The worst-case scenario for the Colorado Avalanche in 2024-25
The Colorado Avalanche miss the 2024-25 playoffs altogether
On the flip side, anything is possible in the world of sports. The Colorado Avalanche could miss the 2024-25 postseason. That isn’t to say that I believe they will.
What could lead the team to miss out on the playoffs?
It certainly is possible that one or more of the team’s top players has a down year. Whether it be because of injury, or perhaps something else on their mind, any player can go through a slump. Look at Nathan MacKinnon last season in November: he had a 5-game stretch without scoring a goal.
They need all of the firepower they can get this season, especially given that they will be without Valeri Nichushkin for at least until the middle of November. The hope, too, is to get Gabriel Landeskog back at some point. Many questions surround these situations, especially the salary cap. They have $7.23 million in LTIR.
That could have been much worse, however. I think that some people expected the team to ship off a guy such as Sam Girard, who carries a $5 million cap hit. Instead, they decided to go several different routes to accumulate cap space. Cheers, Chris MacFarland!
If the Colorado Avalanche are to miss the postseason this year, Alexandar Georgiev will definitely have to be terrible. I wasn’t too impressed with his play last year, as I’ve said multiple times. However, coming into a contract year should put Georgiev into an elite mindset. He wants to earn more years with the Avalanche. Can he? Sure.
I think that the Avalanche want to have Justus Annunen as their future, though. It will be interesting to see what type of contract the team offers Georgiev. I also do not think Georgiev will follow up his season last year, leading the league in wins for goalies. That’s tough to do for any goaltender.