The Colorado Avalanche made some significant roster moves over draft weekend and on free agency day. The top nine forward positions are looking pretty good to shake out in the following lines:
Jarome Iginla-Matt Duchene-Alex Tanguay
Gabriel Landeskog-Carl Soderberg-Nathan MacKinnon
Blake Comeau-John Mitchell-Mikhail Grigorenko (if signed)
The top nine will probably start out looking that way anyway — head coach Patrick Roy is almost certain to start trying MacKinnon on center more often, so he could move down to the third line while Mitchell moves up as Soderberg’s wing. Or what other combinations coach Roy might come up with.
The biggest area of question is the fourth line. Coach Roy wants it centered by Jesse Winchester — if he’s healthy. He missed the entire 2014-15 season with post-concussion symptoms, so there’s no telling if he’ll actually be able to play. If not, the line might get centered by Marc-Andre Cliche again.
Or it might get a new center, one of a crop of prospects the Avalanche have coming up. Let’s look at five forwards who might just crack the Colorado Avalanche roster next season.