Colorado Avalanche will Bring Excitement with… Sophomore Seasons

We all expect the Colorado Avalanche to bring us excitement in the 2018-19 season. Reason #2 — yesteryear’s rookies taking a step forward.

The new Colorado Avalanche season is just around the corner. Players have already been practicing unofficially at the team’s facility in Centennial. The rookies and prospects officially take to the ice at the end of the week.

We have a lot to be excited about this year. As we countdown to the official start of the season, we’re looking at some of those areas of excitement. I already covered Reason #1 (I’m not ranking them, by the way.) :

Let’s look at reason #2.

Last season, the Avalanche had up to six rookies skating in any given game. To say they were in a full-fledged youth movement would be an understatement — they were top-two for the youngest team on every game day.

The team had four main rookies and a few ancillary prospects regularly in the lineup. Tyson Jost, J.T. Compher, Alexander Kerfoot and Samuel Girard were the regulars. This is going to be a big year for all four of those players, but for different reasons.

JT Compher

Though not the oldest, JT Compher was the rookie who had been around the longest. In fact, he was just barely a rookie last season — a player needs to have played in a maximum of 25 NHL games in a season to be considered a rookie. Compher played in 21 during the 2016-17 season.

Compher didn’t have the points production you’d want to see last year, earning just 23 (13 goals, 10 assists) in 69 games. However, he had some big goals. What’s more, Compher showed resiliency and leadership.

During the 2018-19 season, Compher is going to want to take a step forward in his offense. The Avalanche need a true second line, and JT is one of the candidates for that position. His two-way prowess is helpful, but the team will want a little more points production from a second-liner.

Alexander Kerfoot

Alexander Kerfoot was the oldest of last year’s rookies, being a collegiate UFA at the time of signing. He had a better rookie season than any of us expected, recording 43 points (19 goals, 24 assists), which was #5 on the whole team for scoring.

For Kerfoot, the 2018-19 season is going to be about proving last year wasn’t a fluke. He’ll want to avoid that dreaded Sophomore Slump at all costs. He spent the majority of last season as the second-line center, and that’s the role we want to see him keep — or, at least, second liner.

Tyson Jost

I hope our affable Josty handles pressure well. All eyes will be on him starting already in Training Camp. We all expect this to be the year Tyson Jost takes a big stride forward.

Colorado selected Jost 10th-overall in 2016. You always want that high of a draft pick to succeed. I don’t want to say Jost’s rookie season was a bust, especially since he was plagued with injury early on. However, we’re simply going to want more than 22 points (12 goals, 10 assists) in 65 games this year.

Everyone is looking at Jost for that second-line center position. The Avalanche need a viable second line, and the expectation is that 10th-overall, 20-year-old will be the lynchpin.

I’m sounding a little dire in this section. To be honest, I fully expect Jost to handle the pressure well — he’s affable, but he gets serious when needs be. Now that he understands the NHL game better, I’m sure he’ll take that stride we all expect. I really am very excited to watch his progress this season.

Sam Girard

Personally, I’m excited to see more Sam Girard spin-o-ramas — and to hear color analyst Peter McNab go into conniptions every time.

Our little defenseman turned out to be the crowning jewel of the Matt Duchene trade.  Some fans are stating trading Duchene for Girard alone would have been adequate. Settle down, Skippies. It’s true Sammy plays better D without a stick than Tyson Barrie does with a stick, but we don’t know what he’s capable of yet truly.

In all seriousness, Girard is little.  NHL.com’s failure to update player weights means I’ll forever have to report his weight at 162. However, judging by his (private) Instagram, Sam put on some weight over the summer. That’s natural for a man who just turned 20. However, he’s still smallish, and his small stature means he’s going to have to be an offensive, puck-moving defenseman — shutdown roles will never be his.

This is going to be a big year for Sam Girard. Just like Jost, he’ll have pressure on him, but in his case because he was the most tangible return in the Duchene trade. Plus, as Barrie’s heir apparent, we want to see him actually producing some points. He did have 20 (3 goals, 17 assists) last season. He’ll need a few more to truly challenge for Barrie’s role, though.

Jost and Girard in particular can become core players for the Colorado Avalanche. However, all four of the above players are in place to be important to the team’s success in the upcoming season. As the Avs continue their youth movement, watching the youngsters develop will be an exciting aspect of the season.