Avalanche Open 2025-26 Regular Season on the Road<\/a><\/p>\nQuestion from Sasha Landprecht<\/p>\n
From 2020-2025, the Avs could\u2019ve had 3 Cups. But after their Cup win, It seems like it went downhill with Gabe Landeskog\u2019s injury and Valeri Nichuhskin\u2019s issues. Do you think their cup window has shut?<\/p>\n
Aarif\u2019s Response<\/p>\n
This upcoming season is going to tell us a lot about where this team currently stands.<\/p>\n
They played a great series against Dallas but fell short on the PP and couldn\u2019t hold third period leads. It was a frustrating loss that\u2019ll sit with them for a while. But with No. 92 and No. 13 seemingly figured out now, we\u2019re going to see what they\u2019re made of.<\/p>\n
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In short, no, I don\u2019t believe their Cup window has shut. They have more in them with this group. And then they can extend it if the pieces around Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Devon Toews, and Landeskog, etc. are refreshed in the next few years.<\/p>\n
This is going to be their roster to open a season since 2021.<\/p>\n
Question from Stephen Moss<\/p>\n
I do not expect the Avs to make any significant trades until after the season starts. None of the teams in the NHL are prepared to let go of any quality centers before the season starts. Once players start under-performing or out play their current contacts and appear to be unable to be extended (contracts) with their current teams, the trades will begin. Then the available cap space will be used on incoming quality players. What do you think?<\/p>\n
Aarif\u2019s Response<\/p>\n
As much as I\u2019m trying to bring a center trade to life, your scenario is probably more likely. It\u2019s not any harder to add a middle six center mid season, and there\u2019s nothing wrong with fixing that part of your lineup later on.<\/p>\n
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Right now, the Avalanche have a solid top six. Like, a really good one. One of the best in the NHL. They also have a great top pair on the blueline, a bunch of really good middle pair defensemen (albeit the puzzle pieces are still being figured out), and their goaltending tandem is top notch. Those are all things that are going to lead this team right out of the gate.<\/p>\n
The third line looks shoddy right now, and Logan O\u2019Connor\u2019s injury adds more holes in the bottom six in general. But these are easier spots to fill mid-season than what they had to deal with this past year. Or even in 2023-24.<\/p>\n
When they won the Stanley Cup, they added a top four defenseman in Josh Manson, they added a top-six forward in Artturi Lehkonen, who ended up bumping Andre Burakovsky down, and they added two pieces to their bottom six in Andrew Cogliano and Nico Sturm. Don\u2019t forget, when they first got Sturm, he was expected to be the full-time 4C in the postseason. Darren Helm doing what he did sort of came out of nowhere.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not abnormal to add that many guys around the core. But they\u2019ve been so stuck for years now with Landeskog\u2019s uncertainty, no 2C, goaltending issues, etc. Those all seem to be fixed now. Hopefully.<\/p>\n
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So yes, I agree. Pieces will become more available, and the Avs can scour the market after seeing what they have in house first.<\/p>\n
Question from Jared Williss<\/p>\n
Who is the most realistic trade target to address the open slot on the third line?<\/p>\n
Aarif\u2019s Response<\/p>\n
I keep going back to J.T. Compher as the most likely option because the Red Wings would like to get out from under that contract. They\u2019d have to retain to do it, though. There are plenty of wingers around the NHL that can also fit. Even free agents.<\/p>\n
One guy I\u2019d like to see Avs keep an eye on is Lawson Crouse. He\u2019s got two years remaining on his deal at $4.3 million, but he could be someone worth taking a chance on to bounce back from a bad year.<\/p>\n
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Question from Donald Cooley<\/p>\n
Will there be a \u201cLandeskog effect\u201d this year? Will having the captain back help get this team back to the mindset required to win the cup?<\/p>\n
Aarif\u2019s Response<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t want to over or undervalue how big a deal this is. I\u2019m trying not to. But there was a calm in Chris MacFarland\u2019s demeanor after the draft because he knows he can plan for Landeskog being back in the lineup. That in itself is huge.<\/p>\n
Then when you add in having him for an entire season in the dressing room? You can\u2019t put a price on that. It\u2019s going to be massive for this team. If you followed along all year, you probably saw me write quite a bit about the sometimes missing leadership in the room after a tough loss.<\/p>\n
Question from PhatMatt<\/p>\n
With all the hype talk around Joel Kiviranta and now Nikolai Kovalenko back in Russia, why haven\u2019t they signed Kiviranta? Are they not happy with his play? Are they playing hardball?<\/p>\n
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Aarif\u2019s Response<\/p>\n
I actually do think they\u2019re playing a little bit of hardball. MacFarland mentioned two weeks ago that he was still in touch with his pending UFA\u2019s but wanted to let the market breathe a little bit. That says to me that they want Kiviranta back and he probably wants to stay, but they want to make sure they aren\u2019t overpaying him.<\/p>\n
This allows him to see what other teams feel his value is before circling back with the Avs. I still think he returns, I\u2019m just curious if the Avs can keep him on a one-year deal, which I suspect is their preference.<\/p>\n
Question from Ty Hall<\/p>\n
I like the RFA options for replacing the 3C, but realistically they probably won\u2019t be available. When I think of a Cup contender I think of a shutdown veteran third line especially at center for D zone draws. What are the best options to fit that build?<\/p>\n
Aarif\u2019s Response<\/p>\n
Thanks for reading my trade targets piece! Those RFA options were somewhat a pipe dream.<\/p>\n
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I already answered a previous question similar to this and mentioned Compher. But, I think names we aren\u2019t thinking of will become available as the season goes on. I tried my best at identifying someone like Jean-Gabriel Pageau in a previous article. So that\u2019s someone to keep an eye on, if the Islanders don\u2019t bounce back the way they\u2019re hoping to. Players of that ilk will probably be who they\u2019d want if not Compher.<\/p>\n
I really thought Nic Roy would be a great fit but understood why Vegas was never going to trade him to Colorado.<\/p>\n
Question from Kathrynn Bartlett<\/p>\n
Do you think Jack Drury will start the season as the Avs 3C or their 4C?<\/p>\n
Aarif\u2019s Response<\/p>\n
As things currently stand, he\u2019ll start as the third-line center. This would allow Jared Bednar an opportunity to try guys like Zakhar Bardakov to see what he has in the early months of the season. Mid-season trades are easy for this team to make \u2014 they proved that last year. If you\u2019re using the middle of the season to fill out complementary roles, rather than a starting goalie or a 2C like last season, then it should be easier than what this front office is used to.<\/p>\n
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Question from Reece<\/p>\n
Do you think dumping Charlie Coyle just to get rid of wood was worth it? I know the idea was to get more cap space but having Coyle as 3C just made the Avs feel more dangerous than they have since the cup run.<\/p>\n
Aarif\u2019s Response<\/p>\n
Charlie Coyle as a 3C looked insanely strong on this team. Unfortunately, the $5.25 million was tough to make work. Avs have cap flexibility right now and it\u2019s a great thing to have, especially going towards the trade deadline.<\/p>\n
I think they just felt that clearing Coyle\u2019s large salary in addition to Wood\u2019s $2.5 million was worthwhile for that flexibility and ability to do things later. I agree with it because I think they\u2019re also taking into account how Coyle will be used, and perhaps they just didn\u2019t think he was going to be used enough to justify his cap hit and keeping Wood.<\/p>\n
Question from Caleb<\/p>\n
Do the Avs really not have a contingency plan for Landeskog? There are multiple holes to fill, and the chances of him being healthy for an entire 82 game season are slim to none. Having no depth seems extremely risky?<\/p>\n
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Aarif\u2019s Response<\/p>\n
The short answer is, no, there is no contingency plan. They waited three years to see if he can get healthy, and having that four-game playoff stint went a long way in feeling a lot better about him moving forward. He looked great and entered right in the middle of a heated series against another strong team. And played a ton of minutes.<\/p>\n
Are his chances of playing 82 games, or close to it, slim to none? I wouldn\u2019t say that. But I think the contingency plan for him is the same as if they were planning for a Lehkonen, Nichushkin, or Necas injury.<\/p>\n
Someone like Colton. Or other middle six forwards.<\/p>\n
Colton is on the third line, and he\u2019s a viable option to play in the top six when someone else is absent. And I\u2019m sure they\u2019ll have another addition to replace one of Wood or Coyle too, who could be a viable option to step in as needed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This one was a whopper of a mailbag that I\u2019ve decided to split it into two parts. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13011,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[1222,12701,1223,831,12640,1226,12702,12703,385,12704,12705,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-13010","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-avalanche","9":"tag-charlie-coyle","10":"tag-colorado-avalanche","11":"tag-featured","12":"tag-gabriel-landeskog","13":"tag-j-t-compher","14":"tag-lawson-crouse","15":"tag-miles-wood","16":"tag-nhl","17":"tag-ross-colton","18":"tag-samuel-girard","19":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}