<p>A solid forward is staying in the Mile High City.</p>



<p>On Friday, the <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/colorado-avalanche/line-combinations">Colorado Avalanche</a> 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.</p>



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We have signed forward Joel Kiviranta to a One-Year Deal. <a href="https://t.co/L3aRDPzA5j">pic.twitter.com/L3aRDPzA5j</a></p>— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) <a href="https://twitter.com/Avalanche/status/1953857551600124260?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 8, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>



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



<p>“Joel is a hard-working, responsible player who has demonstrated he can be a key contributor at five-on-five,” <a href="https://www.nhl.com/avalanche/news/avalanche-signs-kiviranta">MacFarland said in a release</a>. “He has been a valuable member of our lineup, and we are excited to have him back for another season.”</p>



<p>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 <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/dallas-stars/line-combinations">Dallas Stars</a>. The 29-year-old failed to register a point, as Colorado fell to the Stars in an entertaining series that went the distance.</p><div class="injected-ad injected-video" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="0" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="212"></div>



<p>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 <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/tampa-bay-lightning/line-combinations">Tampa Bay Lightning</a> in the final.</p>



<p>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.</p>
