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Colorado Avalanche Right Wing Depth Chart Is Ridiculous

By Janik Beichler

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Earlier this off-season, I pointed out that the Colorado Avalanche’s forward depth is a myth. That opinion hasn’t changed, especially not after taking a good look at the right wing. In all honesty, the Avalanche’s right wing depth chart is ridiculous.

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The Colorado Avalanche lost Ryan O’Reilly and Jamie McGinn, but added Carl Soderberg, Mikhail Grigorenko and Blake Comeau, drafted Mikko Rantanen, signed Andreas Martinsen, and have Joey Hishon, Freddie Hamilton and Borna Rendulic waiting in minors.

Soderberg, Grigorenko and Hishon are left-shooting centers, Hamilton a right-shooting one. Comeau is a right-shooting winger, but prefers the left side. Rantanen is a natural right winger, but he likely isn’t ready for the NHL, and the Avalanche would be smart not to rush him. Martinsen is a natural right winger, but isn’t NHL caliber — at least not yet — and Rendulic isn’t good enough to be an NHL regular either.

That leaves the Colorado Avalanche with the following right wing depth chart (natural position in brackets):

  1. Nathan MacKinnon (C)
  2. Jarome Iginla (RW)
  3. Dennis Everberg (LW)
  4. Jesse Winchester (C)
  5. Patrick Bordeleau (LW)
  6. Borna Rendulic (RW)
  7. Mikko Rantanen (RW)

The above depth chart is a mix of what The Hockey News listed in their 2015-16 yearbook and my personal evaluations. Depending on where you check, you can also find Hamilton and Marc-Andre Cliche listed on the right wing, while Hamilton, Winchester and Bordeleau can also be found on the left side.

Either way, out of the top-five right wingers, only one is playing on his natural position — Jarome Iginla. All others have been or will be moved to fill in on a right wing that has exactly zero depth.

Nathan MacKinnon has looked good on the right wing, but he has the potential to turn into one of the best centers in the league. You wouldn’t want to “waste” his talent by keeping him on the wing for his entire career.

It’s a different story if he doesn’t succeed on center. But we won’t find out, unless he gets a chance to play there again. A chance he won’t get, as long as the right wing depth is this terrible.

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Iginla is now 37 years old. He was the Colorado Avalanche’s top scorer last season and hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. He may be Jaromir Jagr 2.0 and produce until his late forties, but it would only be natural for him to regress sooner rather than later. Even if he doesn’t, after being in the league for so long, he may decide to retire after his contract with the Avalanche, or move on to another team with better Stanley Cup chances.

So, the top-two right wing situation is not ideal, but it is more than acceptable, and filled with a lot of talent. However, it doesn’t get better behind that. Two players to fill in outside of their natural position, one of which hasn’t played a single minute in the entire 2014-15 season. Bordeleau, player No. 5 on the depth chart, was limited to one game, and less than 10 minutes played last season.

So, unless Rantanen steps up and makes the team early next season, the Colorado Avalanche will have a rather big problem. A team with exactly one right winger won’t get anywhere near the playoffs. Quite frankly, it’s ridiculous.

Next: Predicting the Avs RW Stats

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