Avalanche sign Brent Burns to one-year contract

The Colorado Avalanche announced Wednesday the signing of veteran defenseman Brent Burns to a one-year contract.

The 40-year-old Burns scored six goals and 23 assists for 29 points, averaging 20:57 of ice time in 82 regular-season games with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2024-25. He also had a goal and four assists for five points in 15 games during the Stanley Cup Playoffs this past spring.

Last season was the 11th straight year Burns played every regular-season game. The Barrie, Ont., native enters the 2025-26 campaign with the fourth-longest “Iron Man” streak in NHL history, having played 925 straight contests.

Through 21 NHL seasons, Burns has scored 261 goals and recorded 649 assists for 910 points in 1,497 career regular-season games with the Hurricanes, San Jose Sharks and Minnesota Wild, putting him eighth on the NHL’s all-time points list for defenseman.

In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Burns has 24 goals and 56 assists for 80 points, averaging 24:13 of ice time in 135 career games. He helped lead the Sharks to a Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2016.

Burns has recorded six 60-point campaigns, three 70-point seasons and recorded a career-high 83 points in 2018-19 with the Sharks. He’s also recorded three 20-goal seasons.

Burns won the Norris Trophy in 2016-17 with the Sharks after scoring a career-high 29 gaols and 47 assists for 76 points, averaging 24:52 of ice time. That season, he led all skaters with 320 shots on goal and finished fourth in Hart Trophy voting.

Burns was drafted No. 20 overall by the Wild in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. He spent one season in the Ontario Hockey League, scoring 15 goals and 25 assists for 40 points in 68 regular-season games with the Brampton Battalion.

Burns is the last active NHL player to have played in the league before the 2004-05 lockout.