Keys to the Stanley Cup: Colorado Avalanche climb to the peak (Part 1)

The start of the 2025-2026 NHL season is getting closer and closer. Players are starting to return to their team facilities and getting ready for training camp and preseason. Training camp for the Colorado Avalanche begins on September 11th and the team only really has one major question on the roster. That question is the empty spot in the lineup while the team is without Logan O'Connor.

Only having one major roster question leading into camp is a good spot to be in. The betting world seems to think so as the Avs currently have the sixth best odds to take home the Stanley Cup, according to the latest odds from FanDuel. The Avalanche arguably have their most complete lineup since the lineup that hoisted the Cup in 2022.

So, what is it that the Avalanche must do to have the best chance to win the Stanley Cup? For part one of a four-part series, I'm giving three key things that I think the Avalanche squad must do to have its best chance to lift the Cup again in 2026. The rest of the series will cover one key for each of the players broken down by groups: the top-six, the depth, and the defense and goaltending.

Key #1: Establish the power-play

A major reason the Avalanche won the cup in 2022 was their dominant power-play. With Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Mikko Rantanen, Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin as the top unit, they were able to create and score in different ways. This is the first year since we'll have a unit that looks much like that one. Of course, that's minus Rantanen and adding in Martin Necas.

The problem hasn't really been the on-ice talent for the man advantage, but the strategy. In 2022, the "slingshot" breakout was relatively new, with only a handful of teams implementing a similar strategy. But halfway through the next season, I quickly realized how stale it had become. Watching MacKinnon turn the puck over at the zone entry every time became maddening. Then of course, the team finally gets set up in the zone and they just pass it. And pass it. And pass it. Can you hear me screaming, "SHOOT THE PUCK!"?

Apparently the front office finally thought enough was enough and let go of Ray Bennett and hired Dave Hakstol to be in charge of the power-play/offense. This article I wrote about Hakstol goes in-depth into his style and why I think he could be a fit.

In addition to a much needed change in style and strategy, the Avalanche also bolstered their firepower on the man-advantage with the signings of Brent Burns and Victor Olofsson. These guys are known for having big, heavy shots and have done historically well on the power-play. Add in to that a healthy Nichushkin and Landeskog or big Brock Nelson and you begin to have all kinds of different ways to generate goals on the power-play.

Key #2: Stay healthy

To be fair, I could probably write this same article every year and this will always be the number one key for this team. It seems that year after year, the Avalanche continue to get bit by the injury bug. Last season was no different, as Jared Bednar had to dress a league-high 49 players. It is very unrealistic to expect a team to make a deep playoff run in any sport with that kind of injury turnover.

Even still, the Avalanche were a Stanley Cup favorite after the trade deadline, due to the quality of the moves they'd made and the roster finally getting healthy. It is imperative to stay healthy to allow the team to build its chemistry and establish themselves for a deep playoff run. A season of continuity in the lineup might be the best medicine for an injury-ravaged team that still finished third in its division with 102 points.

Key #3: Be unpredictable

This is somewhat of an echo of the problems the team has had on the power-play, but the Avalanche squads of the past couple of seasons have been too predictable. But, looking past the power-play, other areas of the game have been much easier for opposing teams to figure out.

For my first point, we'll be talking about defense. Prior to acquiring MacKenzie Blackwood, the strategy to beat the Avs was for teams to throw the puck at the net, which is exactly what I would've done if I was coaching an opposing team. Either Alexandar Georgiev is going to let by a soft goal or the defense is going to overcompensate for Georgiev and create open space. Georgiev's rebound control was one of the worst qualities of his game, so there were almost always second chance opportunities.

Another point would be committing to playing a more physical game. The new roster construction really makes this much easier to do. The team now has Landeskog, Nelson, and Burns, along with a healthy Nichushkin. That's a much more physical top-six than last year's that featured Rantanen, Casey Mittelstadt, and Jonathan Drouin. If this team can come out and give back the physical play that it usually receives from other teams, it'll likely catch other teams off guard.

Honestly, if I had to pick only one of these keys to come true, I'd pick health. For as frustrating as watching the power-play struggle can be, I know that there are more wins to be had if the Avalanche just had more health. What's more to that, it'd be pretty unpredictable for this team to stay healthy AND do something different on the power-play.

With that, those are the keys to success for the Avalanche team as a whole. In my next article, I'll be discussing the keys to the Stanley Cup for the top six forwards.