Sam Malinski, Martin Necas Recognized for Recent Breakout Season with Avalanche
In his first full campaign with the Colorado Avalanche, center Martin Necas logged career highs in goals (38), assists (62), points (100), time on ice per game (21:30); in addition, defenseman Sam Malinski would also post his best NHL season in 2025-26.
Similarly to Necas — Malinski would tally career-highs in games played (82), goals (8), assists (32), points (40) and time on ice per contest (17:37). Malinski is now signed to a four-year contract extension through the 2029-30 campaign, with Necas also having signed an eight-year contract extension in Oct. Necas would also finish sixth in the entire League in even-strength points with a career-best 76 and Malinski would record his first-career postseason goal.
Per NHL.com, who recently released two separate articles over both players, Necas and Malinski each gave the Avalanche a boost last year.
At 28 years old, Malinski has become key to Colorado's blueliners. Playing at both ends of the ice, he would finish third among Avs defensemen in blocked shots (95) and fourth in that group in takeaways (23). Part of his success on the ice was also due to his puck-moving ability and intuition.
On the other hand — Necas relied on a combination of size, speed and skill in addition to his pairing with Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon.
MacKinnon and Necas combined to post 227 points (91 goals, 136 assists) helping the Avalanche to lead the NHL in goals per game (3.63).
Malinski, Martin Provided Boost to Avalanche Last Year
Malinski posted five multi-point games in 2025-26 in addition to also registering 13 different multi-contest point streak last season. Necas set a career-high with 31 multi-point games himself, while also reaching the 400-point milestone with a four-point performance against the Dallas Stars.
As for Malinski again, he reached the 100-game milestone on Oct. 7.
Thanks in part to the boost from Malinski and Necas, Colorado went on to win the Central Division and Presidents’ Trophy while also advancing to the Western Conference Final.
Colorado's upcoming 2026-27 slate consists of 28 games against Central Division opponents, 24 games vs the Pacific Division and 32 total matchups against teams from the Eastern Division due to the expanded campaign of 84 games per team.
As the 2026-27 season looms for the Avs, Malinski sits only 19 games from 200 and 35 points from 100; Necas sits 81 games from 600, 38 goals from 200, 36 assists from 300 and 74 points from 500.
Jennifer Streeter graduated with a B.A. in journalism from Texas A&M and received her Master of Science from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. At both schools, she focused on an emphasis of sports reporting. A former athlete herself, "Jenny" was a varsity soccer player and comes from a family who participated in NCAA athletics. She has covered hockey since 2023 and is credentialed for the Seattle Kraken, New Jersey Devils and PWHL in addition to having covered the 2026 Frozen Four.