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Hockey Team #9

The Colorado Avalanche

By Maxime LessardPublished 3 years ago 4 min read
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Now it's time to take a look at the former Quebec Nordiques, the Colorado Avalanche. One of the best formations in the national league and one that many experts announced as favourites in the last playoffs. The team led by Jared Bednar was eliminated by the Dallas Stars in the Western Association final. A surprise defeat that will certainly motivate the Colorado troops for next season. For this shortened season, anything is possible and this formation can, once again, aspire to the great honours.

What did this powerful team have in store for us during the off-season? Relatively few new faces. Also, few players have left the club. The management took care to re-sign the important players and they made two additions to strengthen the team already in place. These two players were acquired through transactions. Brandon Saad came to Colorado in return for defenceman Nikita Zadorov, while to make up for the loss of the Russian defenceman, the Avs turned to New York to fill in at the blue line. The Islanders sent Devon Toews to the Avalanche in return for a second round pick in 2021 and 2022. Two great additions for Colorado that increased the depth of their offence and defence. One of the teams that already had the most tools at their disposal is now in better shape than last year. With all the youngsters who have had the most important post-season playoff experience, the Avalanche now has an even more diverse core. Two more players will not be returning with the squad for the 2020-2021 season. Vladislav Namestnikov and Collin Wilson are the targeted players. Wilson still does not have an NHL contract, while the player from Zhukovskiy in Russia has signed a 2-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings. As can be seen, there has been little change in the lineup, but good additions and departures that have eased the team's salary burden. Good work from former team legend and now Avalanche General Manager, Joe Sakic.

What about the team in place? One of my favourites in terms of talent without hesitation. The two main headliners, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, are among the best attacking duo in the league. To these two big names, we can already add the young sensation Cale Makar. The young defenceman turned a lot of heads in his first NHL season last year. His performances were so outstanding that he was awarded the Calder Trophy as the Bettman League's top rookie. Makar is the first defenceman to win this honour since Aaron Ekblad in 2015. Let's pay special attention to the offensive face of the team. Gabriel Landeskog, Nazem Kadri, Joonas Donskoi, Matt Calvert and Pierre-Édouard Bellemare bring a lot of experience to the team. In addition, with the team's latest playoff performance, experience has been gained by several components of the squad. To all these names, let's add the "young veterans.” Valeri Nichushkin, J.T. Compher, and Andre Burakovsky are still relatively young, all 25-year-old, but they have already had several good years in the best hockey league in the world. No, I haven't forgotten Tyson Jost. The 22-year-old is still on the rise.He doesn't do poorly, but more is expected of him, as he was a 1st round pick, 10th overall in 2016. The Avs defence is quite young, except for the two veterans, Ian Cole and Erik Johnson. The rest of the defence is made up of 4 other skaters, all 26-year-old and under. Devon Toews, Ryan Graves, Samuel Girard and Cale Makar round out this extremely talented defensive brigade. We can also add the name of Bowen Byram, a very promising young player that we will have the chance to see at the next World Junior Hockey Championships in Edmonton. No changes on the goaltending side of the team. Philipp Grubauer and Pavel Francouz will be back to guard the Colorado net. Two very good goaltenders who cost the team virtually nothing. A combined salary of just over $5 million per year for these two hockey players is a godsend!

After this detailed overview, are we in a position to take a stand on the quality and the expected performance of this team? Of course we can! I see nothing but good things for the players and fans of the Avalanche. If the team stays healthy, it will be successful for the next 10 years and more. The only challenge will be the salary cap since the league has announced that it will not increase for the next few years. This is a beautiful problem that Joe Sakic will have to solve over the next few seasons. For now, he can take advantage of one of the biggest powerhouses in the NHL.

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About the Creator

Maxime Lessard

Sports enthusiast. I'm from Quebec. I'm doing my best since english's not my first language. Have fun, and I really hope you have a good time :)

Twitter: https://twitter.com/maxime_l26

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maxime26_02/

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