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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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SAN JOSE, CA – APRIL 05: Mikko Rantanen #96 of the Colorado Avalanche skates against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on April 5, 2018 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Rocky W. Widner/NHL/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Mikko Rantanen /

3. Can Mikko Rantanen Succeed on his Own?

On the other end of the spectrum, we have to start looking at a player who has unquestionably been a starter — winger Mikko Rantanen. Like I mentioned, he sort of cost MacKinnon the Hart. What’s more, he was just voted #17 in the entire NHL for wingers by NHL Network:

He was second on the team for scoring with 84 points (29 goals, 55 assists). Rantanen had the exact opposite of a sophomore slump (at least until he hit the playoffs, but let’s not focus on that.)

So, though my question is whether Rantanen can succeed without MacKinnon, I’m not actually entertaining the idea of breaking up that top line. The Rants-Mack duo is a one-two punch with captain Gabriel Landeskog adding an extra jab in there.

I guess my question is more of whether Rantanen can prove to be a legitimate star on his own, independent of MacKinnon’s fire. Can he augment MacKinnon’s fire with magic of his own?

Can he take on some of the heavy lifting from Nate’s back?

Even teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have superstar Sidney Crosby, and the Washington Capitols, who have superstar Alexander Ovechkin, have a star-caliber sidekick. In their cases, it’s Evgeni Malkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov respectively.

Well, the Avs don’t have an Evgeny/i. They have a Mikko. He has to put up similar numbers to last season to prove he’s a star-caliber sidekick to Nathan MacKinnon.

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