The Avalanche survived an apocalyptic injury/availability crisis by treading water in the NHL standings, and critical reinforcements have arrived.
The Avs are now (mostly) healthy. They have work to do to ensure a spot in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and to try and reestablish themselves as a legit championship contender.
There are also some significant questions left for the Avs to answer before the trade deadline, which will shape the final form of this roster and potentially play a huge role in whether or not Colorado can make a real push for a second title in four seasons.
Let’s dig into them.
1a. Will Gabe Landeskog return to the lineup?
Full disclosure: This question above had a “when” at the front of it at first, before it was deleted. The Avs remain committed to the idea that Landeskog will be back at some point this season. Every time he spoke about it before the season began, the captain was too.
Here are some facts: The Avs said “12-16 months” on multiple occasions for a recovery timeline from knee cartilage surgery. Then Nathan MacKinnon slipped in a “12-18 months” during training camp. It was 18 months this past week.
Landeskog was skating daily with the team in May, though not fully participating in practices or morning skates. He has joined the full team on the ice once this season — but it was Friday. It came after what was, at a minimum, Landeskog’s second unplanned break from skating in 2024, but it did bring some renewed hope.
This was always going to be an unconventional path to recovery. There is no road map for NHL players with this surgery. But, the longer the season goes without Landeskog practicing, the more “will” becomes a question instead of “when.”
1b. What type of impact can Landeskog have?
There is zero question about whether or not the Avs would benefit from Landeskog’s return, especially in the short term. On the ice, they have one of the best rosters in the NHL, and adding Landeskog even as a complementary role player makes it better. If he’s like 70% as good as he was in 2022? The Avs might have the best roster.
Off the ice, Landeskog would be a massive addition for a locker room that has missed its captain, but also veteran leaders like Andrew Cogliano and Jack Johnson to some degree as well.
There would be some long-term concerns if Landeskog returns and becomes a regular in the lineup but is far from what he once was. The Avs don’t need, and probably can’t expect, the same Landeskog from his prime. For this season, they’d be happy with whatever he can be.
1c. What if Landeskog doesn’t come back?
The Avs will have some salary cap gymnastics to deal with, assuming no one has a season-ending injury, if Landeskog does return to the active roster. When that happens will play a role in what sort of gymnastics that will involve.
If Landeskog and the Avs decide he can’t play this season (or decide to wait until the postseason for him to try), that would free up significant cap space for the club to try to replace him … or improve another area of the roster. The Avs want a healthy Landeskog in the lineup over anything else. But if he can’t get back before the deadline, it would allow some flexibility to change the roster.
2. Will they ride with these goaltenders?
Alexandar Georgiev just put together a nice run of four games after a bad start to the season, but now he’s injured. It doesn’t sound serious, but it didn’t seem like Jonathan Drouin was going to miss 15 games, either.
Justus Annunen recently had a nice string of six games after a bad start to the season. Then he allowed three goals on six starts and got pulled in his next outing for a guy with zero NHL experience.
It would be hard for the Avs to do anything significant at the position unless Landeskog stays on LTIR for the season or someone else important lands there. Or including someone important in a trade that nets another netminder. The Avs would certainly not like to resort to anything drastic. Georgiev and Annunen have a couple of months to prove that the past few weeks are more indicative of their play than the first few weeks.
3. Where will Ross Colton play?
Colton is out until at least mid-December with a broken foot. He was the club’s No. 3 center. Then the injuries, combined with Valeri Nichushkin’s suspension, happened.
He became a stone-cold sniper, racking up eight goals in 10 games on the wing. He’s still Colorado’s second-leading goal-scorer.
There won’t be a prime spot on PP1 waiting for him, but does he just go back to being the No. 3 center? This, like most of the Avs’ questions, could be impacted by Landeskog’s availability. Which leads to …
4. Will the Avs add another center?
Colton and Freddy Olofsson spent most of last season as the club’s Nos. 3 and 4 centers, but then Yakov Trenin arrived ahead of the deadline. Parker Kelly had less experience at center in the NHL than either Colton or Olofsson, but he’s been the No. 3 guy in a depleted lineup and could still be the No. 4 when everyone is healthy.
Will the Avs be happy with some combo of Colton, Kelly and Ivan Ivan as the bottom two centers? If everyone is healthy and available, cap space for a new No. 3C might not be there. If the Avs did add one and put Colton on the wing, they could have the best collection of wings in the NHL. The cap ceiling might not let that be feasible, though.
5. Is defense depth still satisfactory?
When the Avs added Calvin de Haan, Oliver Kylington and Erik Brannstrom in the offseason, it looked like the club’s No. 6-8 defense spots were a significant upgrade from a year ago. Well, Brannstrom is in Vancouver, and Kylington has barely played. John Ludvig arrived from waivers as a Brannstrom replacement, and he’s been ahead of Kylington in the pecking order.
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Sam Malinski had his worst game of the season Friday but otherwise has looked really good as the offense-driving half for the third pairing. Will the Avs stick with de Haan and Ludvig as the defense-first options to play next to him? Can Kylington make a push at some point?
Most teams are looking to add defensive depth ahead of the deadline. The Avs might have other areas to focus on, but “You can never have too many NHL-quality defensemen” is a popular maxim for a reason.
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