Elliotte Friedman's warning about Jared Bednar should terrify Colorado
Photo credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
Elliotte Friedman just drew the one parallel Colorado Avalanche fans did not want to hear.
Speaking on the FAN Hockey Show, the Sportsnet insider compared Jared Bednar's situation in Denver to Mike Sullivan's final chapter in Pittsburgh.
Friedman suggested that sometimes with a long-tenured coach, it is simply time.
But he also warned that if Colorado lets Bednar go, there is a decent chance they never find anyone as good.
Re Jared Bednar/Avalanche: "Mike Sullivan in Pittsburgh, it was just time, and I think it's possible that that's the case [here]; if you're Colorado...if we let this guy go...decent chance that we're not gonna find anyone as good."
- Elliotte Friedman
- Elliotte Friedman
That should stop Avalanche brass in their tracks. The Pittsburgh Penguins moved on from Sullivan in April 2025 after a decade and two Stanley Cup titles.
Over a year later, Pittsburgh is still searching for stability.
Bednar's resume speaks for itself. He guided the Avalanche to the 2022 Stanley Cup and has led the franchise to eight consecutive playoff appearances, matching no other coach in team history.
The Presidents' Trophy problem nobody wants to discuss
Colorado posted a 55-16-11 record this season and won the Presidents' Trophy.
That is not a team with a coaching problem.
The Avalanche swept the Los Angeles Kings in round one and dispatched the Minnesota Wild in five games before running into a red-hot Vegas Golden Knights squad.
Getting swept in the Western Conference Finals stings, but one series does not erase an elite season built under Bednar's system.
Firing Bednar risks becoming Pittsburgh 2.0
Friedman's Sullivan comparison is the most important detail in this conversation.
Pittsburgh let a Cup-winning coach go because it was just time, and the franchise has not recovered.
Colorado has a generational core under contract and a coach who has proven he can win it all.
Blowing up the bench after one bad series is exactly the kind of emotional decision that sets a franchise back years.
The real question is not whether Bednar deserves to be fired. It is whether anyone available could actually do the job better.
Friedman clearly has his doubts, and Colorado should too.
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