There are a lot of unknowns surrounding the Colorado Avalanche entering the 2023-24 season. There are a number of new faces in the dressing room, and some longtime Avs have moved on to new surroundings – namely Erik Johnson to the Buffalo Sabres and J.T. Compher to the Detroit Red Wings.
Colorado’s front office focused on bolstering their forward depth this offseason, and had plenty of time to do it after getting bounced by the Seattle Kraken in the first round of the 2023 Playoffs. The line combinations are coming into focus with the season opener just around the corner, and here are some predictions on how those newcomers could perform this season.
Jonathan Drouin: Sets Career High in Points
It’s been a few years since Jonathan Drouin has been a major factor in the scoring column. He’s only had one season with 20 goals, and he hasn’t scored 30 points since 2018-19. Part of that has to do with playing with the dismal Montreal Canadiens for the past six seasons, but still. That all changes in 2023-24.
Drouin will start the season on a line with two of the league’s most dangerous scorers in Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. That duo combined for 216 points last season, scoring 97 goals. That sets up a perfect scenario for Drouin, who should have plenty of room to operate as part of that line. He’s also been more of a helper than a lamp lighter, anyway. Out of his 186 career points, 138 are assists.
Related: Colorado Avalanche Sign Jonathan Drouin to 1-Year Deal
Even with all that help, Drouin has to shake off a bad last few seasons. He’s scored just 17 goals over the last four seasons combined. However, he will be lined up with two of the NHL’s best, but he still has to prove he belongs up there. It worked for Valeri Nichushkin, and the Avs hope that happens again with Drouin. His career high in points is 53 (in 2016-17 and again in 2018-19), but his career high in assists is 35 in that 2018-19 campaign. Both of those numbers should get blown out of the water this season, as there are no more excuses.
Ryan Johansen: First 30-Goal Season in a Decade
Ryan Johansen has gotten a bad rap lately. Even the Nashville Predators were willing to pay half his $8 million salary this season just to get him out of their facility. This could wind up being a pretty shrewd trade for Chris MacFarland and the Avalanche, however, and could be a resurgent season in the 31-year-old center’s career.
Last season was a rough one for Johansen. He managed just 12 goals and 28 points in just 55 games with the Predators. That was 30 points fewer than he recorded the season before, causing Nashville to cut ties with him. The Avs were clamoring for experience at center behind MacKinnon, and this looks like it could be a good fit for both teams since Johansen likely needed a change of scenery.
Related: Grading Avalanche’s Trade for Johansen
Johansen hasn’t scored 30 goals since his career-high 33 in the 2013-14 season with the Columbus Blue Jackets. It’s important to note that he is just one season removed from a 26-goal, 63-point campaign in 2021-22. He’s impressed enough with Colorado for coach Jared Bednar to put the center in the middle of the top power play unit. With his ability in the faceoff circle, combined with the superstars on that unit like MacKinnon, Rantanen, and Cale Makar, expect Johansen to rack up points on the man advantage. You can also expect that to bolster his confidence at even strength, too.
Ross Colton: Sets Career High in Points
Ross Colton is what Avalanche fans always wanted Alex Newhook to be – a rock-solid center in the bottom six that’s also going to be a reliable force on the penalty kill. Colorado couldn’t wait on the stagnant Newhook anymore, shipping him to Montreal. The Avalanche then promptly brought in Colton in what could be one of the most important moves by the franchise this offseason.
Colorado had a lot of trouble getting consistency from its bottom-six centers last season, but that won’t be the case in 2023-24. Colton will likely start the season centering the third line of Miles Wood and Tomas Tatar – both of which are also new to the club. That line has all the grit you’d want, but there’s some scoring punch on there, too. Colton’s best season was 2021-22, when he hit 22 goals and 39 points. He’ll get more assists this season, but the goals could tick up, too, paving the way for a career season.
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Colton has more experience and savvy than his three-year NHL career would indicate. He won a Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020-21, and then was on the Lightning squad that lost to the Avalanche in the 2022 Cup Final. Colton is a great utility player that will also likely get a crack with the second power-play unit, lining up with some explosive weapons in Nichushkin, Bowen Byram and Devon Toews. That perfect storm means a glut of chances coming his way, and Colton’s too good to fumble that opportunity.
Miles Wood: Becomes Colorado’s Latest Fan Favorite
In eight seasons with the New Jersey Devils, Miles Wood did a little bit of everything. He showed lots of energy on the ice, but also showed a bit of scoring punch. He tallied double-digit goals five times in the last six seasons, and the one he missed was the 2021-22 campaign where he missed almost the entire campaign due to hip surgery. Wood is not going to set the world on fire with 25 goals and 60 points, but he will check every box to make him one of the most appreciated Avs players on the ice.
He’s going to start his first season in Colorado on the third line, but he has everything going for him to make the Avalanche faithful get up off their seats. Wood likes to hit, and he isn’t afraid to get into the dirty areas to dig out pucks or score greasy goals. He’s also very, very fast, and should fit right in with the up-tempo style the Avalanche like to impose on opponents.
Related: 4 Fun Facts About the Devils’ Miles Wood
Wood will also be playing alongside a familiar face, as Tatar also looks to start the season on the third line centered by Colton. That combination could easily be one of the better bottom six lines in the NHL, and Wood will be a big contributor. Avalanche fans have had a long love affair with players like Wood – as the fan base has rallied around guys like Alex Tanguay, Adam Deadmarsh, Claude Lemieux, and Adam Foote. Wood has the style and ability to become the next name on this list.
Tomas Tatar: Shakes Off Playoff Curse
Tomas Tatar has been one of the steadiest players around since his first full NHL season in 2013-14. He has scored 19 or more goals in eight of the last 10 seasons, and has played in 80 or more games six times over that stretch. However, the problem has never been regular-season dependability or availability. It’s when the calendar turns to the playoffs that things tighten up for Tatar.
The winger turns 33 this season, and his struggles in the playoffs throughout his career are no secret. In 52 career playoff games, Tatar has just seven goals and 13 points. The drought has caused him to be a healthy scratch for postseason games – even in seasons where he was one of his team’s top goal scorers. He has just one goal and two points in his last 21 playoff games.
Related: Tatar Brings Scoring Consistency to Avalanche Bottom Six
Tatar is in the latter part of his career, and there isn’t nearly as much pressure on him to be a regular point-getter in Colorado’s already potent lineup. The Avalanche will almost certainly be back in the postseason again, and the past few have shown that there will be space and opportunity for Colorado’s bottom six. Running alongside Wood and Colton, this should be a year of even more opportunity for Tatar in the postseason. Expect him to have the highest-scoring playoffs of his career – maybe even equaling those of his career total of 13 points in the process.
The Avalanche brought in a lot of new faces this offseason in hopes of returning to the form that won them the franchise’s third Stanley Cup in 2021-22. These five new forwards all have something to prove, and Colorado is banking that most or all of them will come through. If all five of these forwards can push through and hit these predictions, the Avs might very well find themselves with another deep playoff run. That’s something the fans obviously want, but it’s also something that each of these players need at this point in their careers.
