Avalanche sign Joel Kiviranta to one-year contract

A solid forward is staying in the Mile High City.

On Friday, the Colorado Avalanche announced that the team has signed forward Joel Kiviranta to a one-year contract for the 2025-26 season. The terms of the year have to be disclosed.

Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland likes the style of play that Kiviranta has brought to the team.

“Joel is a hard-working, responsible player who has demonstrated he can be a key contributor at five-on-five,” MacFarland said in a release. “He has been a valuable member of our lineup, and we are excited to have him back for another season.”

Kiviranta is coming off a pair of one-year contracts with the Avalanche, both carrying a cap hit of $775,000. After coming in and out of the lineup in 2023-24, the Finnish winger burst out for the best season of his six-year NHL career. In a career-high 79 games, Kiviranta posted 16 goals and seven assists for 23 points, all career-best numbers. He also played in all seven games of the Avs’ opening-round series against Kiviranta’s former team, the Dallas Stars. The 29-year-old failed to register a point, as Colorado fell to the Stars in an entertaining series that went the distance.

It was with the Stars where Kiviranta made a name for himself. As a rookie in 2020, he was a huge part of the team’s Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Final. Along with scoring a hat trick in Game 7 against the Avalanche in the second round, he scored six points in his 14 appearances. Dallas ended up coming short, losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the final.

In 298 regular-season games in the NHL, Kiviranta has scored 35 goals and 25 assists for 60 points, with another 14 points in 51 postseason contests.