Sam Malinski marked his 100th career game with the game-winning goal in Colorado’s road opener against Los Angeles earlier this year — a moment that perfectly captured how much his confidence has grown in his second full season in the NHL… but he wasn’t always sure he’d get there.
His minutes and production are climbing, and nothing about his rise is accidental.
Before he reached the NHL, his track record followed the same pattern of growth. He put up 23 points in 32 games as a junior at Cornell, then 26 in 34 as a senior. He entered the AHL and immediately produced five points in seven games across regular-season and playoff action, then settled into a 0.59 points-per-game pace (27 in 46) in his first full Eagles season, plus two points in three playoff games.
“I have a lot of trust in his game right now,” said head coach Jared Bednar. “He’s been really committed on the defensive side of the game. When he’s super committed on that side of it and he’s aggressive, he has the ability to check the puck back. I love his puck moving — always have.” That trust has only grown over the last month. Bednar notes that Malinski has become “heavier” and more reliable around the net, which has allowed the staff to play him against tougher matchups.
“I feel confident going into every game,” said Malinski. “I don’t have those pregame jitters and nerves and uncertainty… I just feel good with the puck and the way I’m defending.”
Hitting the 100-game mark is a testament to his persistence. “If you asked me five years ago if I could play 100 games in the NHL, I’d be pretty pumped about that,” he said. “It’s been like ten years of just grinding and grit and full commitment to the process.”
His rise looks linear on paper, but the path behind it hasn’t always been straightforward. Past the measurable growth that shows up in increased ice time and points, is a player whose journey has been shaped just as deeply by his Catholic faith as it has by hockey.
From setbacks in juniors to the grind of college and the NHL, his faith anchors every step.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
Proverbs 3:5-6
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Maybe it begins when he first laced up the skates at three-years old — a seed planted in many hockey players’ hearts, a distant dream of playing in the NHL, that is.
Since ancient times no one has heard,
Isaiah 64:4
no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.
While juggling football and hockey through his sophomore year of high school, a vote of confidence from one of his coaches watered the seed. Some of his summer coaches noted that football was taking away from his fall schedule and training. One coach expressed belief that he could play at a top-20 school in the NCAA, and another said he thought that he could play in the NHL.
Malinski confessed that it was very shocking to hear as he was “struggling with confidence at that time.”
When he was cut from the Cedar Rapids Roughriders in 2017, his faith was deeply tested.
“I sort of thought maybe my dream was coming to an end,” he said. “It’s very hard to see the light on the other side sometimes.”
Yet you, Lord, are our Father.
Isaiah 64:8
We are the clay, you are the potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
But he knew that God had a plan. Even if he didn’t know exactly where it’d lead him, he knew it was for the best.
“Looking back now, everything clearly happened for a reason. I wasn’t able to see that a long time ago, but looking back now, it’s just so clear to me… Where I’m at now, I am just so grateful for the journey.”
His Catholic faith offered the necessary framework to return to in all of life’s moments, a path back to center.
For we live by faith, not by sight.
2 Corinthians 5:7
“I was able to find comfortability after a good game or a bad game,” he explained. “I think as I got older, specifically in high school, I got to go on some mission trips and had some really good people push me in the right direction.”
His older brother Gabe has been a big source of inspiration in his relationship with Christ. Gabe led mission trips in high school which inspired him to later take part, and now Gabe hosts a weekly bible study that he’s a part of.
“That’s really been impactful for me,” he said, “just to have some of those difficult conversations and talk about some serious stuff and becoming men of God.”
Discipline has also been a huge part of his faith journey. “There’s just so many distractions in the world, and it’s so easy to get distracted and put your faith in the back seat,” he said, “but that’s something I’ve always tried to keep in the front of my mind.”
During his first year at Cornell, he focused on being present, making the team, and finding ways to contribute.
After his freshman season, his agent told him that there were some NHL teams asking about him. That seed planted a long time ago was yet again watered.
God placed this desire on his heart for a reason.
“That was the first time (the) NHL has popped into my mind, to be honest” he confessed. Suddenly that NHL dream seemed less distant.
Without playing games his sophomore year, COVID-19 introduced some doubt, but his faith was strong, “I am good enough to chase this down,” he affirmed himself.
His college coach, Mike Schafer, helped to prepare him for the public eye and scrutiny that would come with the NHL one day. “The first meeting that he ever had with us in college was talking about being good men and being protective and serving others,” he explained, “that’s just become more important as my platform’s kind of grown.”
An impressive junior year followed by an even stronger senior season meant that several choices materialized for Malinski post-college. The Colorado Avalanche came calling among them.
It was a stressful decision to make, but his faith gave him peace. He knew that he couldn’t be steered wrong. “[God’s] going to point me in the right direction and either way I’m in a good spot,” he said.
He signed with the Colorado Avalanche on March 30th, 2023, and his NHL dream bloomed on November 13th of that year.
Now, he’s an NHL mainstay. Through 23 games of the 2025–26 season, he’s forcing the league to acknowledge him. Twelve points in those games, a 0.52 points-per-game pace represents both a jump in production and a continuation of what his entire body of work has shown: once he establishes a baseline, he raises it.
He scored at a 0.43 clip as a rookie (10 points in 23 games), then survived the grind of his first full 76-game NHL season with 15 points and learned the league’s pace. With more responsibility and steadier ice time, he’s emerging as one of Colorado’s most efficient five-on-five drivers.
“I did make a noticeable effort this summer about shooting and I shot a ton of pucks at the rink that I practice at,” he explained. “I feel like I’m giving myself more opportunities to shoot, so jumping up into plays more and walking the blue and just trying to get pucks down there.”
The underlying numbers back that up emphatically.
Among all defensemen with at least 250 minutes at five-on-five this season, Malinski ranks 1st in scoring-chances-for percentage, 1st in expected goals-for percentage, 3rd in high-danger-chances-for percentage, and sits 4th in fewest goals against. His shot rate has climbed each NHL season, 1.35 per game, then 1.51, now 1.74 — and he’s already doubled last year’s penalty-kill usage, jumping from 24 minutes in 72 games to 14:50 minutes in just 23.
“A huge difference is that I’ve been having a little more fun,” said Malinski. “I think that’s pretty natural coming into your second year knowing what to expect and just a little more comfortable.”
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart,
Colossians 3:23
as working for the Lord, not for human masters,
since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.
It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Even in his second year in the NHL, his faith is still his compass. He fields the challenge of building his religious practice around the rigors of a jam packed schedule.
“It is hard and something I struggled with maybe a bit last year just with how many distractions there are,” he admitted. “There is a lot of downtime, so instead of scrolling Instagram and stuff like that, I try to take that time and spend it with Christ.”
Right now it’s bible study on Wednesdays and chapel on Sundays with Josh Manson and Brent Burns. The chapels are hosted through a program that provides players with a message, a prayer time, and an opportunity to talk about what is going on in their own lives.
Malinski said that Manson and Burns are two additional role models in faith, “It’s pretty cool to have that in our locker room.”
For we are co-workers in God’s service;
1 Corinthians 3:9
you are God’s field, God’s building.
He credits the people around him who have pushed him to continue pursuing God.
“With my brothers and my parents, grandparents, I’ve just been surrounded with very faith-driven people,” he said, “They’ve made themselves very good role models.”
His dreams were nourished by his support system:
Words of encouragement from his coaches that lifted his confidence, advice that guided him to further lean into hockey…
The belief from his family and friends, always front row celebrating his wins and standing beside him amidst the losses….
And his belief in himself, putting in extra reps at the rink and following his heart’s call…
All threaded together by Him.
I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
John 15:1 and 5
I am the vine; you are the branches.
If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit;
apart from me you can do nothing.
“My journey’s been crazy,“ said Malinski. “It just goes back to trust and just whatever the journey throws at you, just trusting in Him and that He has a plan for you.”
