The days are getting longer, and the weather is warming, which leaves me ready for one thing: playoff season. However, after tonight’s match-up vs. the Penguins, the Avs still have 13 more games. The regular season concludes on Friday, April 29, against the Minnesota Wild, with the playoffs set to kick off on Monday, May 2nd. The Avalanche stand atop the league with 106 points and have clinched a playoff spot. The Florida Panthers are hot on the heals for the President’s Trophy and were first to secure a playoff berth in the East at 102 points.
The Avs lead the West by 13 points. Barring a catastrophic collapse, they will hold home ice, at least through the Western Conference Finals and hopefully through the entirety of the playoffs if they capture the President’s Trophy for most points in the league. However, I am getting ahead of myself. There is still a month of the season to go, and even with the best record in the league, it isn’t a guarantee that the Avs would get so far as to worry about home ice for the finals. Last year served as the most poignant example.
After winning the President’s Trophy last year and falling short to Vegas in the second round, the Avs have had one goal in mind entering this season. Hoisting Lord Stanley himself. So far, the Avs have lived up to the hype. They are four wins away from breaking the franchise record for most wins in a season. Currently, the 2000-01 and the 2013-14 clubs are tired for most wins with 52 and need 14 more points to tie the franchise record for most points in a season at 118, also held by the 2000-01 team. All signs point in the right direction and we are prepared to get down to the real business.
However, if the playoffs were starting today, we would be short one team captain and several other key members. Landeskog last played in the 2-0 loss against Carolina on March 12 and underwent knee surgery on the 14th. He is expected to make a full recovery in time for the playoffs. Nazem Kadri is also out of the lineup due to an upper-body injury sustained in the San Jose game on March 31. He not only returned to the lineup during that game but had two assists on the final two goals. He has been out since then, but is also expected to return come playoff time.
Among the other injured is Samuel Girard. He went out on March 8 with a lower-body injury and estiamted to be out four weeks, which should bring him back well before the end of the season. Big Val Nichushkin is also out on Covid protocol.
However, the good news for the Avs is that youngster Bowen Byram finally laced up his skates in tonight’s game. Byram has suffered multiple head injuries last year and early this season. After battling recovery, he was granted a leave of absence in January. Byram is only 20 years old, and we hope he can maintain his health. I may make a lot of jokes, but a man’s health is far superior to anything he can do for us on the ice.
In addition to Bowen coming back, the Avs made moves before the trade deadline to further strengthen the club. On the offense, the Avs acquired Andrew Cogliano, Artturi Lehkonen, and Nico Sturm, with Josh Manson on defense.
The 34-year-old, Cogliano (#11), joined the Avs from San Jose. He has been on two cup tending teams with Anaheim in the Western Conference Finals (2015 & ‘17), and with Dallas in the 2020 Finals against Tampa. We won’t hold it against the fourth line forward that he was on the team that defeated the Avs in the bubble.
Artturi Lehkonen (#62), has played his whole career in Montreal and, after getting his visa in order, entered the Avs lineup on March 29. The Avs have star power in the likes of MacKinnon, Rantanen, Landeskog, and Makar. Still, they have been significantly weaker in their bottom-six forwards, and Lehkonen will be able to speak his native Finnish with teammate Mikko and bring depth to the third line.
In Nico Sturm (#78), the Avs had to give up long-time Av Tyson Jost and have added a 26-year-old, 6’3 German who can win faceoffs and use his strength to add physicality to the club.
Lastly, Josh Manson (#42) from Anaheim adds to the defense. At 30-years-old, he also clocks in a 6’3 and weighs 220 lbs. Manson joins the second-line defensemen and has been a welcomed addition with the absence of Byram and Sammy G and has proven to add the much-needed physicality. He scored his first goal in an Avs sweater in tonight’s game.
Rather than make one blockbuster trade for a player like Giroux, Sakic maneuvered to gain four players for the cost of one current roster player. We will undoubtedly miss Roasty Toasty Josty. After players like The Condor, Landy, and Mac, he was one of the longest-tenured Avs. We wish him luck in Minnesota, but mainly in the form of getting traded to a different club soon, so we can honestly wish him well.
While we may be mentally ready for the playoffs, the Avs can use a few more weeks to recover for the next chapter. It is never ideal to have top guys out of the lineup, but with the puppeteering of Sakic, we have added dimension, and it allows other players to step up and prepare for the adversity that we will ultimately face in the playoffs. If we can win when missing key players, imagine what we can do with a healthy roaster. Let those who are injured heal, those who are healthy remain so and let’s capture that President’s Trophy. Twenty-seven more days till we can say those magical words, “It's playoff hockey time!”