NFL
By: Jesse Rosales
The NHL trade deadline came and went without the Colorado Avalanche making a big-name move. The Avs missed out on big names like Bo Horvat, former Colorado Avalanche forward Ryan O’Reilly, and highly sought-after defenseman Jakob Chychrun. GM Chris MacFarland stated “We entertained moving picks this year, but again, it had to have made sense, and we just weren’t able to find the right deals that made sense. It wasn’t from a lack of trying. It wasn’t from a we’re not moving picks standpoint. It just had to make sense.”
It’s not to say that the Colorado Avalanche weren’t able to bring in some key role players. They acquired centerman. Lars Eller, former Avalanche defenseman from the Cup-winning team Jack Johnson, former Avs forward Matt Nieto, and some goaltending depth with Keith Kincaid from Boston. The silver lining may be while most of the league was busy trading all their future draft picks away, the Colorado Avalanche actually managed to retain their 2023 first-round draft pick, which is very intriguing. With 15 games to go, the Avs keep flipping between 3rd in the Central and the 2nd overall wild card. They’ve gone 6-3-1 in their last 10 games and need to rack up as many points coming up given the easier schedule in March.
Best Trade-Deadline Move By Colorado Avalanche?
In all honestly, I did like the depth moves that the Colorado Avalanche front office made. That being said the biggest acquisition was actually internally getting back players from the injured reserve list. During the prime trade-deadline wheeling and dealing period, the Avs got Bowen Bryan, Josh Manson (subsequently is out again until the end of March), and Cale Makar back on the ice. Perhaps the biggest news was that captain Gabriel Landeskog, who has been out the entire season to this point, started to skate again. While we don’t know exactly when he’ll be back, things appear to be moving in the right direction.
The Colorado Avalanche have had to deal with injury issues literally all season. We actually have no idea what this team truly looks like with everyone healthy. It just goes to show how hard it is to truly win back-to-back Stanley Cups. That being said the Western Conference is wide open this year. Heck, the Avs are only 10 points back of the Vegas Golden Knights for first place in the Conference. With a favorable schedule in March and the games in hand they have on just about everyone in the Western Conference, the Avs should be a lock to make the playoffs.
What are realistic expectations for the Colorado Avalanche In the Playoffs?
Some of it comes down to seeding and with a full month of hockey yet to play. It’s still mathematically possible the Colorado Avalanche will miss the playoffs entirely. It’s also possible they end up with the number 1 seed. Things are MUCH different in the East where most of the 1st round matchups are already decided for the most part. Let’s assume things stay as they are today, and the Avalanche has a first-round matchup with the Minnesota Wild or the Winnipeg Jets.
The Wild pretty much are going to live and die with 2 players. Goaltender Marc Andre Fleury and top 5 forward Kirill Kaprizov. With Kaprizov pretty much on IR until the start of the playoffs at best, and Fleury who is getting older by the minute, I think it safe to say the Colorado Avalanche would be heavily favored to win that series. Same with the Jets who have had a solid season and have a Vezina candidate goaltender in Connor Hellebuyck, but I would think the Avs would still be favorites to win that series. That would likely set up a matchup with the winner of 2nd seed and 1st Wild Card. That matchup would likely include some combination of Edmonton, Dallas, or Vegas.
The Edmonton matchup is the one that scares me the most. Connor McDavid has separated himself as the best player in the world and it’s not even close. It’s scary to watch him basically hold back when he wants to and when he wants to turn it up, he can and NO ONE has been able to stop him in those moments. I think he will be on a mission during these playoffs and Edmonton will be out for blood, especially if they go up against the Colorado Avalanche in the second round, who swept them in a stunningly lopsided series last year.
Whether it’s Dallas, Vegas, or Edmonton, the second round seems like the most likely place for a potential fall in their postseason run toward a repeat. If they get past the second round, that likely means they have stayed relatively healthy, Landeskog is back in the lineup, and they are getting the most out of JT Compher in the second-line centerman role. If all those things are true, there is no reason to think they can’t go on to win the Western Conference.
Whoever makes it out of the West will likely get a battle-tested, and worn-down, team from the East. That being said, I just don’t see how any team from the West will be able to compete with the Power Houses of the East, especially Boston. The Bruins seem like a team of destiny. Stranger things have happened in the playoffs and being the top team for the entire regular season guarantees you nothing. In fact, most #1 overall seeds do not win the Cup.
This Colorado Avalanche team WILL make the playoffs and they WILL win at least one series. After that…. well it all depends on the health and a little bit of luck from the hockey gods.
For more NHL news and updates, be sure to follow me on Twitter @5280Jesse and Team NBS Media
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