According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Colorado Avalanche have signed defenseman Noah Juulsen to a two-year, $2.2MM ($1.1MM AAV) contract.

Juulsen, 29, is coming off a one-year contract with the Philadelphia Flyers, signed last offseason. Primarily serving as the team’s seventh defenseman, Juulsen finished the 2025-26 campaign with one goal and 10 points in 52 games with a +3 rating, averaging 13:49 of ice time per game.

Despite being a mild offensive output, the 2025-26 campaign serves as the highest-scoring campaign of Juulsen’s eight-year career. Still, the right-handed blueliner makes up most of his value in the physical side of the game. Throughout the past three years with the Flyers and Vancouver Canucks, Juulsen has delivered 369 hits, averaging 2.62 per game.

Heading into the offseason, Colorado’s top priorities were to free up additional cap space and improve their defensive depth. The Avalanche already re-signed Brett Kulak and Brent Burns before the 2026 NHL Draft, and have now added Juulsen to round out their depth. Given that Juulsen is the fifth right-handed defenseman with an NHL contract in Colorado, it’s likely that he’ll again serve as a seventh defenseman moving forward.

Unfortunately, Juulsen’s signing likely spells the end of Jack Ahcan and Nick Blankenburg‘s time with the Avalanche. Hypothetically, Ahcan could realistically re-sign on a two-way agreement, but he’ll likely look for options elsewhere for additional playing time.