Colorado Avalanche
Western Conference - Central division
Predicted Finish: 3rd
COLORADO'S CUP QUEST AND THE QUESTION IN GOAL
This is going to be an important campaign for Colorado netminder Alexandar Georgiev.
Despite leading the National Hockey League in wins in '23-24, the Russian puck-stopper still has some questions to answer. Neither Georgiev's goals-against average nor his save percentage was particularly great last season, including the playoffs, so is he capable of backstopping the Avalanche to another Stanley Cup triumph? The jury is still out. Backup Justus Annunen put up solid numbers in 14 NHL contests in '23-24, and he is still technically a rookie going into '24-25. Behind him, Kevin Mandolese and Trent Miner provide organizational depth and that is about it.
Scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after '24-25, Georgiev has something to prove. Is he the long-range solution for the Avs or not?
Cale Makar
Forecasts
Centers
2024-25
Last 3 Seasons
| Rank | Name, Age | GP | G | A | PTS | PPG | 23-24 | 22-23 | 21-22 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | N. MacKinnon, 29 | 80 | 56 | 73 | 129 | 1.61 | 82 / 1.71 | 71 / 1.56 | 65 / 1.35 | K |
| 146 | O. Pavel*, 24 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.17 | 2 / 0.00 | NCAA | NCAA | $ |
Wingers
| Rank | Name, Age | GP | G | A | PTS | PPG | 23-24 | 22-23 | 21-22 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | M. Rantanen, 27 | 82 | 48 | 64 | 112 | 1.37 | 80 / 1.30 | 82 / 1.28 | 75 / 1.23 | $ K |
| 41 | J. Drouin, 29 | 77 | 21 | 45 | 66 | 0.86 | 79 / 0.71 | 58 / 0.50 | 34 / 0.59 | $ |
| 31 | C. Mittelstadt, 25 | 81 | 21 | 45 | 66 | 0.81 | 80 / 0.71 | 82 / 0.72 | 40 / 0.48 | |
| 66 | A. Lehkonen, 29 | 70 | 24 | 33 | 57 | 0.81 | 45 / 0.76 | 64 / 0.80 | 74 / 0.51 | + |
| 67 | R. Colton, 28 | 81 | 19 | 21 | 40 | 0.49 | 80 / 0.50 | 81 / 0.40 | 79 / 0.49 | |
| 132 | V. Nichushkin, 29 | 50 | 19 | 18 | 37 | 0.74 | 54 / 0.98 | 53 / 0.89 | 62 / 0.84 | + |
| 155 | G. Landeskog, 31 | 41 | 14 | 18 | 32 | 0.78 | 51 / 1.16 | + |
||
| 163 | N. Kovalenko, 25 | 64 | 10 | 21 | 31 | 0.48 | KHL | KHL | KHL | $ |
Defensemen
| Rank | Name, Age | GP | G | A | PTS | PPG | 23-24 | 22-23 | 21-22 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | C. Makar, 25 | 80 | 24 | 71 | 95 | 1.19 | 77 / 1.17 | 60 / 1.10 | 77 / 1.12 | K |
| 26 | D. Toews, 30 | 80 | 10 | 36 | 46 | 0.58 | 82 / 0.61 | 80 / 0.63 | 66 / 0.86 | |
| 68 | S. Girard, 26 | 70 | 6 | 23 | 29 | 0.41 | 59 / 0.31 | 76 / 0.49 | 67 / 0.42 | + |
| 79 | E. Brannstrom, 25 | 77 | 4 | 22 | 26 | 0.34 | 76 / 0.26 | 74 / 0.24 | 53 / 0.26 | $ |
| 107 | J. Manson, 33 | 71 | 5 | 17 | 22 | 0.31 | 76 / 0.33 | 27 / 0.37 | 67 / 0.24 | |
| 118 | O. Kylington, 27 | 64 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 0.31 | 33 / 0.24 | 73 / 0.42 | + $ |
Goaltenders
| Rank | Name, Age | GP | W | SO | GAA | Sv% | 23-24 | 22-23 | 21-22 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | A. Georgiev, 28 | 59 | 36 | 3 | 2.78 | 0.908 | 63 / 38 | 62 / 40 | 33 15 | $ |
| 47 | J. Annunen, 24 | 25 | 14 | 1 | 2.88 | 0.907 | 14 / 8 | 2 / 1 | AHL |
Depth Chart
Left Wing |
Center |
Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| A. Lehkonen (RW) | N. MacKinnon 1 | M. Rantanen 1 |
|
C G. Landeskog (LW) 1 |
C. Mittelstadt (C) | J. Drouin (LW) |
| M. Wood (RW) | R. Colton (C) | L. O'Connor |
| J. Kiviranta (RW) | P. Kelly (C) | N. Kovalenko (RW) 6 |
| O. Olausson* (RW) 1 | O. Pavel* | J. Foudy* (C) 3 |
| C. Bradley* | I. Ivan (C) | V. Nichushkin (RW) |
| J. Innala (RW) | M. Stienburg* (C) 3 | M. Phillips (C) |
| N. Prishchepov* (C) 7 | T. Tynan | C. Wagner |
Defense |
Goaltender |
Notable Departures |
|---|---|---|
| C. Makar 1 | A. Georgiev | A. Cogliano (Ret) |
| D. Toews | J. Annunen 3 | B. Duhaime (FA-Wsh) |
| S. Girard | K. Mandolese* | J. Johnson (FA-CBJ) |
| J. Manson | T. Miner* 7 | C. Jones (FA-LA) |
| E. Brannstrom | I. Nabokov* 2 | F. Olofsson (FA-Europe) |
| O. Kylington | I. Yunin* 5 | Z. Parise (Ret) |
| C. de Haan | L. Cloutier* 5 | I. Prosvetov (FA-Europe) |
| J. MacDonald (W) | S. Shmakov 7 | Y. Trenin (FA-Min) |
| S. Behrens* 2 | R. Tufte (FA-Bos) | |
| S. Malinski | S. Walker (FA-Car) | |
| C. Rosen |
Forecasts: *: Rookie; 
: injury concern; 
: contract year (UFA in 2025);
: Must-draft player Last 3 season stats: GP and PPG for skaters, GP and W for goalies; Rank is based on PPG or Ws compared to players in the same position. Age as of October 10, 2024.
Depth Chart: (Secondary Position); *: Rookie; 
: Team captain; Orange denotes off-season acquisition via free agency or trade; 1 to 9: Organizational draft pick with round selected.
Lines: Projected lines, pairs and units are for the majority of the season, not neccesarily opening night; 2023-24 Power Play TOI and G-A-PTS in parenthesis
Projected Lines/Pairs
Power Play Units
| Forwards | Defense |
|---|---|
| G. Landeskog - N. MacKinnon - J. Drouin | D. Toews - C. Makar |
| A. Lehkonen - C. Mittelstadt - M. Rantanen | S. Girard - J. Manson |
| M. Wood - R. Colton - L. O'Connor | O. Kylington - E. Brannstrom |
| J. Kiviranta - P. Kelly - N. Kovalenko |
| First Unit | Second Unit |
|---|---|
| J. Drouin (3:42, 5-14-19) | G. Landeskog (0:00, 0-0-0) |
| N. MacKinnon (4:30, 10-38-48) | D. Toews (1:39, 0-5-5) |
| A. Lehkonen (2:51, 7-5-12) | S. Girard (0:48, 0-1-1) |
| M. Rantanen (4:36, 14-26-40) | R. Colton (1:26, 3-2-5) |
| C. Makar (4:05, 7-32-39) | C. Mittelstadt (2:25, 3-6-9) |