Off-season is the time to do some re-evaluating for the Colorado Avalanche
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We have now reached the NHL’s 2023 off-season period and
looking to see, based on their present status, what the future might hold in
the forthcoming regular season of 2023-24. This could include using some
Everygame casino bonus codes. Below we
will highlight the positives and some negatives of the Colorado Avalanche.
How do they stand – the off-season outlook
The positives:
What is the biggest plus as they enter the off-season? Even though Avalanche did get removed from
the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs in the first round, they do stand a good chance
at doing better in the next playoffs, in 2023-24. The reason being, that
contrary to the 2023 playoffs, the Colorado Avalanche know that Gabriel
Landeskog, captain and star forward, won’t be with them for the whole season so
they will have to play without his services.
During 2022-23 there was continual concern about Landeskog’s
health situation but no red light was instigated until the year had
concluded. Now that has been applied, it
means that Landeskog’s $7 million salary cap hit, according to PuckPedia, can
be used to find someone with exceptional talent and bring success now, rather
than later.
Not including Landeskog’s contract, the Avalanche presently
have $12.575 million in cap space. But
they only have a total of 13 signed players, even with a $19.575 million in cap
space. This means that Chris MacFarland, the General Manager needs to be very
discriminating in the way in which he spends this money be it in free agency
and/or trades during the summer months.
He certainly has the money to purchase a high-impact
player. A player who is able to
strengthen the bottom nine group of forwards.
Good players will likely be eager to join Avalanche this off-season to
play alongside superstar players like Nathan MacKinnon, and MikkoRantanen. Colorado Avalanche is an attractive option
for them.
Both MacKinnon and Rantanen are young men. MacKinnon is 27 years old and Rantanen is 26
years old. Both are nearing their prime
as NHL elites. There are many NHL teams
that don’t have even one player with their talent, so to have two is certainly
a big deal. MacFarland will likely be in
win-now mode concerning his summer moves.
However, Landeskog will be missed and all that he brought to the game
but first and foremost is the health of players.
The negatives:
The deepest group in the league isn’t Colorado’s bottom 9
forwards – they do have 6 good forwards under contract. MacFarland could change that number. He could bring back say, Even Rodriques and
J.T Compher. However, a stronger scoring punch will still be needed on the
third and fourth lines.
The truth is that it’s not possible for the Avalanche to
depend only on the top 4 defenses and their goalies in order to win more games
than lose them. It is crucial for them
to create a dynamic winning and offensive force.
Extra money that MacFarland has could be used to trade or
sign for a bottom six force on defense.
That role was filled in 2022-23 by Jack Johnson and Eric Johnson, both
now in their thirties and both now UFAs.
But the pressure needs to be lifted off Cale Makar and Devon Toews is
expected to do all the heavy lifting.
But up front is the biggest issue to tackle. Perhaps Brock Boeser, Vancouver winger or
Patrick Kane, UFA winger will become Colorado’s focus of attention. This would
be a good thing. They are the perfect
choice for the Avs at this time.
Concluding thoughts for them this off-season
Because winning the Stanley Cup is still fresh, the
Avalanche may have earned the right to a little leeway when things don’t go the
way they would wish. They are certainly in that position right now. They did get eliminated in the first round.
For example, they probably would have done significantly better if Landeskog
had been in the lineup.
They do have good foundational talent in MacKinnon,
Rantanen, Makar and Toews which will keep them in the playoff mix for the
foreseeable future. But if the Avalanche
doesn’t do well in the 2023 post-season and get eliminated in the first round,
fans will not be so understanding. They have too much going for them to be
pushed out by a less talented team, like what happened with Seattle.
The situation with Landeskog’s status is still to be
resolved. His contract runs through the
summer of 2029 but perhaps the Avs can invest Landeskog’s long-term salary in a
competitive player who is able to act as a key initiator of offense.
The future promises to be bright for the Colorado Avalanche
and their fans can look back at this past season as just a “blip on the radar”
