The Colorado Avalanche were an unmitigated disaster in 2017-18, finishing with 21 fewer points than the Vancouver Canucks, who finished 29th in the NHL. So, at least this season can’t get any worse, right?
Despite a collection of highly touted young players up front, including top-three picks Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Matt Duchene, the Avalanche averaged just 2.01 goals per game, the lowest mark in the league. And that wasn’t even the worst part of this lineup, as the defence and goaltending left a lot to be desired, and are two areas that didn’t get any improvements in the summer. In fact, they may have gotten worse.
Trade rumours have swirled around this team since before last season’s trade deadline, but there have been no blockbusters yet as Duchene remains a member of the team. The beginning pieces are in place, but the Avalanche still look a long way off from making a full recovery, and the outlook for 2017-18 remains grim.
Here’s our look at the Colorado Avalanche. [sidebar]
UP-AND-COMING PLAYER TO WATCH
For a team that finished 30th in the NHL last season it’s troubling that there are no high-ceiling, can’t-miss prospects on the cusp of reaching the NHL. There are, however, a couple of young defencemen who could make this team out of camp.
Chris Bigras (2013 second-rounder) and Anton Lindholm (2014 fifth-rounder) are a couple of 22-year-olds looking to make the leap this season. Bigras has been the more anticipated of the two, spending the past two years in the AHL and even getting into 31 NHL games in 2015-16. He’s still a promising two-way player with decent size at 6-foot-1, but if he was someone who was going to be an immediate difference-maker, he surely would have been able to earn some more time on last year’s team.
Cale Makar is the most intriguing defence prospect in the system, but he will play this season at the University of Massachusetts.
Up front, Tyson Jost has a legitimate shot to make the team out of camp. The 10th-overall pick of the 2016 draft, Jost scored 35 points in 33 games for the University of North Dakota last season and played six games for the Avalanche after leaving school, notching one goal. The 5-foot-11 forward would add more young scoring pop to a lineup that should already be full of it.
WHAT A SUCCESSFUL 2017-18 WOULD LOOK LIKE
It’s hard to believe this team won the Central Division regular-season title in 2014. Heck, just before last season’s debacle they finished ninth in the Western Conference, missing a playoff berth by five points.
A successful season for the Avs isn’t simply finishing 29th and looking like an NHL team again. At this stage, the Avalanche are supposed to be in the thick of the Western Conference and, if not a contender, then at least a team capable of winning a round in the playoffs.
That said, the defence is in shambles and the goaltending is a disaster. Semyon Varlamov, making $5.9 million against the cap, posted a sub-.900 save percentage last season and promising 25-year-old Calvin Pickard was scooped up by the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft. This year’s safety net is Jonathan Bernier, who was good enough behind Anaheim’s tough defence last season, but will undoubtedly have a more difficult job in Colorado.
On one hand, a successful season for the Avs would be to show some life with a fresh start and get back to competing for a playoff spot into at least late February or early March. On the other, with some big holes still on this roster, that goal may not be realistic. Instead, perhaps a successful season would be to win a few more games and trade Duchene for a home-run return that helps reset and re-tool the lineup.
BIGGEST REMAINING QUESTION
When Duchene wasn’t dealt at the deadline last March, we expected he’d get moved over the summer. That still hasn’t happened despite constant rumours which will surely follow him and the team this season.
There are a couple questions here. One, is whether or not the team will move him at all. Part of the problem was the reportedly huge asking price Sakic put out there for Duchene, which is understandable given how key of an asset he is to the team. If they don’t receive a huge return, moving Duchene will leave the Avs in a tougher spot.
The second question is about Duchene himself: What kind of offensive contributor is he? A Calder Trophy finalist with 55 points in 2010, he scored 67 points as a sophomore and hit a career high of 70 in 2014. He’s reached the 30-goal plateau once. But Duchene has also had some disappointing years, including a 2016-17 in which he scored just 41 points. It’s not going to be easy to get the return the team needs for a player with that kind of up-and-down production.
Complicating matters is Duchene’s contract. He makes a hefty $6 million against the cap and is just two years away from unrestricted free agent status, so while the Avs need to get something substantial for him, an acquiring team may be wary to give up too much for a short-term asset with question marks.
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