Colorado Avalanche: Core Player Goals for the 2018-19 Season

DENVER, CO - APRIL 18: Gabriel Landeskog (92) of the Colorado Avalanche celebrates his 3-1 Avalanche goal with teammates against the Nashville Predators during the third period of the Predators' 3-2 win on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. The Colorado Avalanche hosted the Nashville Predators. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - APRIL 18: Gabriel Landeskog (92) of the Colorado Avalanche celebrates his 3-1 Avalanche goal with teammates against the Nashville Predators during the third period of the Predators' 3-2 win on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. The Colorado Avalanche hosted the Nashville Predators. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
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DENVER, CO – NOVEMBER 2: Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (29) and left wing Gabriel Landeskog (92) congratulates Colorado Avalanche right wing Mikko Rantanen (96) on his goal in the second period against the Carolina Hurricanes on November 2, 2017 in Denver, Colorado at Pepsi Center. (Photo by John Leyba/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

As the Colorado Avalanche head into the all-important 2018-19 season, they’ll be trying to prove last year’s success wasn’t a fluke. Players achieving their goals will go a long way to that end.

The Colorado Avalanche are heading into the 2018-19 season with a little more pep in their step than last year, when the weight of the Why Us 48-Point Season was on their shoulders.

What’s more, the Avs have made very few changes to core personnel in the offseason. Nor does it look like change is imminent since there are no big-trade players currently twisting in the wind.

Over the summer, we spent time looking at all the core players, and even some of the role players, to evaluate their 2017-18 season and identify areas that need improvement. Today, we’re going to look at a handful of core players and identify concrete goals for them to achieve.

It’s always hard to identify who your “core” players are. There are the obvious players, such as Nathan MacKinnon. However, the Avalanche suited up 11 rookies last season, and at least a few of those sophomores are expected to play important roles this season.

So, I’m going to focus on true core players as well as any roster players expected to make significant contributions this season.