The Colorado Avalanche have had a quiet summer compared to other teams around the league. Beyond the signing of Brent Burns and the Charlie Coyle trade, the Avalanche have kept a relatively low profile.
So, does that mean the Avs are done this summer?
While I’m sure GM Chris MacFarland would love to take some time off, the fact is that the Avalanche are not done.
The annual roster churn has left several holes in the team’s lineup, namely, the bottom-six forward group.
As it stands, the top six is pretty much set. The top line figures to be Nathan MacKinnon centering Artturi Lehkonen and Martin Necas. That’s a solid, if unspectacular, top line.
The second unit will be Brock Nelson centering captain Gabe Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin. There’s plenty of grit there with the requisite secondary scoring needed to support a superstar like MacKinnon.
But it’s the bottom six where things get a little dicey. Keeping Jack Drury over Charlie Coyle was a good move in my estimation. While Coyle is a solid middle-six center, the Avalanche needed someone who could play up and down the lineup. Drury does that. He can slide into the fourth line or perhaps jump to the second line in a pinch.
Beyond Drury, it looks like the Avalanche will have a ragtag group. Ivan Ivan could get a fair shake this season. He projects on the third line along with Ross Colton. Logan O’Connor would otherwise be on that third line if not for hip surgery.
Miles Wood would have also been a solution on the third line, but it just didn’t work out for him in Colorado.
The fourth line figures to be run by committee. According to Daily Faceoff, it will be Nikita Prischepov, Parker Kelly, and Matthew Stienburg.
The youth movement is nice, but it doesn’t look like it will be enough to sustain the Avalanche, especially during a long playoff run.
Fans should expect more veteran depth forward to join team
Colorado Avalanche fans should not be surprised to find the team add at least a couple of veteran depth forwards before the summer is over. We’re not talking about a big-name addition, here.
We’re talking about middle-of-the-pack players who could slide into a bottom-six role at an affordable price.
For instance, a player like Luke Kunin, Joe Veleno, Oliver Wahlstrom, or even Daniel Sprong could join the club on a cheap, one-year deal.
The Avalanche will need to add players such as these, as depth is so important over the course of a long NHL season.
Despite the Avs still having over $4 million in cap space, the team can’t afford to blow it all on one of the remaining free agents like Jack Roslovic. Sure, Roslovic would be a nice addition. But if we learned anything last season, it’s that depth is crucial.
The Avalanche lacked said depth and paid for it early in the season. I would like to conclude by stating that Colorado could bring in one or two other players on PTOs during training camp. Contending teams have found gold by inviting veterans on PTOs. So, the Avalanche should not overlook taking a flyer on a couple of serviceable veteran players.