Bednar was entering the final season of a three-year contract he signed March 21, 2023.
The 54-year-old is beginning his 11th season as Avalanche coach. He is the franchise’s all-time leader in wins (445-262-75) in 782 regular-season games and is also 60-40-1 in 101 Stanley Cup Playoff games, highlighted by winning a championship in 2022.
Bednar is the only person to win championships in the ECHL (South Carolina, 2009), AHL (Lake Erie, 2016) and NHL as a head coach. He is the second-longest tenured coach in the League behind Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning (March 2013).
Colorado has qualified for the postseason in all but one season during Bednar’s time as coach; he missed during his first season (2016-17). It won the Presidents’ Trophy last season, having the most points (121; 55-16-11) during the regular season before losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final.
Bednar said he wasn't sure the Avalanche would bring him back after last season, but he's more than happy they did.
"It's an unforgiving league. That's what it is, right?" he said. "And I said this this morning: Like every team, every ownership group, every management group has a different path and the direction that they want to take and teams do business differently, but I believe in what we're doing, and I believe in the people that I work with, and I believe in our players. And yeah, I'm just happy to be part of it and grateful to be part of it.”
The Avalanche play their 2026-27 season opener at home against the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT).
The Colorado players are in support of Bednar as well.
"It feels good," captain Gabriel Landeskog said. "We love 'Bedsy.' We've said that for a long time. He's a great coach, great human, the right coach for this group, and we know he's as hungry as we are, and that's a big part of it. So happy for him.”
"I think Bedsy is the right man for us behind the bench, and he's always done a great job for us.”
Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar said: "Congrats to him. Great extension for him. We obviously have full trust in him. For us to have stability like that as a team, and kind of the direction that we feel comfortable in and confident that we can find success in, it's great.”
Colorado general manager Joe Sakic was in full agreement with his players.
“Jared has done an outstanding job over the last decade," Sakic said. "... He commands the room and has complete confidence of the players. We’re excited to continue to have him in charge, and we believe that his presence maximizes the team’s potential while this core group is intact.”
Bednar said the confidence shown in him by Sakic is "everything."
"I think it starts with our owners and putting people in place and allowing them to do their jobs and believing in them and having trust in them," he said, "and that's kind of how Joe has run it with me. But I rely on him all the time for his advice, his leadership. I mean, I think our whole organization does, and he's obviously the one that gave me the opportunity in the first place and stuck with me through some hard times. That's my driving force, trying to reward him, our owners, our players, just trying to do the best job I can for this team every day.”
NHL.com independent correspondent Ryan Boulding contributed to this report
