Last Season: 39-31-12 with 90 points, last in the Central Division and 11th in the Western Conference
After a breakout season in Patrick Roy's first year as Head Coach in 2013/2014, the Avs took a big step back last season dropping from 112 points to 90 and missing out on the playoffs. The Avs had an extremely slow start last season and never was able to catch up despite a strong finish to the season. The Avs finally parted with Ryan O'Reilly after the ongoing dilemma that has been going on for a few years, shipping him to the Sabres for a package including Nikita Zadorov and Mikhail Grigorenko. GM Joe Sakic wanted the team to get bigger so the Avs added some size in the summer with Francois Beauchemin, Carl Soderberg, Blake Comeau and 18-year old Mikko Rantanen who was selected 10th overall in the NHL draft. Look for the Avs to be a more competitive group this season, with that being said here is a look at their 2015/2016 Season Preview:
Forwards:
Blake Comeau - Matt Duchene - Jarome Iginla
Gabriel Landeskog - Nathan MacKinnon - Alex Tanguay
Mikko Rantanen - Carl Soderberg - Borna Rendulic
Cody McLeod - John Mitchell - Jack Skille
Extra: Mikhail Grigorenko
The Avs have a very quick offensive attack lead by Center's Matt Duchene and Nathan MacKinnon, and they have the ability to score in bunches if they find chemistry early on. It will be interesting to watch what kind of an impact Mikko Rantanen has, he made the team as an 18-year old and looks ready to compete at the NHL level now. The addition of Carl Soderberg stabilizes the Avs down the middle, him and John Mitchell are two very responsible centers. The Avs have strength on the wing too with Iginla, Landeskog, Tanguay, Comeau and Rantanen, If the Avs are to get back into the playoffs this season, a lot will be on Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Duchene to lead the way offensively.
Defense:
Francois Beauchemin - Erik Johnson
Nikita Zadorov - Tyson Barrie
Brad Stuart - Brandon Gormley
Extra: Nate Guenin, Nick Holden
Defense was the Avalanche's biggest issue last season, they were getting outplayed and out-shot and were a brutal possession team in this advanced statistics era. Defense seemed to be the biggest area of improvement needed in the summer, and Sakic went out and signed veteran Francois Beauchemin and traded for Nikita Zadorov and Brandon Gormley. Offensively the Avs have Erik Johnson and Tyson Barrie on defense, two guys who are crucial to the Avs attack. Beauchemin and Zadorov were brought in to strengthen the Avs top 4 and give Johnson and Barrie steady D partners. Going to be an interesting group to watch.
Goaltending:
Semyon Varlamov
Reto Berra
Much of the Avs struggles last season was due to Semyon Varlamov's groin injury, which cost him a good portion of the first few months of the season. Reto Berra was wildly inconsistent and often found the bench in favour of Calvin Pickard, who will start as the Avs AHL goalie. Varlamov is the clear-cut #1 guy and will handle a bulk of the load this season, my guess is between 60-70 games. A lot of pressure will be on Varlamov to lead the Avs back to the playoffs.
2015/2016 Outlook and Prediction:
5th in Central Division, 8th in Western Conference
No comments:
Post a Comment