08 and 2009-10 campaigns with the Thrashers.

 

A native of Stoney Creek, Ontario, Popovic also dressed in 359 career AHL contests, played three seasons in Switzerland’s National League, three seasons in the KHL in Russia and two in Austria. Prior to turning pro, Popovic spent four years with the Ontario Hockey League’s Toronto St. Michael’s Majors, where he was named to the 2002 OHL First All-Star Team, 2001 OHL Third All-Star Team and 1999 OHL All-Rookie Team. He represented Team Canada at two IIHF World Junior Championships, winning bronze in 2001 and silver in 2002.

 

Mark and his wife, Tracy, have called Colorado home since he retired from professional hockey. They have two sons, Noah and Nash, and one daughter, Charlotte.

 

Medical Staff

Matt Sokolowski Head Athletic Trainer
Scott Woodward Director of Rehabilitation
Brent Woodside Assistant Athletic Trainer
Donovan Delarosbil Assistant Athletic Trainer

 


 

Equipment Staff

Don White Head Equipment Manager
Bryce Blinkhorn Assistant Equipment Manager
Travis Ward Assistant Equipment Manager
Brad Lewkow Assistant Equipment Manager

 


 

Strength & Conditioning / Massage Staff

Alexi Pianosi Head Strength & Conditioning Coach
Bobby Lucas Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach
Yevgeniy Haletskiy Massage Therapist

 


 

Pro Scouting Staff

Keith Aucoin Pro Scout
Ryan Barr Pro Scout
Jim Clark Pro Scout
Dan Laperriere Pro Scout
Curtis Leschyshyn Pro Scout
Bryan Stewart Pro Scout

 


 

Amateur Scouting Staff

Nick Pryor Director of Amateur Scouting
Miroslav Zalesak Head European Scouting
Brad Smith Special Assignments, Amateur Scouting
Mike Battaglia Head College Scout/Amateur Scout
Pavel Francouz Goaltender Scout
Scott Halpenny Scout
Eric Johansson Scout
Jerome Mesonero Scout
Teemu Nurmi Scout
Andrei Plekhanov Scout
Jamie Porter Scout
Rob Riley Scout
Kiana Scott Scout
Neil Shea Scout
Lyle Wingert Scout
Boris Yemelyanov Scout
Mitch Sakic Assistant Video Scout

 


 

Analytics Staff

Arik Parnass Director of Analytics
Dawson Sprigings Associate Director of Analytics & Lead Data Scientist
David Wood Hockey Analyst
Jetson Ku Data Scientist
Liam McBain Senior Data Engineer

 


 

Player Development Staff

Brian Willsie Director of Player Development
Craig Billington Director of Goaltending Evaluation/Special Projects

 


 

Hockey Administration

Suzanne Borchert Executive Director of Hockey Operations
John Burbach Director of Security

 


 

Team Services/Media Relations Staff

Erin DeGraff Director, Team Services & Immigration
Luke Johns Manager of Media Relations
Jarrod Davis Media Relations Coordinator

 


 

Food Services/Nutrition

John Prokop Head Performance Chef
Josh Kuczkowski Sous Chef
Slater Brandhorst Prep Chef
Hayden Lewis Game Day Chef
Corbin Prokop Game Day Chef

 


 

Colorado Eagles Staff (American Hockey League Affiliate)

Mark Letestu Head Coach
Derek Army Assistant Coach
Tim Branham Assistant Coach
Matt Zaba Goaltending Coach
Kim Weiss Video Coach
Adam Strecker Head Athletic Trainer
Christian Galindo Assistant Athletic Trainer
Brayden Deweese Assistant Equipment Manager