The Colorado Avalanche were a juggernaut for a couple of seasons leading up to their 2022 Stanley Cup. Success has taken it’s toll on the roster, yet the Avalanche have maintained their status as a legitimate contender. How can they continue to remain among the league’s elite?
Roster Ruminations
NHL Roster
The Avalanche built their cup winning team with a combination of elite talent and good depth. The elite talent remains, while the Avs have been hard at work to maintain their depth. Despite losing some important pieces after their cup win, they’ve done a reasonable job at keeping the roster competitive. Next season looks like that will continue, with the Avs projected as the top team in the NHL going into the offseason.
Salary Cap Management
There are a couple of big caveats that have to go along with the Av’s profile for next season though. For now, the roster includes both Gabe Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin who are both on long term deals with significant cap hits. Landeskog has now missed two full seasons with a knee injury. He’s back skating again but we haven’t been given a definitive timeline for a potential return. Perhaps he’ll be back next season but we don’t really know how he’ll fit back in after such a lengthy absence. Nichushkin might be an even bigger question mark after landing in stage 3 of the player assistance program. We know he’ll be out for at least six months. We don’t know if or how he’ll fit back into the Av’s plans after that. How the Landeskog and Nichushkin situations resolve could have a significant impact on the Av’s cap outlook next season and beyond.
Future Assets
The Avalanche have spent some of their future assets to bolster their current contention window, although they are not as depleted as some of their peers. Hockey Prospecting ranks the Avalanche prospect pool 20th in the NHL. Their draft picks over the next 3 years are below baseline, with most of their 2nd and 3rd round picks traded away and a few later picks added.
What’s Next?
The Avalanche roster starts with Nathan MacKinnon. He’s one of the most impactful players in the league and leads the team by example. He’s now among the league’s highest paid players and he is worth every penny. What MacKinnon is for the forward group, Cale Makar is for the defense corps. He’s a dynamic player that opposing teams need to be aware of every time he steps on the ice. The duo are the Av’s anchor talents that can be used to tie together a few cohorts for an extended contention window.
The Avalanche continue to boast one of the top defense corps in the NHL, with Devon Toews and Sam Girard joining Makar to round out their top 3. Both help the Avs tilt the ice in their favor consistently and contribute to the team’s offensive output as well.
The Av’s forward depth took the brunt of the post championship attrition and they’ve rightly been focused on re-establishing it since. They brought in Ross Colton last summer. Their depth on D allowed them to make Bo Byram expendable, trading him to Buffalo for Casey Mittelstadt at the deadline this season. Both filled a need in the middle six. They may need to continue to add to the middle six, although Landeskog and Nichushkin are the wild cards. If either or both return, the Avs may have solutions already in house.
