Avalanche’s Brent Burns finds stride during win streak – Hockey Writer – Colorado Avalanche

Twenty-two games into the 2025-26 season, the Colorado Avalanche are the NHL’s horse with a record of 16-1-5 and no signs of slowing down. They are currently on a 9-game winning streak, 13-game winning streak, and have scored in 21 of 22 games. Up and down Jared Bednar’s squad seemed to be contributing to the team effort, whether they were playing well or not. Defenseman Brent Burns is one of the players who has improved during this winning streak.

Burns finds his stride

Burns signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Avalanche on July 1 after three seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes. He is expected to become an unrestricted free agent (UFA) at the end of the 2025-26 season. His current deal with the Avalanche is viewed as low risk, medium to high reward. Burns has shown this season that even in his new role in Denver under Bednar, there is still some leftover. The 40-year-old has now competed in 939 consecutive Iron Man games.

Burns scored two goals and scored 11 points in 22 games, ranking tied for eighth on the team. He’s also +6, joining former Hurricanes teammate Jack Drury for 10th on the team. He averaged 20:01 TOI when paired with Josh Manson as the second defensive partner. He scored 16 seconds into the game against the Nashville Predators on November 22, his second game-winning goal of the season.

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Burns is having a bit of a rebound early in the season with the Avalanche, as he is four points away from tying last season’s goal total (six points). Additionally, he was 18 points shy of tying the Hurricanes’ 29 points. His 4.5 field goal percentage (S%) is also at least slightly improved from 3.4 S%. In terms of his shooting velocity, it’s down slightly from the past few seasons. This season, his top shot velocity is 91.33 miles per hour (MPH), which ranks in the 70th percentile. NHL average speed is 87.52 mph. However, his average shot velocity (70.94 mph) is in the 83rd percentile, compared to the NHL average of 67.84 mph.

That’s what Father Time addressed when discussing his footwork (primarily speed), but Burns is making it work in his role with the Avalanche. Burns ranked 55th with a top speed of 21.44 mph and an average speed of 21.34 mph. In terms of skating distance, his total mileage was 64.28 (77th percentile). The NHL average is 44.31. Looking at average skate miles, Burns averaged 8.76 (73rd percentile) compared to 8.52 in the NHL.

Another thing Burns needs to consider is how Bednar uses him in all three areas of the ice. Compared to time spent in the defensive zone, Burns shot 39.3%, ranking in the 67th percentile. In terms of neutral zone (18.3%) and offensive zone (42.4%), he ranked in the 73rd and 63rd percentiles respectively. NHL averages across all three regions are 40.4%, 17.8% and 41.8% respectively. Looking back on his role with the Hurricanes, compared to his current role with the Avalanche, Burns has been able to function on the second pair rather than the top pairing.

Burns’ numbers are interesting because he did all of this while playing only 5-on-5. Burns didn’t play on the power play or penalty kill; he primarily played at even strength, which seemed to help Burns stay fresh in games for the Avalanche by not having to skate in different situations.

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In his final season with the Hurricanes, Burns’ goals against rate (GF%) was 50.4%, while his expected goals against rate (xGF%) was 55%. He had a GF of 56.3% and an xGF of 60% compared to the Avalanche, and there are signs that he’s more efficient on the ice when they have the puck. The only slight dip was in Corsi’s percentage (CF%), where he shot 58% with the Hurricanes and 56% with the Avalanche.

Regardless, Burns has been able to continue his offensive game in the different systems of the Avalanche and Hurricanes. From the Hurricanes’ defensive style to the Avalanche’s run-and-gun, up-tempo style, Burns has held his own. While he wasn’t able to score 61 points in the 2022-23 season with the Hurricanes, he provided a solid addition to the Avalanche in their second pairing. What’s more, his salary cap hit is just $1 million, giving the Avalanche flexibility to add players before the trade deadline. While the Avalanche are currently winning games on a regular basis, Burns has settled in well in Denver in Bednar’s new role.