Colorado Avalanche Offense: 5 Questions for the Upcoming Season
Dec 17, 2013; Dallas, TX, USA; Colorado Avalanche defenseman
Tyson Barrie(4) and center Matt Duchene (9) and center Nathan MacKinnon (29) and defenseman
Erik Johnson(6) celebrate Duchenes goal against Dallas Stars goalie
Dan Ellis(not pictured) during the first period at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Will the power play be able to score?
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It got to be ugly last season. All of Avs Nation, including the players themselves, watched helplessly as the Colorado Avalanche power play remained scoreless for long stretches of time.
It was just so baffling. During the 2013-14 season, Colorado was tied for fifth place in the NHL with a 19.8 power play percentage. Just one year later, the team was in 29th position with a 15 percent power play conversion.
Wings Jarome Iginla and Gabriel Landeskog were the big power play players with eight goals each. Iginla had an additional five power play assists to Landeskog’s nine. Tyson Barrie (14), Alex Tangay (12) and Ryan O’Reilly (10) were the big assist men on the man-advantage.
Of all those players, only O’Reilly is gone. Probably Carl Soderberg or Mikhail Grigorenko is going to take his place. That said, forwards Matt Duchene (2 goals, 5 assists) and Nathan MacKinnon (3 goals, 4 assists) are also to see time on the power play as is defenseman Erik Johnson (3 goals, 3 assists).
Most of those players are the same from two seasons ago. Can they regain that spark? Will they at least end up somewhere in between #5 and #29?
Will they stop passing the puck around like it’s a tray of cookies at a garden party and actually shoot it for a change? We can only hope so.
Next: MacKinnon?