NHL Preview: Colorado Avalanche

It could be a long and lonesome season in the Rockies. Charlie Boccanegra assesses the Avs.

Last year was a dreadful season and a step back from the surprising 2009-10 campaign that saw the rebuilding Avs shock everyone and make the playoffs. I expect more of the struggles to continue this season, as they are still at least one or two years away from being a playoff team.

Colorado is an 80/1 NHL betting longshot for the Stanley Cup, and as high as 23/1 to win the Northwest, where the Canucks are the obvious favorites. The Avs could be a great fade on the road this year, especially on the second night of back to backs or at the end of road trips when they could be more fatigued.

Forwards: This is by far the strength of this team as they are led by young up and coming stud Matt Duchene, a player who can be a consistent top 10 scorer in the NHL for many years to come. Last year they did trade away their second best young forward in Chris Stewart, which could end up hurting their chances of scoring at the same pace as last year. The only other reliable options upfront are the veteran Milan Hejduk and the team’s best forward, Paul Stastny.

Colorado needs its other young forwards – O’Reilly, Gaglardi, Mueller and Jones and this year’s 2nd overall selection Gabriel Landeskog to break through years. None of them has reached has full potential and they all have been injured multiple times throughout their careers so far. If they don’t achieve expect Colorado to struggle scoring.

Defense: This is by far the weakest part of their team and will end up hurting any chance they have at competing for a playoff spot. Last year this was a huge problem and they tried to address the issue by trading away blue chip young forward Chris Stewart for stud young defenseman Erick Johnson.
Johnson is capable of anchoring the defense but does not have much help with him. Kyle Quincey, who missed most of last season through injury, is the only other defenseman that has potential to be a solid top defenseman. I have zero confidence in the likes of Hejda, Cumiskey, O’Byrne and Wilson.

Goaltending: The Avs have never been able to find anyone remotely close to replacing Patrick Roy since his retirement. This offseason they made a trade with Washington bringing Semyon Varlamov. He could be an upgrade as he’s had some stellar regular seasons with the Caps. But still remains a question because he’s played much worse in the postseason. The Avalanche are not nearly as good a team as Washington. I don’t see Varlamov being able to steal many games. He’s there to just keep the Avs in contention as best he can.