Avalanche sign Jaden Schwartz, Noah Juulsen to contracts
The Colorado Avalanche are adding some depth on the wings and on defense, as they’ve signed winger Jaden Schwartz to a three-year contract with a $3.25 million cap hit and defenseman Noah Juulsen to a two-year contract with a $1.1 million cap hit.
Scottie Upshall, who is a former player and friend of Schwartz, was the first to break the Schwartz signing, while The Fourth Period and Daily Faceoff’s David Pagnotta was the first to break the contract details. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was first on the Juulsen signing.
3-years, $3.25M AAV for Jaden Schwartz with Colorado
The #GoAvsGo signed 29 y/o D Noah Juulsen to a 2 year $1.1M cap hit contract Rep'd by Jason Davidson @ThunderCreekHky puckpedia.com/player/noah-ju…
Schwartz was an unrestricted free agent after the conclusion of his five-year contract with a $5.5 million cap hit with the Seattle Kraken. The contract breakdown has yet to be confirmed, but at the time, there are no confirmed bonuses or clauses. The deal locks him up at 3.13% of the cap until the 2028-29 season when he’ll be 37.
Schwartz is coming off of one of his weaker seasons in the NHL, as he had just 11 goals and 15 assists for 26 points in 50 games. That did come amidst plenty of injuries, as he missed 32 games to lower-body, facial and upper-body injuries. While it’s not his worst season on a point-per-game basis, 26 points was the fewest by him in a season where he had at least 50 games played.
Juulsen was a UFA after the conclusion of his one-year, $900,000 contract with the Philadelphia Flyers. The contract comes with a clean $1.1 million salary for both seasons, and has no bonuses or clauses. The deal locks him up at 1.06% of the cap until the 2027-28 season when he’ll be 31.
Juulsen is coming off of his most productive season in 2025-26, as he had one goal and nine assists for 10 points in 52 games. While his one goal is still the most he’s scored in a single season, his nine assists and 10 points surpassed his six assist and seven point totals from the 2023-24 season. He also had two assists in five playoff games.
The Avalanche had a busy summer clearing cap space, as they traded Valeri Nichushkin, Ross Colton and Jack Drury in order to retain Brent Burns and Brett Kulak. Colorado now has a projected $1,279,159 in salary cap space after all the trades and signings from this summer with six restricted free agents left to sign, highlighted by Zakhar Bardakov.
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