It's no secret the Colorado Avalanche have a potent offense. There aren't many other teams that have a top-six with this many weapons—AND Cale Makar on defense. This team is loaded with offensive firepower so the power play should be one of the best in the league. Last yea,r the Avalanche finished eighth on the power play, capitalizing 24.8% of the time. However, the power play wasn't quite as effective as those numbers seem.
Arguably, the issues the Avalanche faced on the power play were ultimately what doomed them against Dallas in the playoffs last year, as they were a dismal 13.6%. The front office recognized this and let long-time offensive assistant Ray Bennett go and replaced him with Dave Hakstol. We have yet to see Hakstol's system really get fully ingrained into the team so far, but I've seen glimmers of change through the preseason.
With players like Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas and Cale Makar, the power play will convert, but can this squad take it to the next level and push for a top five finish? Here, I'm going to predict power play production for five players expected to get significant time with the man advantage. In the preseason, the Avs utilized Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Martin Necas, Artturi Lehkonen, and Brock Nelson. However, I believe Valeri Nichushkin is going to push himself onto the top unit at some point early this season.
Nathan MacKinnon
Nathan MacKinnon finished last season with 38 points for the team lead, and second behind Cale Makar in goals with nine. In MacKinnon's 140 point campaign two seasons ago, he had a career-high 48 points. His caree- high in goals is 12, which he's accomplished 4 times. I think the combination of MacKinnon, Makar, and Necas will drive this team on the power play and MacKinnon will lead the pack in points. I don't think Nate Dogg will pass that dozen mark for goals, but I do see him racking up the apples. Only four players have cracked 50 power play points since the Avs' Stanley Cup-winning season. I think Nate can pull it off this season.
Cale Makar
For Makar to repeat his 30-goal campaign from last year or press towards that elusive 100-point plateau, a more impactful power play would be a huge help. Makar's career-high in power play goals came last season with 12 and his career-high in points came in the 2023-24 season at 39. If the Avs can take the step that I think they can make with Hakstol's new schemes, I can see Makar topping one of these career-highs. I'll give Makar a new career high in points at 40
Valeri Nichushkin
I think a healthy Valeri Nichushkin will be outstanding for this Avalanche power play group. He doesn't have the gaudy historical numbers or consistency that MacKinnon and Makar have, but he does have an incredibly useful talent for the team. It'll be especially useful with Hakstol's power play system. When Nichushkin is at the top of his game, he is elite at tip-ins and re-directs. In the 2023-24 season, Nichushkin scored 16 goals on the power play... In 54 games. I think Nichushkin is going to capitalize on that and break the 20-goal mark this season.
Martin Necas
Martin Necas is a more interesting case to me. The first of two new faces to the Avs' power play, I find it hard to really predict Necas, having not watched him as much. To further that, the Hurricanes are generally a more defensively oriented team. With that being said, last season, Necas set career-highs in both power play goals (12) and points (37). Necas had 5G and 10P with the Avalanche in 30 games last season. I think he will slide into about the same kind of points production on the power play. I'll take 10 goals and 30 to 35 points here.
Brock Nelson
The other new face, Nelson provides an interesting skill set for the Avalanche. If I was to run this lineup, I'd put Nelson in the bumper or on the half-boards opposite MacKinnon (or Necas). But Nelson could also man the net-front spot that Nichushkin or Gabriel Landeskog often operate from. Nelson also earns a spot on the top unit as he's better at faceoffs than MacKinnon. With Nelson's versatility, he provides an opportunity for the Avalanche and Hakstol to get really creative. I don't think he contributes quite as much as the rest of the top guys, but he'll be an impact player with the man-advantage regardless. Nelson has never surpassed the 20-point mark so I'll put him at six goals and just shy of 20 points.
The rest of the weapons
The Avs are not done there, though. There's still the likes of Gabriel Landeskog, Devon Toews, Brent Burns, Victor Olofsson and Ross Colton, all of which have shown their scoring prowess and power play contributions through their careers. Landeskog, Burns, and Olofsson should see significant time with the big guns throughout the season which should further propel the Avalanche power play to the top of the league. I would say anything outside of a top-10 finish on the power play would be a disappointment, as this team has everything they need to be at the top of the league.