While Wednesday's NHL trade deadline is garnering plenty of interest, the Avalanche also has a big game Tuesday night in Chicago with a chance to move within one point of the second-place Blackhawks in the Central Division.
Will it be Paul Stastny's final game in an Avalanche uniform? I don't think so, but I guess nothing is guaranteed. He'll be at his usual spot on a line with Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon, a trio that has been piling up plenty of points.
Stastny has eight goals and 13 assists in his past 17 games, Landeskog five goals and 11 assists in 12 games, and MacKinnon has an 11-game point-scoring streak with five goals and 11 assists.
Why break up a good thing?
Coach Patrick Roy keeps repeating he's comfortable with the roster and would be fine if he and executive vice president of hockey operations Joe Sakic choose not to make a move, or at least nothing major.
Sakic is on the two-game road trip, which includes Thursday's game in Detroit, but it isn't unusual for him to travel with the team and would be odd for him not to be around on deadline day. General manager Greg Sherman, assistant GM Craig Billington and vice president for hockey administration Charlotte Graham are also in Chicago.
Stastny has repeatedly said he wants to remain with the Avalanche and Tuesday morning told the Denver Post he "absolutely" would accept a hometown discount in a new contract. His five-year, $33 million deal expires July 1 when he'd be eligible to become an unrestricted free agent.
Before leaving Denver on Monday, Stastny said he's "having fun" playing on a winning team for a change and likes the direction the club is going with Sakic and Roy running things.
"It's a great place," he said. "We have a good team here, a good group of guys. You can have as much fun as you want to, but it's all about winning. You don't play this game just to go out there and put up points. You play this game to win. It's a team game and you want to win the Stanley Cup."
The Avalanche could use a veteran defenseman with some size and might be able to land one without giving up too much, maybe a mid-round draft pick and a guy like defenseman Stefan Elliott, who's still young and doesn't seem to have much of a future anymore in Colorado.
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The Avalanche (39-17-5) is third in the Central Division with 83 points, three behind the second-place Blackhawks (36-12-14) with a game in hand. First-place St. Louis (40-14-6) also has 86 points and has played one fewer game than Colorado. The Blues are home against Tampa Bay on Tueday.
"It's always a good environment playing in Chicago," Stastny said. "They have an 'X' on their backs because they're defending champs and they're always kind of on top of the league. We know we're close and for us it's trying to gain ground and catching them and finishing as a top seed."
Said Matt Duchene: "We can win the division still. I think that's a pretty cool thing. We still have a game in hand on Chicago. We have to crank it up, though. We can't just accept to be in the playoffs. We have to stay hungry because that will carry over into the playoffs. We're all on the same page. You have to stay humble and you have to stay hungry all the time. I think those are the two most important things."
Semyon Varlamov, who has reached the 30-win mark for the first time, will start in goal for the Avalanche. Corey Crawford will start for the Blackhawks.
Brandon Saad will replace injured Marian Hossa (upper body injury) on Chicago's top line with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp.
Here's the Avalanche lineup:
FORWARDS Ryan O'Reilly -- Matt Duchene -- PA Parenteau Gabriel Landeskog -- Paul Stastny -- Nathan MacKinnon Maxime Talbot -- John Mitchell -- Jamie McGinn Cody McLeod -- Marc-Andre Cliche -- Patrick Bordeleau
DEFENSE Jan Hejda -- Erik Johnson Nick Holden -- Cory Sarich or Andre Benoit Nate Guenin -- Tyson Barrie
GOALIES Semyon Varlamov Jean-Sebastien Giguere