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Avalanche Still Cup Favorites Despite Some Lingering Questions

August 18, 2021, 1:05 PM ET [3 Comments]
Steve Palumbo
Colorado Avalanche Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
According to vegasinsider.com the Colorado Avalanche are the odds on favorite to win the 2022 Stanley Cup (+600), followed by the Tampa Bay Lightning (+700) and the Vegas Golden Knights (+850).

Since most of you are probably Avs fans you've already been down this road before. They don't give awards for being pre-season Vegas favorites; you still have to play the games. Colorado's been good to great during the regular season and still couldn't get past the second round each of the last three seasons. Not trying to rub more salt in that wound... but,... they haven't been to the Conference Finals since 2001-02. So, yeah, being anointed pre-season favorites means squat.

Alas, chances are still excellent the Avs will be a very, very good team again this year. In fact, they may actually be better than last year's squad, but to have any chance of breaking out of the second round they'll need to fill in some holes and get answers to some pretty big questions.

Offense: Who will score the goals?

The Avs head towards next season with a very different top 6. They lost more than 15% of the team offense with the departures of Joonas Donskoi and Brandon Saad.

Can Andre Burakovsky take another step? The 26-year-old scored 20 and 19 goals in his first two seasons in Colorado, averaging .35 goals per game. That's roughly 29 goals over 82 games. Can he do it? The Avs will need him to find another level to keep that offense firing.

What about Nathan Mackinnon? He is one of the games' more electrifying players. Will he ever reach 100 points in a season? Is this the year?

In 2018-19, he played 82 games and reached 99 points. Since then, He's played 69 and 48 games averaging 1.35 points per game in each season - that's 111 points in an 82 game season. I think he's a lock to do it if he stays healthy.

What are they going to get from Nazem Kadri? Is Nazem Kadri going to finish the season in Colorado? The playoff suspensions are a disaster. Nobody is going to say it, but it really hurt the Avs playoff chances. Hurt is not a strong enough word - it killed them. I think he's on a short leash.

Defense: How much better can Cale Makar get?

There's no doubt he's one of the best young defensemen and a perennial Norris candidate. How much more can he do? I think a lot. I think he can and will do it all before his career is over.

What will Bowen Byram add to the backend? He's another great skater with a hard shot and another defenseman that can put up points. Is this the season he gets a chance to make a name for himself?

Goalie:
Darcy Kuemper is an upgrade over Phillip Grubauer. There. I said it.

Switching starting goalie in the middle of a Stanley Cup window is a calculated risk I believe the Avs were willing to make. Colorado had reason to believe Gru wasn't worth the money. He wasn't able to rise to the occasion and make a series saving save when his team needed it most.

Is Kuemper that guy? I think he can be and so does Joe. Sakic was willing to give up a lot to get him, including Connor Timmins. It was just days before the deal that Sakic was raving about Timmins. trading him away was no easy matter. It had to be for the right guy. If Kuemper can stay healthy he could be that guy and the missing piece.

We are just weeks away from the start of training camp. As we get closer to camp there will be more questions than answers. It will be fun to figure those answers along the way.

Thanks for reading,
Steve

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