The Colorado Avalanche are off to a heated start to the 2025-26 season, as they are one of several teams who came out with three wins in the first four games of the campaign. The Avalanche’s great start has caught the eyes of a popular outlet.
In a recent Top 10 power rankings list, Scott Erskine of CBS Sports provided his NHL power rankings after the first week of games, with Colorado at #1.
"”The Avalanche allowed just one goal in their victories over the Los Angeles Kings, Utah Mammoth and Buffalo Sabres, and Scott Wedgewood posted a 1.72 goals-against average while playing in all four of the team's games. Offensively, 2024 Hart Trophy winner Nathan MacKinnon has gotten off to a fast start as he is tied for second in the NHL with four goals and shares the league lead in points (eight) with teammate Martin Necas. Both have recorded three multi-point performances, while Cale Makar tops all NHL defensemen with five points.”"Scott Erskine, CBS Sports
As Erskine indicates, the Avalanche have several players who are off to a great start—most notably Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Scott Wedgewood. MacKinnon and Martin Necas are currently second in the league with eight points apiece. They used to hold the top spot, but with games happening pretty much every day, and other players having success, they dropped a spot. They could technically regain the lead as there’s no current sign that they’re going to slow down anytime soon.
Former Avalanche wing and MacKinnon line-mate Mikko Rantanen has started the season with five points. We’ve definitely noticed a bit of a drop off from Rantanen since leaving the Avalanche (if you don’t count the playoff series vs Colorado last postseason). This just goes to show how important MacKinnon is to the team around him.
Scott Wedgewood has been the team’s starting goaltender for the start of the season due to Mackenzie Blackwood dealing with an injury that, at some point, required surgery. He was not placed on injured reserve, so all indications are that he should be okay to play in the near future. If not, we would likely get to see more of Wedgewood, who I strongly believe can be a reliable goaltender in the worst-case scenario that Blackwood was out longer than currently anticipated.
Avalanche’s new power play system and units showing growth early on
The Avalanche will be a dominant team throughout the whole year, and the expectations of the new reformed power play only sparks the Avalanche to be atop power rankings for a longer period. Once the two units get going and score power play goals, the Avs could be unstoppable. We have already seen a drastic difference in the units from last year, which is a very positive sign.
Currently, the Avalanche rank 19th in power play percentage at 15.8%. That won’t get the job done, but the number of shots the team has had on the unit early on is such a great thing and evidence that more is on the way. As they say, actions lead to results, and at some point, the unit will become way more consistent.
As for Cale Makar, well, he’s doing Cale Makar things. Nobody is surprised about that even a little bit. The two-time Norris trophy winner should continue to assume all expectations, and could even push past his 30-goal year that was the 2024-25 season.
Nathan MacKinnon made fans think twice about booing the power play units going forward, which was hilarious to hear him comment on. At the end of the day, unless you are a big X’s and O’s person, the Avs coaches and players are the ones who know what their plays and goals are when those units are on the ice.
Additionally, among the top 10 on Erskine’s power rankings are the Nashville Predators, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, and Winnipeg Jets—all of which are in the Central Division with the Avs. It’s going to be a tough division all around, but nothing comes easy in sports, so the Avalanche will have to win on a consistent basis to keep atop or close to the top of the division as playoff hopes remain alive throughout the year.