NHL News: Nathan Mackinnon’s Avalanche roll the dice on Jon Cooper’s Lightning cast-off

The Colorado Avalanche want to turn the page after last season’s heartbreaking elimination. On that note, Nathan MacKinnon and company are now welcoming a new face to the locker room. Though Jon Cooper and the Tampa Bay Lightning thought the prospect wasn’t good enough to make the team, the Avs are taking a chance on him ahead of the 2025-26 NHL season.

Selected by the Lightning with the 192nd overall pick in the 2021 NHL entry Draft, defenseman Alex Gagne had yet to sign his first league contract. Cooper and the Bolts didn’t see enough from him to hand him a deal and the signing rights recently expired.

Now, the 23-year-old left-handed blueliner is off to a new chapter, the first in his young NHL career. MacKinnon and the Avs are welcoming him to the Mile High City, as Gagne signed a two-year, entry-level contract with Colorado.

After being drafted by the Bolts, Gagne spent the last four seasons at the NCAA level with the University of New Hampshire. The defenseman appeared in 139 games, tallying 48 points (7 goals, 41 assists). Alongside his offensive production, he also racked up 100 penalty minutes over that span.

It’s all business

The Avalanche and Lightning met in the 2022 Stanley Cup Final, when the organization in Denver hoisted its third Cup. Still, there isn’t necessarily a grudge or enmity between the two NHL franchises. That same feeling has been expressed by Gagne, who holds no personal vendetta for Cooper and the Bolts.

“They went in a different direction and we thought something else was going to happen, which, at the end of the day, it’s a business,” Gagne admitted, in dialogue with the New Hampshire Union Leader in April 2025.

“That’s kind of where my agent advised me that it’s probably best if we go to free agency. There’s no ill will towards the Lightning at all. It was just a business decision.”

Just in case

While Gagne’s comments suggest no hard feelings toward the Lightning, it can’t be ruled out that it was all a masquerade. The 23-year-old, however, has far more important tasks ahead. Chief among them: cracking the Avalanche’s NHL roster, where depth on the blueline runs deep.

As things stand, every defensive spot is accounted for, but much can happen—and no one truly knows if Gagne’s name might be called. If it does, how fitting would it be for the defenseman to make his first appearance on Nov. 4 or Jan. 6, when the Avs and Bolts square off next season?

Perhaps it’s like building castles in the sky, but that’s what the offseason is for—dreaming big. The regular season, as always, will have its way of bringing expectations back down to earth.