All eyes are on the Colorado Avalanche’s top line, but if there’s one thing the Avalanche have nothing to worry about is scoring depth.
You hear it all the team with a bunch of teams, not just the Colorado Avalanche. “They’re not scoring enough!” “They rely heavily on their top line to score!” Lucky us, that’s not a problem with our beloved Colorado Avalanche. We’ve previously spoken about the greatness of our top line and also why it shouldn’t be broken but let’s take a moment here to appreciate the rest.
After last night’s win against the Florida Panthers, the Colorado Avalanche are tied at the top of the Western Conference with 39 points along with the Nashville Predators. Although scoring leader Mikko Rantanen had the first goal last night, the following points (except for Landeskog’s empty netter) came thanks to players who are not on the top line. That’s right: scoring depth is real here.
More from Mile High Sticking
- Could Colorado Avalanche move on from Pavel Francouz next offseason?
- 4 goalies to replace Pavel Francouz if he has to miss time
- Colorado Avalanche make sneaky signing with Tatar
- Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog could return in 2023-24 playoffs
- Colorado Avalanche rookie face-off tournament roster
Who are we talking about here? You may ask. Well, pretty much everyone outside the top line, but for now, let’s focus on Carl Soderberg, Alexander Kerfoot, Colin Wilson, and Tyson Jost. Usually found on the third line with Matt Nieto and Matt Calvert, our very own Carl Soderberg is currently sitting in fourth place among Avs players with 21 points (10 goals, 11 assists).
In the last five games, Soderberg had a total of five points, with three goals and two assists because he is a great guy. I must say that, after Blake Comeau signed with the Dallas Stars during last summer’s free agency madness, I was concerned but mostly hurt because that wonderful Comeau-Soderberg-Nieto line was coming to an end. Turns out that they’re all doing alright.
Moving on to Alexander Kerfoot and Colin Wilson. Kerfy has 18 points so far (four goals and 14 assists) and can be found in the fourth line with Gabriel Bourque, Vladislav Kamenev, and Sven Andrighetto (when he is not scratched. But we will talk about that another time), and if I’m being honest, that’s quite unfair. Kerfy is going through a scoring drought but hopefully that will end soon – and I also hope he will be moved up.
Colin Wilson currently holds 11 points, with seven goals and four assists, and had two points in the last five games (one goal and one assist). Wilson is currently on the second line with Tyson Jost and J.T Compher, and that seems to be working fine for all, with Tyson Jost tallying 10 points so far (four goals and six assists).
I have two honorable mentions in this “scoring depth” topic: J.T Compher and Matt Nieto. Compher was out 16 games with a head injury and yet, in 13 games so far, he has nine points (seven goals and two assists). Long Beach Native Matt Nieto is tied in points with Compher, with four goals and five assists, and four points in the last five games. I’m telling you: scoring depth is no issue here.
Because I’m an optimist, I’m going to say that the second line (Jost-Compher-Wilson) is going to be the second biggest surprise coming from the Colorado Avalanche this season – because the first big surprise is, of course, the top line (though they should have seen that one coming). Following the optimist path, Bednar will realize Kerfoot shouldn’t spend the season in the fourth line.
Our defensemen have been scoring too, but we will talk about that another day. Until then, if all these guys stay healthy the rest of the season, we’re in for a really fun ride and some very pleasant surprises.