DENVER, Col – After years as one of the NHL’s major wheelers and dealers the Colorado Avalanche have adopted a more measured approach to the coming season, and beyond, despite rebounding from a disastrous 2008/09 campaign to defy the odds and get back in to the post season last term. In years gone by, the Avalanche were one of the league’s biggest spenders and the club was regularly involved in blockbuster trades. Now there is a new culture in Denver, one of prudent signings and intelligent drafting to build a team, rather than buy one. With Head Coach Joe Sacco and General Manager Greg Sherman now in their second season with the team, it might have been easy to get carried away following the remarkable turnaround the franchise made last year. Instead the club quickly distanced itself from any involvement in the Ilya Kovalchuk saga, opting to concentrate on locking up its key prospects and work with what they already had in the Avalanche system. While many fans did the numbers on a deal for Kovalchuk (the Avs are still nearly $20 million under the salary cap ceiling even now!), Sherman bided his time and ensured a number of last season’s top performers were re-signed, including leading goal scorer Chris Stewart and Peter Mueller, who arrived from Phoenix as part of the deal which saw mercurial Polish winger Wojtek Wolski head to Arizona. After much speculation, D man Kyle Quincey also signed a new two-year deal recently, while veterans Milan Hejduk and Adam Foote also extended their deals in Denver by another year. Keeping the core of the roster intact was seen as the key move this summer, as well as keeping cap space available to re-sign other top prospects over the next couple of seasons without the need to off load other premium talent to make room, in the way Chicago have had to this summer. Avalanche management’s faith in their roster will no doubt pay dividends over time. Just three of the Avs’ bench are over 30 – Hejduk, Foote and 31-year old Scott Hannan – allowing plenty of opportunities for star forwards Paul Stastny, Matt Duchene, TJ Galiardi et al to continue their development and build on the promise they showed last season. This time last year, many felt the Avs were two or three years away from being a play-off participant again. Shattering those predictions was undoubtedly a huge high for the club and its fans – but maintaining those standards may be much tougher in the highly competitive Western conference this term. Here’s how the Avs are shaping up for the new campaign. Netminders The play of netminder Craig Anderson was one of the pivotal factors in the club’s success last season. Eyebrows were raised when Sherman handed Anderson his first #1 job, but the Illinois native quickly dispelled any question marks by putting together a 38-25-7 record with a .917 save percentage, including 7 shut outs, and was instrumental as the Avs won 10 of its first 14 games and made the post season. While it might be preferable to see Slovak stopper Peter Budaj take a little more of the work load this year, how Anderson, and perhaps Budaj, play this season will once again have a major impact on the teams’ fortunes. Defence Defensively the franchise has looked within its own ranks this season. Brett Clarke had something of a return to form last year, but was allowed to leave as a free agent in July with the Avalanche opting to give a number of its blue chip defensive prospects an opportunity to shine during training camp. Surprisingly, Cameron Gaunce was sent down to the AHL this week, but Kevin Shattenkirk, Colby Cohen and Norwegian Jonas Holos remain with the team at the time of writing. While many felt Gaunce would get his shot this season, Avs look to have a strong future in their own end with all four likely to get a shot at the NHL at some point in the near future. The team also expect Ryan Wilson to build on the promising start he made to his NHL career last season. The presence of Adam Foote is perhaps as much about instilling the right ethics in the Avs prospects, but few will provide better guidance and leadership to their teams this season than Foote. Kyle Quincey proved to be a strong acquisition with solid performances pretty much all season long, while veteran blue liner Scott Hannan also saw an upturn in his play last season. After his big money move to Colorado as a free agent in 2007, Hannan had struggled at times culminating in a disastrous 2008/09 campaign that saw him finish with a -21 +/-! But he seemed to find his feet last year, and the form San Jose mans durability (Hannan has only missed 2 games in three seasons in Denver), rugged style and experience will be invaluable this season. Two players whose careers are perhaps slightly less clear are John Michael Liles and Kyle Cumiskey. Liles has struggled to recreate the form he found in 2005/06, when he scored 14 goals and 49 points as a sophomore. He did however record just over a 0.5 points per game last season in an injury plagued campaign that limited him to just 59 games. There seem to be almost bi-monthly rumours of Liles being traded, and with the likes of Shattenkirk waiting in the wings, Liles future in Denver remains perhaps a little uncertain. Much may hinge on how well Cumiskey continues to develop. The Avs have taken a patient approach to his development, and at just 23 there is still plenty of time for the former Kelowna Rockets man to become a solid puck moving D man. If Cumiskey continues to move forward and others put in strong years, Liles may well be trade bait once again. Forwards Much like the defence, Colorado’s forward corps is packed with young talent. Without doubt the number one guy is Paul Stastny, who is still only 24. Stastny has top tier play making skills, and Colorado will be hoping the emergence of Chris Stewart as a legitimate scoring threat will help get the best out of him. Stewart led the team with 28 goals last season, but veteran winger Milan Hejduk also potted his tenth straight 20+ goal season despite missing nearly 30 games through injury. Colorado will be hoping both can approach 30 or more goals this season to provide a potent scoring punch alongside Stastny and rookie sensation Matt Duchene. The Avs will also be looking for Peter Mueller to hit the same form he did when he first arrived in Denver upon his return from injury. Mueller scored 9 goals and 20 points in just 15 games for the Avs before his season was ended by a concussion. Duchene earned himself a Calder Trophy nomination after his 55 point rookie season, but fellow young guns Brandon Yip and TJ Galiardi also grabbed headlines with their play. With Mueller currently sidelined indefinitely, with another concussion sustained during the pre-season, there is a top 6 opening for someone to claim, at least in the short term. As well as Yip and Galiardi, the Avs will also welcome back Dave Jones from injury and look for Ryan Stoa to build on the dozen games he played last season. Jones in particular will be looking to crack the 20 goal barrier after scoring 10 in the first 23 games of last season before a torn ACL ended his campaign. Cody McLeod heads up an interesting group of depth players. McLeod’s dynamic work ethic, willingness to get his nose dirty and ability to chip in perhaps up to 20 goals make him a valuable asset to the team. Ryan O’Reilly shocked pretty much everyone when he jumped straight from the 2nd round of the 2009 draft on to the Colorado roster last season. O’Reilly’s superb work ethic saw him become an integral part of the Avs play at times, with minutes on the penalty kill and impressive two way play. The performances of Daniel Winnik have also turned heads during the off season. One of Colorado’s few free agent signings in the summer, Winnik looks likely to be a very useful depth player. With Darcy Tucker and Marek Svatos moving on, and Mueller out, again there are opportunities on the Avs bench. Summary It’s hard to argue with the logic Colorado seems to have employed – even if they had made a move for Kovalchuk, it is unlikely they’d have made a run at the Cup this year and thus it would have been foolish to mortgage so much money on one player, albeit a very talented one. Instead a steady plan of building is in place, with plenty of cap room to ensure the Avs can keep this group together and grow as a unit. Colorado fans will need to be patient though. With such a young roster, inexperience and the fabled ‘sophomore slumps’ will likely creep in at some point and the bigger picture must remain in focus. The North West will not be an easy division to play in this season, Vancouver are clear favourites but it is unlikely Calgary and Edmonton will be that bad again while the Wild remain a threat. Colorado does however have a heck of a group of players here, and in time they will likely develop in to a contender once again. Patience is key and expectations must be drawn accordingly. The play-offs are a maybe this year, but in a couple of years time, watch out for the Avs! Contact the author: rob.mcgregor@prohockeynews.com
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