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Colorado Avalanche: Top 9 Questions the Team Must Answer this Year

By Nadia Archuleta

DENVER, CO - APRIL 07: Patrik Nemeth #12, Mikko Rantanen #96, Tyson Jost #17 and J.T. Compher #37 of the Colorado Avalanche wave to the crowd after a win against the St. Louis Blues at the Pepsi Center on April, 7, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. The Avalanche defeated the Blues 5-2. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - APRIL 07: Patrik Nemeth #12, Mikko Rantanen #96, Tyson Jost #17 and J.T. Compher #37 of the Colorado Avalanche wave to the crowd after a win against the St. Louis Blues at the Pepsi Center on April, 7, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. The Avalanche defeated the Blues 5-2. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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DENVER, CO – APRIL 07: Patrik Nemeth #12, Mikko Rantanen #96, Tyson Jost #17 and J.T. Compher #37 of the Colorado Avalanche wave to the crowd after a win against the St. Louis Blues at the Pepsi Center on April, 7, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. The Avalanche defeated the Blues 5-2. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images) /

The Colorado Avalanche, one of the youngest team in the NHL, will have a lot of questions to answer in the 2017-18 season.

The Colorado Avalanche went from being the joke of the NHL in their 48-point Lost Season to making the playoffs — and challenging the heavily-favored Nashville Predators to a fair fight.

However, every season is a new start. As we approach the 2018-19 season, there are a lot of questions surrounding the Avalanche. As our star center, Nathan MacKinnon, stated, it’s playoffs or bust for the Avs.

MacKinnon had a career season, earning an astounding 97 points — and his 39 goals were more than superstar Peter Forsberg ever earned in a single season. (Weird stat, I know.) It’s a little-kept secret that Nate carried Colorado on his back into the playoffs.

That’s not to say he didn’t get any help. His wingman, Mikko Rantanen, was a large part of the reason MacKinnon didn’t earn the Hart Trophy, despite his having better stats than the winner, Taylor Hall. It was thought Hall didn’t have as quality of support as MacKinnon did in Rantanen and his career-best 84 points.

Concerning the playoffs, it all came down to Game #82 last season against the St. Louis Blues. Winner made the playoffs, and that winner was the Colorado Avalanche. And there was plenty of luck along the way — including in that game alone. Really, either team could have won.

So, playoffs or bust. Which is it going to be for the Avs? Let’s look at the top questions that will help determine the answer to that.

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