The Colorado Avalanche are sitting at a very disappointing 5-7 record right now, with their latest loss coming on Saturday, when they lost 5-2 to the Nashville Predators. They currently sit in the seventh place in the Central division, one point more than Nashville.
Realistically, it could have ended up much worse. However, if the Avalanche want to climb up to the top spot in the Central, they’re going to have to get going. I don’t think that it’s necessarily reasonable to think that they can at this point, given that the Winnipeg Jets have 11 wins (22 points), but this is a reason to be thankful that the NHL has 82-game seasons. There is a lot of time to get right, but the Avs need to hope and pray that Winnipeg and perhaps the Minnesota Wild (18 points) start to go on losing streaks.
When I said it could have been much worse up to this point, it really could have. The Avalanche aren’t putting out strong game day rosters right now, simply because they can’t. They’re going through a tough time with injuries, and the fact that Valeri Nichushkin has been out due to a suspension is the worst loss of it all. Thankfully, Nichushkin started skating and practicing with the Avalanche on Monday morning as he and the team await his suspension to be over. That will come in the next week and a half or so.
If I were to guess, I would think that Justus Annunen will play more games in the month of November than Alexandar Georgiev, and especially Kaapo Kahkonen, who the team claimed off waivers.
Unfortunately, the Avalanche lost Ross Colton for quite a while as he ended up with a broken foot due to a puck hitting it. Colton was doing very well on the top line and was a great surprise for the team as they were trying to organize lines that they felt would give them the best chance to win.
It will also be important to get wins against their division opponents, and bonus points if they can do it in overtime. In November, they play the Jets, Predators, and Stars—all one time each.