The Colorado Avalanche are off to a fantastic start this season. Despite the minor hiccup against the San Jose Sharks over the weekend, the Avalanche are among the NHL’s best teams.
According to a USA Today NHL power rankings piece published on November 3, the Avalanche are actually the NHL’s best team.
In the ranking, the Avalanche came in at #1. The Avalanche topped division rivals, the Winnipeg Jets, the Montreal Canadiens, the Vegas Golden Knights, and the New Jersey Devils in the top five.
In fact, it was the Avalanche’s victory over the Devils, the one that snapped New Jersey’s eight-game winning streak, that propelled the Avs to the top of the list.
The recent victory over the Vegas Golden Knights was another crucial factor in placing the Avalanche atop the list.
The rationale begins with Martin Necas getting off to a scorching start. Necas has nine goals and eight assists for 17 points in 13 games. Those numbers would lead most teams, except for a team with Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar on it.
MacKinnon leads the club with 19 points, and Makar trails close behind with 18 points. That sort of production means the Avalanche are loaded with talent. And that’s considering that captain Gabriel Landeskog has just three assists so far this season. Brock Nelson has four points in 13 games.
The NHL can only imagine how much better the Avalanche could be once Landeskog, Nelson, and even Valeri Nichushkin and Ross Colton get fired up.
Avalanche goaltending back to being a strength
The Colorado Avalanche got a tough break at the start of the season, with MacKenzie Blackwood landing on the shelf. In his stead, Scott Wedgewood has played fantastically well. His stellar performance, despite a bump in the road here and there, has kept the Avalanche atop the NHL standings.
Now that Blackwood is back, there’s plenty of reason to believe that the Avalanche will get even stronger. Blackwood had a solid first game back against the Sharks, despite the overtime loss. As the Avs' starting goaltender rounds more into form, the Avalanche defense can play with an additional sense of confidence.
The biggest question will be injuries. Last season, the Avalanche dealt with an insane number of injuries. While that number has been relatively limited this season, there’s always the concern that an unreasonable number of players could go down at the same time.
As such, the Avalanche must prioritize depth moving forward. Players like waiver pickup Ilya Solovyov have done a decent job. GM Chris MacFarland will need to look at this depth chart, potentially bringing in reinforcements as the season wears on.