The 2021 NHL season is already underway, but with only a few games played, there is already talk of who will take home the Stanley Cup, with one name being mentioned more than others, the Colorado Avalanche.
Kevin Hayes #13 of the Philadelphia Flyers scores an unassisted shorthanded goal in the third period against the Colorado Avalanche Goalie Philipp Grubauer #31 2020
The 2-time Stanley Cup winners and 9-time division champions are coming off a 2019/202 season where they finished second in the Central division, and second in the Western conference, and so far this year, they just seem to be ticking all the boxes.
Early Favorites
Way back in December last year already, the Avalanche were favorites to win the Stanley Cup. As mentioned already, they may have fallen short of a final position, but their performances were incredible and it was a shock to many that they didn’t make it further last season.
They aren’t favorites anymore, but if you plan on writing the Avalanche off already, that would be a massive mistake.
The Core
Sakic has focussed a lot on building a very strong core of the team. The players that are the stalwarts of the group, the players wh the team revolves around, with other players coming in that compliment this core.
The team is also heavily focussed on making smart signings, not big signings. They aren’t going to go out and spend millions on a 6 or 7 year contract for a player, they want the right player, and they have been pretty damn good at finding them
Some extracurricular activities after play stops by J.T. Compher #37 of the Colorado Avalanche, James van Riemsdyk #25 of the Philadelphia Flyers and Travis Konecny #11 of the Philadelphia Flyers, Ian Cole #28 of the Colorado Avalanche 2020
Why They Can Win
The biggest reason the Avalanche can win the title is due to the work their general manager has done. Joe Sakic has taken a team that was dead last four years ago, and has turned them into a team that can take home the Stanley Cup.
Between now and 4 years ago, only four players remained in the team, and through smart trading, the team was able to bring in players that may not have needed the biggest names in the sport, but were players that were able to fit into the team, the teams style, and the teams system.
One of the biggest changes that helped the team, was actually getting rid of a player. Matt Duchene wanted to leave, and while it took longer than expected, Joe Sakic waited for the perfect deal, and that came in the form of a draft pick and a player.
That draft pick ended up being Byram, a defensive superstar and one of the brightest prospects in the league. The other player was Samuel Girard, who ended up with over 30 assists last season, and was consistently on the ice for 20+ minutes.
Other moves include the very quiet move for Ryan Graves, a player that looked completely out of favor in New York, but has transformed into a top 4 defenseman, as well as scoring 26 points and being one of the league’s best shot stoppers.
Andre Burakovsky is another example of the Av’s finding players who just need better opportunities, like Graves. He was offered a one year deal, and turned that deal into 20 goals and 25 assists.
Two quick trades that happened only a couple of days apart that added another level of depth and stability to the team, were the acquisitions of Brandon Saad and Devin Toews. Two players that have quietly come in and made a massive improvement to the stability and the depth of the team.
The Future
As mentioned already with signing the right players, the Avalanche don’t shy away from signing young talent either. There is no use in building a one season wonder team, and the Av’s don’t only have a 2021 Stanley Cup winning team, but a team that can grow and compete for it for a number of years to come.
There are a number of youngsters on their books that are either right on the verge of making their NHL debut, or will be heading to the AHL next season before making the jump to the big leagues.
With regards to games, the Av’s are currently second behind Golden Knights in the Western Division, but only by 1 point. However, they do have the most goals in the West, by quite a margin too, showing they can still very easily take home top spot.
If the games and results carry on how they are, the 27th and 29th of April could end up being massive games for both the Knights and the Av’s as they face off against each other, these games could decide who finishes top of the division.
No matter how you look at it, you can’t disagree that the Av’s have made tremendous leaps in the past few years. A team that was rock bottom that could barely scrape together a win are now riding high.
They have depth, they have talent, they have stability and they have strength. They have all the key components to win the Stanley Cup, all they have left to do is just put in strong performances, get the victories.
And as mentioned already, let’s not even talk about the young guns they have waiting in the wings to make their names known. All we can do now is wait and see if this is the year the Stanley Cup makes its way back to Colorado once again.
You must be logged in to post a comment.