Avs Angles: Season Preview

The Colorado Avalanche were the best team in the regular season last year, and clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Again, the Avalanche lost in the second round to the Vegas Golden Knights. It was another disappointing season after they were one of the favorites to reach the Stanley Cup Final. The second round exit is a familiar one to the Avalanche. 

The Avalanche couldn’t sign goaltender Philipp Grubauer to a new contract so they lost him to the Seattle Kraken. The team also lost defensemen Ryan Graves and Connor Timmins in two separate trades. Joonas Donskoi was selected by the Seattle Kraken in the Expansion Draft. Brandon Saad and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare were lost in free agency. Defenseman Ryan Murray was the team’s big offseason free agent signing. Goaltender Darcy Kuemper and d-man Kurtis MacDermid were brought in via trades. The Avalanche focused on re-signing big names like Cale Makar, team captain Gabriel Landeskog, and Tyson Jost to new contracts.

The forward group is on the smaller side, but they have a good combination of speed and skill. The big guns like Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen will produce their fair share of goals and assists. The biggest concern for the team is the depth scoring since they are counting on some young guys to fill some voids. Logan O’Connor, Sampo Ranta and Alex Newhook will be expected to do some scoring and chip in on the offensive side of the puck, but I’m not sure how that will go. The group is a good mix of veterans and younger guys, but when called upon can the younger guys step up and produce?

The defense has a chance to be one of the best, if not the best in the League, but that is a big IF. They have decent size, can skate, move the puck, and aren’t afraid to be creative in the offensive zone. The starting seven are: Bowen Byram, Samuel Girard, Erik Johnson, Jack Johnson, MacDermid, Makar, and Murray. Devon Toews is starting the season on the inured reserve list. The group is decent in its own end of the ice, and some can act like fourth forwards when they are on the ice. It is a nice group of veterans and younger players, who have experience. They have some stay-at-home defenseman and some offensive-minded guys.

The goaltending position is where things start to get a bit dicey for the Avalanche. They let Grubauer go in free agency and by this time most of the goalies were already signed. The team went out and traded for Kuemper, who came from the Arizona Coyotes for defenseman Connor Timmins and a draft pick. Pavel Francouz was set to be the backup, but he is out for a significant amount of time with an injury and rehab. Jonas Johansson is now the backup, and let’s just say, I’m hoping that Kuemper can stay healthy since I don’t think that Johansson can handle anything but backup duties.

The power play should be in the top 10 of the League again this season. The team was ranked eighth last season at 22.7%. The top unit has a ton of chemistry and moves the puck around really well. They also seem to get shots off when they are open that are usually on target. The penalty kill should be close to the top 10 again, and maybe even better, especially if Kuemper has anything to say about it.

Kuemper was acquired by the Avalanche after losing their starter from last season in free agency. The Avalanche needed a starting goalie and had to get one via trade since there weren’t any options left in free agency. I don’t think people realize how good this guy could be since he played for the Arizona Coyotes the last three seasons. The Coyotes have not had a decent team in a while, and Kuemper was solid in his time there. In four seasons with the Coyotes, he had a .920 save percentage to go with a 2.43 goals against average. The down side was that he was injured a lot, so if he can stay healthy he should be good with the defense in front of him.

Nazem Kadri didn’t play horribly last season, he just got in his own way again. He was suspended in the playoffs again and the Avalanche missed him. He played all 56 games last season, and had 11 goals, 21 assists and 32 points, which isn’t a bad season overall. The Avalanche need him to play smart no matter the situation and realize that he can’t lose his cool and make the stupid decision to hit someone from behind again. He is an important piece to the Avalanche puzzle and with second line minutes and decent line mates, he should be able to do just that.

Byram is a highly touted Avalanche prospect, who happens to be another young defenseman. The 20-year-old only played in 19 games las season since he was injured. He showed flashes of offensive ability, but he does need to work on his defensive game a bit. If he is paired with a veteran defenseman like Johnson or Murray it would only benefit him, and he could have a breakout offensive season while improving on his defensive game. 

Head coach Jared Bednar will be under pressure to get this team on a deep Stanley Cup Playoffs run. He is entering his sixth season and there are some new faces on this team, but most of the roster has played the past couple of seasons with Bednar as their head coach. The team has improved while he has been the bench boss. The only downside has been the three consecutive second round exits in the postseason. The Avalanche are a heavy favorite to once again go to and win the Stanley Cup Final. If this team doesn’t make a deep run this postseason than Bednar could find himself on the hot seat come summer.

The scoring depth is the key to this season. We all know that the top line of Landskog, MacKinnon, and Ratanen will put up points and produce. After those three, the depth gets a little thin. The Avalanche are going to need guys like Kadri, Valeri Nichushkin, and Jost to step up and be engaged in each game. The defense will pitch in on the offensive side of the puck with players like Makar, Samuel Girard and Byram. The defense pitching in on offense will help the scoring depth, but will it be enough? The team is going to rely on some youngsters to chip in, and it will need to happen if the Avalanche intend to make a deep run.

There have been injuries to major players in the past few years for the Avalanche, and that can’t happen this year. The health of the Avalanche is going to be the x-factor for the team this year. The most important player who needs to stay healthy is goalie Kuemper. He’s injury prone, but the Avalanche have already lost Francouz, who would have been his backup for a while. Johansson as the backup is an unknown having not played more than 15 games in a season.

The Avalanche will finally get over the hump and make it out of the second round. They will ride the momentum all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. They may or may not win the Stanley Cup this season, but they will make it there. The goaltending situation will certainly be something to keep an eye on with this team.