Colorado Avalanche season preview
After being riddled with injuries during the 2022-23 season, Colorado is looking for a massive bounce-back year in 2023-24. The Avalanche may have won their division for the third year in a row last season, but a first-round exit in the 2023 playoffs was a massive disappointment after winning the Stanley Cup the season prior. They are one of, if not the most, electrifying squads to watch and I have high expectations for this team, which I definitely view as a Stanley Cup contender.
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Offense
On paper, I don’t think this roster is as strong as their Stanley Cup team in 2022, but Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and defenseman Cale Makar still provide a ton of offense. Rantanen had a breakout year last season, as he tallied 55 goals and 105 points, which were new career-highs. Colorado’s biggest issue is that the team is very top-heavy, so the Avalanche need more depth scoring if they want to reach their potential.
It could be argued that the Avalanche have the most elite talent in the NHL with MacKinnon, Rantanen and Makar. Unfortunately, they lost depth pieces like Evan Rodrigues, J.T. Compher, and Alex Newhook this summer. That should hurt a bit, but they were able to bring in Ryan Johansen, who will replace their captain — Gabriel Landeskog will unfortunately miss this season due to injury. Other names that the Avalanche have added are Ross Colton, Miles Wood, and Jonathan Drouin.