Colorado Avalanche - Preview

Colorado will face much higher expectations this season, following their first playoff appearance in four seasons. They also surprisingly claimed the Central Division ahead of the highly fancied St Louis Blues, and defending champion Chicago Blackhawks. However their post season ended no sooner than it had began with a 7 game series against the tough Minnesota Wild. Despite that early exit a lot of positives can be taken from a revamped franchise following the Summer 2013 arrivals of former players Joe Sakic (Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations) and Patrick Roy (Vice President of Hockey Operations & Coach). A lot of the Avs success was put down to the partnership Roy enjoyed with his players, posting a 52-22-8 record for 112 points. It was enough to land Roy the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year. Curiosly, this was Colorado's first Division Title since 2003, Roy's last season as a player.

Jarome Iginla and defenseman Brad Stuart arrived over the summer. Iginla with a three-year, $16 million contract adds more depth to the forward lines, along with center Jesse Winchester on a two-year deal. Stuart comes in via San Jose for a couple of future draft picks, while fellow defenseman Zach Redmond was acquired on a two-year contract. Paul Stastny left for St Louis, after eight seasons in Denver, as an unrestricted free-agent. Defenseman Andre Benoit signed a one-year deal with Buffalo, while P.A. Parenteau was trade to Montreal in exchange for center Daniel Briere. Veteran back-up goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere and defenseman Cory Sarich both retired.

Colorado will be lead by a whole host of players again this season. Matt Duchene, Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Ryan O'Reilly. With Duchene gone a lot will be expected of sophomore MacKinnon, to lead from his new posotion at center. MacKinnon played most of last season at right-wing on a line with Stastny and Landeskog. O'Reilly can play down the middle but he had a very productive year last time out on Duchene's line. The liklihood is Iginla and Alex Tanguay will line-up on the right wing of the top two lines. Having Tanguay back this season, having suffered lengthy hip and knee injuries last year, will be like signing a new player, and with his playmaking ability, makes him a valuable asset. Parenteau and McGinn stepped up in his absence but with the former gone and the latter likely to go back to the thrid line with John Mitchell and Maxime Talbot, it seems Tanguay will get the nod.

The bottom-six looks much stronger this year, and they will need to be, to improve their puck possession. Briere and Winchester have been added and will be expected to create an additional 20 goals from there. Cody McLeod, Patrick Bordeleau, Marc-Andre Clich and rookie Joey Hishon are also options to consider.

The defense was a weak point last season, but the signing of Stuart, gives a much-needed physical presence. He'll be paired with Erik Johnson, whohit 39 points from the blue-line last year. Zach Redmond signed with a lot of promise, while Nick Holden, had a break-out year in 2013-14, cementing a top-four slot with a physical style of play. Tyson Barrie is another option, assuming he recovers from his knee injury he sustained during last years playoffs. The Avs have up to eight D-men they can call upon on any given game night.

Semyon Varlamov improved massively last season and has been tied-down to a new five-year $29.5 million contract extension. Reto Berra replaces the now-retired Giguere as Varlamov's back-up, having arrived in March from Calgary.

Landeskog – MacKinnon – Iginla

Tanguay – Duchene – O'Reilly

McGinn – Mitchell – Briere

McLeod – Clich – Talbot

Winchester – Bordeleau

Hejda – Johnson

Stuart – Barrie

Holden – Guenin

Wilson