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Off-season is the time to do some re-evaluating for the Colorado Avalanche

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We have now reached the NHL’s 2023 off-season period and looking to see, based on their present status, what the future might hold in the forthcoming regular season of 2023-24. This could include using some Everygame casino bonus codes.  Below we will highlight the positives and some negatives of the Colorado Avalanche.

How do they stand – the off-season outlook

The positives:

What is the biggest plus as they enter the off-season?   Even though Avalanche did get removed from the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs in the first round, they do stand a good chance at doing better in the next playoffs, in 2023-24. The reason being, that contrary to the 2023 playoffs, the Colorado Avalanche know that Gabriel Landeskog, captain and star forward, won’t be with them for the whole season so they will have to play without his services.

During 2022-23 there was continual concern about Landeskog’s health situation but no red light was instigated until the year had concluded.  Now that has been applied, it means that Landeskog’s $7 million salary cap hit, according to PuckPedia, can be used to find someone with exceptional talent and bring success now, rather than later.

Not including Landeskog’s contract, the Avalanche presently have $12.575 million in cap space.  But they only have a total of 13 signed players, even with a $19.575 million in cap space. This means that Chris MacFarland, the General Manager needs to be very discriminating in the way in which he spends this money be it in free agency and/or trades during the summer months.

He certainly has the money to purchase a high-impact player.  A player who is able to strengthen the bottom nine group of forwards.  Good players will likely be eager to join Avalanche this off-season to play alongside superstar players like Nathan MacKinnon, and MikkoRantanen.  Colorado Avalanche is an attractive option for them.

Both MacKinnon and Rantanen are young men.  MacKinnon is 27 years old and Rantanen is 26 years old.  Both are nearing their prime as NHL elites.   There are many NHL teams that don’t have even one player with their talent, so to have two is certainly a big deal.  MacFarland will likely be in win-now mode concerning his summer moves.  However, Landeskog will be missed and all that he brought to the game but first and foremost is the health of players.

The negatives:

The deepest group in the league isn’t Colorado’s bottom 9 forwards – they do have 6 good forwards under contract.  MacFarland could change that number.  He could bring back say, Even Rodriques and J.T Compher. However, a stronger scoring punch will still be needed on the third and fourth lines.

The truth is that it’s not possible for the Avalanche to depend only on the top 4 defenses and their goalies in order to win more games than lose them.  It is crucial for them to create a dynamic winning and offensive force.

Extra money that MacFarland has could be used to trade or sign for a bottom six force on defense.  That role was filled in 2022-23 by Jack Johnson and Eric Johnson, both now in their thirties and both now UFAs.   But the pressure needs to be lifted off Cale Makar and Devon Toews is expected to do all the heavy lifting.

But up front is the biggest issue to tackle.  Perhaps Brock Boeser, Vancouver winger or Patrick Kane, UFA winger will become Colorado’s focus of attention. This would be a good thing.  They are the perfect choice for the Avs at this time.

Concluding thoughts for them this off-season

Because winning the Stanley Cup is still fresh, the Avalanche may have earned the right to a little leeway when things don’t go the way they would wish. They are certainly in that position right now.  They did get eliminated in the first round. For example, they probably would have done significantly better if Landeskog had been in the lineup.

They do have good foundational talent in MacKinnon, Rantanen, Makar and Toews which will keep them in the playoff mix for the foreseeable future.  But if the Avalanche doesn’t do well in the 2023 post-season and get eliminated in the first round, fans will not be so understanding. They have too much going for them to be pushed out by a less talented team, like what happened with Seattle.

The situation with Landeskog’s status is still to be resolved.  His contract runs through the summer of 2029 but perhaps the Avs can invest Landeskog’s long-term salary in a competitive player who is able to act as a key initiator of offense.

The future promises to be bright for the Colorado Avalanche and their fans can look back at this past season as just a “blip on the radar”





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