Colorado Avalanche Player Preview: Forward

We’re finally here.

It’s game week. Doesn’t that sound cute? It’s just as sweet as the front core of the Colorado Avalanche.

The Avs still have the likes of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog available. These big three will continue to take their turn, adding up their scores each night.

However, Colorado lost some key names including Nazem Kadri and Andre Burakovsky from his side. It will take some internal promotions to fill in the gaps in the lineup, a few acquisitions, and perhaps some doubts about the depth the Avs will have at their disposal.

Projects forward

Artturi Lehkonen (62) – Nathan MacKinnon (29) – Mikko Rantanen (96)

Gabriel Landeskog (92) – Alex Newhook (18) – Valery Nichushkin (13)

Evan Rodrigues (9) – JT Compher (37) – Logan O’Connor (25)

Andreas Cogliano (11) – Darren Helm (43) – Ben Meyers (59)

12th man: Kurtis MacDermid (56), Lukas Sedlak (22), Jacob MacDonald (26)

However you view this forward group, there are still many positives. The top 6 will still be dangerous, especially when the likes of Alex Newhook finally get his chance. Jared Bednar mentioned over the weekend that he would like to give him his chance and see him higher up the line-up for a good part of the season.

As for the names italicized above, their availability is either unknown or they will be out for opening night in a few days. The key name sure not to make the line-up for the start of the year is captain Gabriel Landeskog, who is still recovering from the knee injury he sustained last year.

As such, the battle over who would make the opening night list has been intense this season and a good talking point compared to previous years. In the end, however, Lukas Sedlak prevailed to at least be in the squad at the start of the season. Sedlak has played under Bednar before, so maybe that was the deciding factor.

The decision came as a surprise to some, as other names like Martin Kaut and Shane Bowers had caught the eye in preseason, arguably more so than Sedlak. Luckily, like Jayson Megna, both made it through waivers and all three will be available should the option be necessary.

Perhaps the wildcard of this line-up will be the play of newly recruited Evan Rodrigues, who is the ‘replacement’ for Kadri’s departure. While he had a career year himself with the Pittsburgh Penguins last year, the question will be whether he can repeat that this season with a new team and system. And if needed, can he be called upon to fill some spots in the top 6 should they open up?

There’s still a lot of wonder about the Avs Forwards, but ultimately they’re still very good and are unlikely to slow down, if at all. They win the Stanley Cup and have the franchise players they need to lead the way. They will still be extremely dangerous moving forward, using their speed, skating skills and precision to move the puck.

And boy, we can’t wait to see that in a few days. Welcome back guys. Keep doing what you do best, even with some of the changes made. There’s still plenty of faith around them.