Avalanche’s Jared Bednar Not Among Jack Adams Finalists

Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn ImagesIsaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

The three finalists for yet another NHL award were announced, and once again, a member of the Colorado Avalanche is not among them. This time it’s the Jack Adams, which is awarded to the head coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team’s success.

Avs bench boss Jared Bednar did not receive enough votes to finish in the top three despite winning his second Presidents’ Trophy and breaking a franchise record in regular-season points (121).

The finalists are Dan Muse of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Lindy Ruff of the Buffalo Sabres, and Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

This follows Nathan MacKinnon’s omission from the Ted Lindsay Award and Scott Wedgewood’s failure to be one of the finalists for the Vezina. And it’s another example of how the voting process has become somewhat broken. It often rewards the biggest surprises more than the consistency of a club like the Avalanche under Bednar’s coaching.

Bednar is the second-longest tenured coach in the NHL behind Cooper. Neither has won the Jack Adams in their careers yet, despite both being Stanley Cup champions and leading the two clubs with the longest active playoff streak in the NHL. You could argue that Cooper likely only received votes this year because of the injuries his team dealt with, rather than his continued success.

The Avalanche went into the 2025-26 season with questions up and down their lineup. To name a few: Was captain Gabe Landeskog going to be a factor or a $7 million anchor in the top six? Was the acquisition of Martin Necas going to pay off? How about bringing back to be the 2C? Can the defense hold up? Is the depth up to par with the rest of the Western Conference?