Eurolanche

Friday Avalanche Update

The Avalanche finished the strike shortened 2013 season with the worst record in the NHL. They then came back the next year with 112 points and the third best record in the league. While the Avalanche have not played bad hockey, they have failed to make the playoffs in the two seasons since their surprising 2014 season.

Colorado hockey fans do not know what to expect in any given season, but they had to be encouraged by the undefeated record in the preseason this year. The preseason performance proved that the Avalanche have the talent to make the playoffs, but they are hurt by playing in the best division in the NHL. All seven teams in the Central Division have enough talent to make the playoffs this year. If the Avalanche want to be one of the lucky teams to advance to the postseason, they are going to need great play from the goalie and young forwards.

Goalie Semyon Varlamov may be the most important player on the Avalanche this season. He had the best season of his career in 2014, but his performance has declined every year since that great season. Varlamov has also failed to impress in his four starts this year. The Avalanche simply do not have enough offensive talent to win with a goalie giving up an average of three goals a game. Backup goalie Calvin Pickard has been impressive in limited action during his first two NHL seasons, so the Avalanche may need to turn to him as their starter if Varlamov's struggles continue this season.

If the Avalanche are not going to get consistent play out of their goalies, they will need to rely on their young forwards to step up their play to have any shot at the playoffs. Nathan MacKinnon was supposed to be the next big star of the league when he was selected with the first pick in the 2013 NHL draft, but he has failed to improve after an impressive rookie season. If he can sustain his early performance throughout the entire season, this may be the year Nathan MacKinnon becomes a superstar. He already has one goal and four assists through the first five games of the 2016-17 season.

Matt Duchene has also been very impressive lately with three goals and two assists in five games. If the Avalanche want to contend this year, then these two young players have to live up to the high expectations everyone had when they were selected at the top of the draft.

While MacKinnon and Duchene are giving the Avalanche much needed offensive production, the Avalanche have still only won three of their first five games. Unless they get an amazing season out of a few unexpected players, the Avalanche will have to fight to the very end of the season to claim a playoff spot. Since they have to play a lot of their games against the tough Central Division, it is hard to see the Colorado Avalanche finishing higher than eighth or ninth in the Western Conference.

by Ryan Kinlaw