As the Colorado Avalanche face a postseason crossroads, NHL insider David Pagnotta name-dropped David Carle as his prediction for their future head coach.

Although Pagnotta was careful while reflecting on the matter on The Sheet podcast, he didn’t leave Colorado’s potential coaching change to chance. Jared Bednar, 54, is the current head coach for the Avalanche after joining them nearly 10 years ago and finding a lot of success thereafter.

Pagnotta was speaking about Colorado’s future ahead of Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. In their recent X post, NHL Rumor Report (@nhlrumorreport) shared what Pagnotta said on the matter.

“David Pagnotta: Re David Carle: I think the trajectory is, when Colorado makes that [coaching] change in however many years down the road, that he's their guy - The Sheet (5/22),” Pagnotta said, as per NHL Rumour Report.

Notably, Carle, 36, has served as head coach of the men’s ice hockey team at the University of Denver for nearly eight years. Since 2022, he has won the NCAA D1 National Championships thrice with the Denver Pioneers, including the latest one in April 2026.

Carle has also coached Team USA to two gold medals at the World Junior Championships in 2024 and 2025, becoming a sought-after name in the coaching landscape.

He reportedly passed up the chance to join the Chicago Blackhawks as head coach last year, as per the Chicago Hockey Now website.

If Pagnotta is correct, Carle might be biding his time to join Colorado after transitioning from the NCAA to the NHL. He wouldn't be alone, as Jim Montgomery, who coached him at the Pioneers, also made the jump when he joined the Dallas Stars in 2018.

Colorado Avalanche drop Game 3 vs Vegas Golden Knights to go down 3- 0

The Colorado Avalanche suffered a 5-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 3 of the conference finals. After Sunday, Jared Bednar and his team find themselves 3-0 down in the playoff series.

​After taking a commanding 3-0 lead in the first period of the game, Colorado capitulated in Las Vegas. They conceded five goals across the second and third periods to succumb to a gritty comeback.

With that, the Avalanche is staring at an abrupt exit from the Stanley Cup race. ​While Colorado is not living up to their previous playoff performances under head coach Jared Bednar, he has done an excellent job with them.

Under him, the Avalanche regularly finished near the top of the Central Division in the Western Conference in the last decade. This culminated in their Stanley Cup triumph in 2022, first in 21 years.

​Cut to this year's postseason, Colorado swept the Los Angeles Kings and beat the Minnesota Wild 4-1, before facing Vegas.

But now, on the cusp of getting swept, and NHL insider David Pagnotta predicting David Carle as the future head coach, pressure may be mounting on Jared Bednar.

The Avalanche will seek to turn their fortunes around in Game 4 on Tuesday.

Read more at NHL Central!

Written by

Arjun Sharma

Edited by

Sijo Paul