Oct 11, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Avalanche center Matt Duchene (9) controls the puck against Minnesota Wild defenseman Marco Scandella (6) in the second period at the Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
As mentioned in our right wing predictions, the Colorado Avalanche currently only has one player who naturally plays that position. Things look much different on center, which will guarantee some nice battles for the few — four to be exact — roster spots.
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There are worse things in life than having an overload of centers. In fact, just about every team that has ever won the Stanley Cup, had more than just one elite center. The Pittsburgh Penguins had Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, the LA Kings had Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter and Mike Richards, and the Chicago Blackhawks had Jonathan Toews, with either Patrick Kane or Patrick Sharp filling in as second-line center.
The last time the Colorado Avalanche won the Cup, in 2001, they had Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg. While today’s Avalanche has recently lost two great centers in Paul Stastny and Ryan O’Reilly, they are still left with Matt Duchene and Nathan MacKinnon. Unfortunately, the latter currently has to fill in on the right wing, but even then, the Avalanche is left with a fair amount of talent down the middle.
Let’s take a look at how the Colorado Avalanche’s centers will do, assuming that they all appear in 82 games.
Next: Marc-Andre Cliche