Colorado Avalanche 2017 Season Preview: Draft Utopia

Colorado Avalanche 2017 Season Preview

Colorado's line 1 center Matt Duchene is one of the teams best players when he is in the zone. For now, we'll assume he remains with Colorado, but I'm expecting him to get moved by the deadline at the latest.

Chris Ransom follow @DraftUtopia Posted on 8/23/2017.

Colorado Avalanche Line 1 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Gabriel Landeskog	Left Wing	72	6-foot-1-inches	210-pounds	18	15	33
Matt Duchene	Center	77	5-foot-11-inches	200-pounds	18	23	41
Nate MacKinnon	Right Wing	64	6-foot-0-inches	195-pounds	16	37	51

Colorado Avalanche Line 2 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Sven Andrighetto	Left Wing	46	5-foot-10-inches	188-pounds	7	17	24
Tyson Jost	Center	6	5-foot-11-inches	191-pounds	1	0	1
Mikko Rantanen	Right Wing	75	6-foot-4-inches	211-pounds	20	18	38

Colorado Avalanche Line 3 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Colin Wilson	Left Wing	70	6-foot-1-inches	221-pounds	12	23	35
J.T. Compher	Center	21	6-foot-0-inches	193-pounds	5	3	8
Blake Comeau	Right Wing	77	6-foot-1-inches	202-pounds	8	12	20

Colorado Avalanche Line 4 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Matt Nieto	Left Wing	59	5-foot-11-inches	190-pounds	7	6	13
Carl Soderberg	Center	80	6-foot-3-inches	210-pounds	6	8	14
Nail Yakupov	Right Wing	40	5-foot-11-inches	195-pounds	3	6	9

Colorado Avalanche Forwards Review: Colorado had an effective first line that had a let down year and no depth last season. With Tyson Jost playing with Mikko Rantanen on the second line that changes since both of Colorado's top 10 picks from the 2015 and 2016 NHL Draft are ready to break out.

Blake Comeau is an effective third line veteran. Pairing him up with Colin Wilson who dominated in the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs for the Nashville Predators and the upcoming J.T. Compher gives Colorado promise.

Soderberg has experience on the second line since he played with Tanguay and Iginla on the second line two years ago. He will be way more effective on a fourth line though with guys like Matt Nieto and Nail Yakupov.

I love this group of forwards that Colorado has put together. With four good lines of forwards, which is rare in the NHL, the Colorado Avalanche just need their defense to step up. Last year the Avalanche was 30th in goals scored and 30th on the power play out of 30 teams. This year that is not acceptable.

Colorado Avalanche Defensive Lines

Player	Line	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Tyson Barrie	Line 1	74	5-foot-10-inches	190-pounds	7	31	38
Erik Johnson	Line 1	46	6-foot-4-inches	232-pounds	2	15	17
Nikita Zadorov	Line 2	56	6-foot-5-inches	230-pounds	0	10	10
Mark Barberio	Line 2	60	6-foot-1-inches	207-pounds	2	11	13
Anton Lindholm	Line 3	12	5-foot-11-inches	191-pounds	0	0	0
Chris Bigras	Line 3	31	6-foot-1-inches	190-pounds	1	2	3

Colorado Avalanche Defensemen Review: Tyson Barrie and Erik Johnson can be an effective first line if both defensemen play 82 games. Neither player played 82 games last season and that's why its paramount for both defenders to stay healthy because if one gets injured this blue line becomes extremely suspect.

Nikita Zadorov will be the x-factor. If he signs then him and Mark Barbiero can man an effective line 2 unit. We could see combinations of Johnson and Barrie, Johnson and Zadorov, or Barrie and Zadorov on the top line with the other defender complimenting Barbiero at different points in the season.

Right now the third line is the biggest weakness for the Colorado Avalanche. That's something they need to fix moving forward.

Colorado ranked 30th in goals allowed and 29th in penalty killing. Colorado is still going to struggle defensively in some areas even if the offense improves. Again with this defense it comes down to the health of Barrie and Johnson. That's what can keep them in the hunt.

Draft Utopia Between The Pipes Goalie Tracker

Starting Goalie

Player	Team	Games Played	Record	Shutouts	Save Percentage	Goals Against Average
Semyon Varlamov	Colorado Avalanche	23	6-17-0	1 Shutouts	.898	3.38 GAA

Backup Goalie

Player	Team	Games Played	Record	Shutouts	Save Percentage	Goals Against Average
Jonathan Bernier	Colorado Avalanche	33	21-7-4	2 Shutouts	.915	2.50 GAA

Colorado Avalanche Goaltender Review: Varlamov is terrible. I think the Avalanche should start Bernier. This is probably the worst goalie situation in the NHL though.

Colorado Avalanche Prospect Pool: Colorado has Cale Makar their fourth overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft. He will be in the NCAA for one to two years though and may not be up until 2019.

Colorado Avalanche 2017-2018 Prediction

Colorado will be much better offensively this year if everyone of their 12 forwards can stay healthy. The defense may be slightly improved as well. The Avalanche still lack a third line of good defense and have a huge problem at goalie. That's why it is hard to see this team making the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs. I think Colorado will do well enough to avoid picking in the top 5, but without a goalie they will miss the playoffs.