Colorado Avalanche: 5 Things That Need to Happen for Successful Season

Oct 12, 2013; Washington, DC, USA; Colorado Avalanche left wing Cody McLeod (55) kneels on the ice after being injured against the Washington Capitals at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Stay Healthy

While the will to win is something you can actively influence, staying healthy isn’t — unfortunately. If the Colorado Avalanche wants to have a successful 2015-16 season — no matter how you define success — the team needs to stay healthy.

More from Mile High Sticking

• Could Colorado Avalanche move on from Pavel Francouz next offseason?
• 4 goalies to replace Pavel Francouz if he has to miss time
• Colorado Avalanche make sneaky signing with Tatar
• Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog could return in 2023-24 playoffs
• Colorado Avalanche rookie face-off tournament roster

The Avalanche has much more depth than last season. Grigorenko is a healthy scratch, Joey Hishon, Dennis Everberg, Patrick Bordeleau and others were sent down to the San Antonio Rampage. That is nice and all, but what happens if one of the star players gets injured? What do you do if two of them get injured? It’s something you wouldn’t wish anyone, but hockey is a tough sport and injuries happen.

Despite the team’s current depth, replacing a Landeskog, Duchene, Iginla or Johnson won’t be easy. Sure, they’ve done it before. Last season, Johnson, Varlamov and MacKinnon were injured for large chunks of the season — but we all know how that season went. It’s always hard to replace your star players, no matter if you’re the Avalanche, the Anaheim Ducks or someone else. But it’s especially tough when you’re struggling to fill your top six with top players (remember, Blake Comeau is skating on the first line).

Next: Roster Competition