The 2023-24 season for the Colorado Avalanche has been going well so far if you ask many. Currently first in the Central Divison, top guys, including Nathan Mackinnon and Cale Makar, are producing significantly, and offseason acquisitions like Miles Wood and Ross Colton have proved wonderfully down the lines. It wouldn’t hurt to see what’s on the Avalanche wishlist going into 2024, right? Will ole Saint Nick be able to secure the needs of what the Avalanche wishes? Let us see.
Top-Six Center Depth
After trading with the Nashville Predators, the Avalanche acquired Ryan Johansen, a veteran center. The organization had high hopes that Johansen would be able to fill the hole in the second-line center position, which had been vacant since Nazem Kadri left in the 2022 offseason. After scoring four goals and five points in the team’s first nine games and averaging 2.78 shots per game, his production has taken a turn for the worse.
In his last eight games, Johansen has produced one assist, one goal, six shots on goal, and a minus-two. He has created fewer scoring chances and high-danger opportunities than in his last tenure campaign with the Predators. Additionally, his possession numbers at five-on-five have remained below 50% all season. Then take in Ross Colton’s recent play, scoring four points in the last game and having his 5v5 stats on the rise for a potential surge in the lineup.
Related: Johansen’s Struggles Highlight Avalanche Need for Top-Six Center
If Colton moving up isn’t the solution, we could see President of Hockey Operation Joe Sakic and General Manager Chris MacFarlnad make some moves before or during the trade deadline for pieces out there. Players like Adam Henrique, Sean Monahan, or Elias Lindholm are all pieces out there on expiring contracts and on teams potentially looking to move them for draft capital or prospects depending on how the rest of their season goes by the deadline.
Roster Staying Healthy
When it comes to the Avalanche and dealing with injuries large or small, there’s no more significant correlation between them. Just last season, the Colorado Avalanche ranked fifth in the NHL for the cumulative Cap Hit of their injured players, with their star players being the most affected, according to NHL Injury Viz. This season, they have the Avalanche at fourth (Through Dec. 8), and while some injuries have been minor, some have been vastly significant.
Related: Avalanche Must Overcome Injury Trouble Once Again in 2023-24
Notable injuries include Gabriel Landeskog being out for the season during last offseason when he underwent a knee cartilage transplant. Recently, defenseman Samuel Girard entered the Players Assistance Program on Nov. 24. Unfortunately, he has been dealing with severe anxiety, depression, and alcohol abuse, which will make him out indefinitely until he is comfortable coming back. Other players who have dealt time dealing with injuries this season have been Josh Manson (55 games missed), Bowen Byram (40), Valeri Nichushkin (29), Artturi Lehkonen (18), Evan Rodrigues (13), and Nathan MacKinnon (11) all missed 10 or more games.
Their record shows that the Avalanche hasn’t faced any significant consequences due to their early absences. They are currently running for the top spot in the West and have been able to climb up the standings even with the addition of several new players who are still getting used to the Avalanche’s system. They will have the opportunity to make some acquisitions before the deadline if they desire, which will enable them to fill any gaps in their roster over the next few months.
Strong And Consistent Goaltending
When it comes to competing for a Stanley Cup, it’s all about having strong, reliable goal-tending, and with the Avalanche, you can make a case for strong, but reliable is up in the air. With goalie-tandem Alexander Georgiev and Ivan Prosvetov, they have shown times of being strong, reliable goaltenders that can lock games away with their play but have also shown at times that their play can be very inconsistent. With Georgiev having a slower start this season than last and Prosvetov making a strong case to stay as backup, their play needs to be better to go far in the playoffs.
With Georgiev, his start of the season looks quite familiar to last season but with a quite noticeable difference. In 24 games this season, Georgiev’s record is 15-7-2; last season, in 24 games, it was 15-7-1, which is quite familiar except for one significant stat: save percentage (SV%). Georgiev’s SV% last season with that record was .921%; this season, it has dropped way below to .898%. Georgiev ranks 24th out of 34 of all goalies who have started 15 or more games when considering SV%.
Prosvetov has been a great story within the Avalanche this season. Pavel Francouz was reported to miss the entire season due to a lower-body injury, leaving the Avalanche with many questions about who would back up Georgiev. Prosvetov was claimed off waivers from the Arizona Coyotes a couple of days after the reporting. Prosvetov, in the 10 games he started, holds a 4-3-1 record with a .906 SV%. Prosvetov will have to continue to be as reliable as he’s shown to give confidence in this goalie tandem going forward.
The Avalanche’s season has been going well so far, but they are aware that success in the regular season is not the only thing that matters. With Christmas just around the corner, it’s important to remember the spirit of giving and hope that Santa will put their name on the nice list for a few presents under the tree.