Colorado Avalanche Player Grades: The Playoffs

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DENVER, CO – APRIL 22: Gabriel Landeskog #92 of the Colorado Avalanche advances the puck against the Nashville Predators in Game Six of the Western Conference First Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Pepsi Center on April 22, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /

The Colorado Avalanche did better than anyone expected in the playoffs. So did some of the players, while others did not.

It was a dream for the Colorado Avalanche to make the playoffs again. We all remember the pain of that 48-point season. And even the year before that, when they lost eight of their last nine to freefall out of playoff contention.

Additionally, the Avalanche did better than the LA Kings and Anaheim Ducks, both of whom were swept. They even did better than their arch-nemesis Minnesota Wild, who lost in five.

What’s more, the Colorado Avalanche were playing the best team in the NHL, the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Nashville Predators who had made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals the previous season. So, not only were the playoffs a treat in and of themselves, those two wins were icing on the cake.

Nonetheless, in these playoffs we definitely saw some ups and downs. Some players contributed everything they had and more. Others inexplicably didn’t live up to expectations. Yet others did the best they could within the roles they were given.

Let’s look at the Colorado Avalanche and grade their performances in the 2018 NHL playoffs.

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