The sting of last season left Colorado’s fans cautious entering the 2023-24 season. In seven games against Seattle, the Avalanche showed some serious vulnerabilities and concerns that needed to be addressed in the offseason.
One big question was if Valeri Nichuchkin would be back after leaving the team suddenly prior to a playoff game against Seattle. As training camp started, Nichuchkin was back on the ice with the club. There are still many more questions about his departure last season. For now it appears to be business as usual for Nichuchkin and the Avalanche.
A big departure for the club was that of veteran defenseman Eric Johnson. The 35-year-old signed with Buffalo after playing 12 seasons for Colorado. The Avalanche blue line will be far from depleted. Cale Makar, Bowen Byram and Devon Toews will still be anchors for Colorado’s defensive unit.
Once again, Colorado will be looking at playing another season without their captain on the ice. Gabriel Landeskog underwent knee surgery back in May to repair damage from an incident in the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs. The team announced Landeskog would miss the entire 2023-24 season. Colorado was able to win the Central Division last season without their captain, but several teams in the division have made big name roster moves while Colorado has made smaller moves, with the exception of the signing of left winger Thomas Tatar.
Colorado’s goaltending situation is less concerning than recent seasons. Alexandar Georgiev is coming off his best season of his career. In 62 games he posted a 2.53 Goals Against Average (GAA) and a .919 Save Percentage. Pavel Francouz proved himself to be a solid backup to Georgiev last season, posting similar numbers. He had a 2.61 GAA and a .915 Save Percentage.
The biggest divisional obstacle that Colorado could see this season is a tougher Dallas Stars team. A team who acquired former Avalanche Matt Duchene to their already stacked forward lineup. The Stars will be riding on the goaltending of Jake Oettinger and look to steal a division title away from the Avalanche in the upcoming season.
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