The Avalanche look every bit of a team that leads the league in points, wins, and most 5 on 5 metrics. Colorado has only played 34 of the 82 games before the regular season ends yet already looks to have the President's trophy in sight, having only two regulation losses on the season.
It's strange then, that a team that is dominating the game in every other aspect is struggling in what should be the easiest area: The Power Play. Of Nathan MacKinnon's league-leading 59 points, only 13 have come on the power play, despite being on a unit with Gabe Landeskog, and Cale Makar.
Logically, if you're dominating opponents without the man advantage, you should be doing even better with the man advantage, right? Well, according to StatMuse, the Avalanche are averaging a 15.3% power play conversion rate, good for 28th in league as we hit mid-December.
New Bench Boss not Working?
The Avalanche hired Dave Hakstol, former Seattle Kraken head coach, for power play responsibilities after Ray Bennett was relieved of duties following the end of the Avs' playoffs run last season. Hakstol, who minded the bench for the Kraken from 2021-24, had the Seattle team average converting the power play at around a 20% rate over three seasons with the team.
The Avalanche finished the 2024-25 regular season with the league's 8th best power play, converting at a 24.8% clip. That fell to 13.6% in the playoffs, leading to the organization moving on from Bennett. Now, with more than a third of the season completed, Colorado's success with the man advantage is lesser than what they find at even strength.
Conversely, the Avalanche have the leagues number one penalty kill unit. With Makar is making a case for back to back Norris Trophies, perhaps that shouldn't be too much of a surprise for the team.