The Colorado Avalanche are coming off a spectacular regular season, but the team had the same fate as every Presidents Trophy winner since the conclusion of the 2013 season. They had a very disappointing run in the Stanley Cup playoffs, losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Finals in ignominious fashion. The Avs could not win a single game in the series and were swept out of the postseason.
The Avs made a number of offseason changes after that loss including the departures of Valeri Nichushkin, Ross Colton and Jack Drury. The team's big addition was free agent Jaden Schwartz, who came over from the Seattle Kraken as a free agent.
The Avs may have been 55-16-11 last season, but there is anything but comfort and confidence enveloping the team. That 4-game sweep left the Avs questioning themselves and they are likely to redouble their efforts this year. This is a team with two legitimate superstars in defenseman Cale Makar and center Nathan MacKinnon as well as key players like Martin Necas and Devon Toews.
Makar and MacKinnon are each good enough to win games on their own, but the Avalanche learned that if they don't have the supporting players contributing at the most important moments, the same fate could impact the Avs again in the upcoming season.
Head coach Jared Bednar knows the Avs must get important production from the second and third lines in the biggest games or the team could come be in serious jeopardy.
Early-season acquisition could be vital to Avs' Stanley Cup chances
However, if Colorado general manager Joe Sakic can't bring in another player to fill out either of those lines, the Avs could be at a disadvantage in the upcoming season â or at least lacking for confidence. A key secondary goal scorer who could fit in on either the second or third lines would give this team a much better opportunity to play the kind of dominant hockey in the Stanley Cup playoffs this year as they did in the regular season last year.
The belief is that MacKinnon would interpret such a move as one that would take pressure off of his shoulders. He knows how vital he is to the team, and perhaps no superstar in the NHL plays harder than MacKinnon. While there would be no change in his effort, Bednar would not have to push MacKinnon to an extra effort in the regular season and he would have more energy in the playoffs.
MacKinnon is coming off another monster season. The 31-year-old, 13-year veteran with the Avs scored 53 goals and 74 assists 127 points. He has scored 111 or more points in each of the last four seasons. He finished third in scoring behind Connor McDavid and Nikita Kucherov and ahead of young phenom Macklin Celebrini. It would not be a surprise if that foursome was at the top of the NHL's scoring leaders again this season.
Makar is the best of the league's NHL defenseman and his explosiveness and puck domination may be as close as any NHL defenseman has been to Bobby Orr in decades. Makar scored 20 goals and 59 assists last year, but he was not at his best in the postseason as a result an upper-body injury and a pre-existing hip injury.
Article Continues BelowThe Avs have to find a way to take some heat off Makar so he can be at his best at the most important time of the year.
Landeskog is inspirational, but how long can he last?
The Avs know that their top line of MacKinnon, Necas and Artturi Lehkonen ranks with the best in the NHL. However, the second line consists of Brock Nelson, Nazem Kadri and Gabriel Landeskog, and that unit appears to be questionable.
Landeskog is one of the toughest and most inspirational players in the league because he was able to come back from three full regular-seasons of knee injury rehab to play 60 games last season. Landeskog won both the Mark Messier and Bill Masterton Awards for his remarkable effort that saw him score 14 goals and 21 assists and finish with a plus-29 rating.
How much more can the Avs expect from their captain? There are shortcomings to his game including a lack of speed, and his position as right wing on the No. 2 line is clearly vital.
Schwartz should be a solid asset on the third line with center Nicolas Roy and Logan O'Connor. Perhaps he can offer the clutch scoring that was missing from the team's secondary players in last year's playoffs. He has had three solid postseasons in his career, including two with the Blues in 2016 and in their championship season in 2019. He also was impactful for the Kraken when he scored 5 goals and 5 assists in 14 playoff game in 2023.