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Colorado Avalanche: How New Directives Affect the Team

By Nadia Archuleta |
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 16: A detailed view of the NHL logo on the back of the goal netting before the game between the Washington Capitals and the Toronto Maple Leafs at Capital One Arena on October 16, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 16: A detailed view of the NHL logo on the back of the goal netting before the game between the Washington Capitals and the Toronto Maple Leafs at Capital One Arena on October 16, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

The Colorado Avalanche may see many of its players returning to their offseason homes with the new directives from the NHL.

Colorado Avalanche players may be heading home, depending on what travel is allowed. The NHL delivered a new directive today.

As noted yesterday, the CDC released new recommendations of avoiding large events and mass gatherings for the next eight weeks. In light of that recommendation, the NHL is allowing players to return to their homes, including outside of North America, if flights are available.

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This portion of the pause, a self-quarantine, will last through Friday, March 27 — so nine days basically. The period may be extended if there are any new travel mandates.

After that period, the NHL is going to assess the COVID-19 situation again. If possible, they will open team facilities up to players for small group practices. These will be similar to the captain’s practices before training camp.

The NHL is hoping they will be able to open a training camp 45 days into the 60-day period covered by the CDC’s directive.

So, what does that mean for the Colorado Avalanche? Well, 11 players are from outside North America. They’re from Sweden, Finland, Russia, Czech Republic, France, and Germany. Of those, Gabriel Landeskog will probably stay put because of his family situation — four-month-old baby. Zadorov spends his offseason in Florida.

Of the other players, the majority are from Canada except for Erik Johnson, Colin Wilson, J.T. Compher, Matthew Nieto, and Ian Cole. Of those, I believe Johnson owns a home both in Colorado and in California. The others usually return to their home states.

That leaves nine players from Canada. Of those, I know Nathan MacKinnon owns homes both here and in his hometown of Cole Harbour. Nazem Kadri is living in Tyson Barrie‘s house, who’s living in Kadri’s Toronto home.

Realistically, I could see Landeskog,MacKinnon, and maybe Johnson sticking around. (I wonder why more players don’t want to settle in Denver. Everyone else seems to want to.) That said, if I were one of the European players, I would stay put rather than risk traveling right now.

Those figures above didn’t take into consideration Logan O’Connor. The NHL released another directive today — a roster freeze for the duration of the pause. Ahead of that roster freeze, teams sent some players on two-way contracts back to their AHL teams. O’Connor was reassigned to the Eagles.

The AHL released a similar directive to the NHL’s:

It sounds like AHL players will also be allowed to return to their primary residences. O’Connor was born in Texas, but he’s Canadian. He was raised in Calgary, Alberta.

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I’m not giving up hope on the Colorado Avalanche season yet. It provides a good distraction from our daily lives, thinking about what could be in a couple months’ time. That we could return to some semblance of normalcy.

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