Last season, the Avs fell to the Vegas Golden Knights in Round 2 of the playoffs, making it the third consecutive year to be eliminated in the second round. The Avs blew a 2-0 series lead and lost in six contests. I could go on and on about the disappointment of last year, but to be honest, and as is evident by my lack of posting after the devastating loss, I still don’t want to talk about it. We all know what happened. Rather than look back at the mishaps of last year, we are moving on.
It was undeniable that the Avalanche would look slightly different this season, especially with another expansion draft. Donskoi is now “Goneskoi,” after being picked up by the new club, the Seattle Kraken. More painfully, our top netminder, Phillip Grubauer, signed with them shortly after the draft for a six-year $35.4 million contract with the NHL’s newest club. After coming off his best season, and a Vezina Trophy finalist, Seattle is lucky to have him, and we are saddened that we had to part ways.
With the absence of Grubauer, the Avs signed Darcy Kuempher to guard between the pipes. Avs fans remember Kuempher from his days in Minnesota, specifically when he was in net during the playoff loss in 2014, even though he didn’t finish Game 7 after a third-period injury. Avs fans never forget, but we can sometimes forgive. The 31-year old Kuempher is coming to the Avs from Arizona, where he has been since 2017. He made notable efforts against our potent offense despite playing for the struggling club, going 10-11-0 in the shortened season.
After missing last season due to double hip surgery, Pavel Francouz is slotted as backup. However, after sustaining another lower-body injury during preseason, he will be out 3-4 weeks, with Jonas Johansson dressing as backup.
Brandan Saad was another causality over the off-season, where he signed with the Blues, but the Avs have added another veteran, Darren Helm, from Detroit. Helm won the Stanley Cup with the Wings during his rookie year in 2008. We won’t hold it against the Manitoba native that in a NYE game in 2009, Helm scored not one but two short-handed goals on the Avs in one game. After the Wings went 19-27-10 last year, I’m sure Helm is looking forward to playing with a team that will win games.
After missing most of last season due to injury, the Avs will be welcoming back longtime defenseman Erick Johnson, whose energy was greatly missed on and off the ice. To make things more confusing, the Avs have added another Johnson to the defensive core in Jack Johnson. No, not the singer, this Indianapolis local, born John Joseph Louis Johnson III (let’s just call him Triple J), joined the league with the Kings in 2007 but is coming to us from a year with the Rangers. The Avs have added another defensive veteran, Ryan Murray, who tallied 14 assists with the Devils last year.
As far a new young talent is concerned, we got a sample of Alex Newhook, Sampo Ranta, and Bo Byram last season, but they did not play in 25 NHL games in the 2020-2021 season; they will be entering the year as rookies. Alex Newhook, who played his first NHL game with the Avs on May 5, 2021, and scored his first NHL goal during the playoffs against St. Louis, said in a prompt from the NHL that “not a lot of people know that I have a sister who is better than me at hockey.” Perhaps we should all be watching out for Abby Newhook, who will begin her career with Boston College this year. The Finnish forward, Sampo Ranta, a fellow Golden Gopher, made his NHL debut in the final series with Vegas and had 7 points in 14 games with the Colorado Eagles. Avs fans will be most familiar with defenseman Bo Byram, who played in 19 games, showing his physicality and will undoubtedly add to the Avs’ depth this season.
The puck drops on Wednesday at 8 pm, where Avs will have to face off against familiar foe Marc-Andre Fleury, who was traded from Vegas this summer. The Avs will be starting the season without MacKinnon and Bednar on the bench; both are out with positive COVID tests. The Avs have enough depth that we should be able to lay the smackdown on the Blackhawks on opening night to set the tone for the season, even if we will have to get the puck past Fleury.
The Avs are once again a favored Stanley Cup contender, but the season is long, staying healthy will be paramount, and it is hard to say how we will stand up in goaltending. However, with the additions during the offseason, the Avs are stacked and primed to make a serious claim to what they have been chasing for the last few seasons. We aren’t in the bubble, we don’t have a shortened season playing the same teams, so those excuses are gone. There will be no asterisks at the end of this season. If the Avs’ are as thirsty as I am for Lord Stanley, I think this year has the making to bring the Cup back to Colorado.