The Cost of Early Season Struggles
The long-term cost of present success is that the generational talents get picked by the struggling teams, and to obtain roster-ready players via trades, coveted early-round picks are often the cost.
However, with their struggles, since 2017, to draft, develop, and sign both goaltenders and position players, the thought of the Colorado Avalanche only having two first-round, two second-round, and zero third-round picks in the next three NHL Entry Drafts is concerning when their recent return on draft investments has been so low.
This is where the sting of their early-season struggles really hits: Justus Annunen and Nikolai Kovalenko — two of the most promising young players to recently earn regular spots on the Avs’ roster — are finding early and immediate success on their new teams, the Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks, respectively.
Justus Annunen, in six games with Nashville | Nikolai Kovalenko, in 12 games with San Jose |
|---|---|
3-2-0 | 1G |
These two teams are not playoff-bound in 2025, and they are not built like the current Avalanche roster, so this success, while limited, is indicative of what both had brought — and could have continued to bring — to the Avs.
The question, then, is this: Did the front office rush to put out a fire that they, themselves, saw spreading and didn’t react accordingly? Head coach Jared Bednar and MacFarland both publicly stood behind the struggling Georgiev, but it’s impossible not to believe that calls were made and offers were considered from the very start of this season as it became clear there was an issue in net.
Regardless, MacFarland and company rolled the dice on a starting goalie with consistency issues and both a sub 0.900 SV% and an over 3.00 GAA across the previous season and up through the current one.
It must be said that the early returns on Blackwood look good. Of course, it's small sample size, but one can't help but think if that's actually sustainable over an entire season or even multiple season. The only true way to know if the Avs made the right choice will be to revisit Blackwood's numbers at some point down the road