Record - 56-19-7 (119 points), 1st in the Central Division
Goals For: 312 (3rd in the NHL), Goals Against: 234 (7th in the NHL)
Leading Goal Scorer - Mikko Rantanen (36)
Leading Point Scorer - Mikko Rantanen (92)
We have arrived at the 32nd and final day of the team previews and we saved the best for last. The Colorado Avalanche were the worst team in the NHL in 2017, but have since created winning culture under the leadership of GM Joe Sakic and HC Jared Bednar. Over the past five years they've built what is now the best team in the world. It didn't come easy nor without frustration, but after three straight years of second round exits, the Avalanche have finally taken home hockey's biggest prize for the first time in 21 years. With many of their key pieces staying put, the defending champions are slated to make a run for back to back Stanley Cups.
This team was set on a mission going into training camp last year and that was to win it all. They would accept nothing less. The season started off a little rocky going 4-5-1 in the first ten games. Then they were shot out of a cannon. From that point up until the all-star break the Avs went 28-3-2. Just pure dominance over the rest of the league. The team finished with a franchise record 56 wins and 119 points. They secured home ice advantage through the Western Conference Finals which was bad news for the opposition as the Avs went 32-5-4 at Ball Arena. Although they fell a few points short of winning the President's Trophy they still were viewed by many as the best team in the NHL.
This Colorado team that Joe Sakic assembled was loaded from top to bottom. They had four players put up at least 80 points, eight with at least 50 points, and seven players with 20 or more goals. Every line contributed and they made teams pay in every which way possible. Whether it was at even strength, a man up or a man down, the Avalanche pummeled teams. While it wasn't just one guy putting the team on his back, I do believe the catalyst to the Avs success was their top defensive pairing in Cale Makar and Devon Toews. These two were unbeatable on defense. Together, they were able to keep every team's top players off the scoresheet and turn the defense into offense before the opposition could even blink. They scored a combined 41 goals and 143 points as a pairing. Makar ended up winning the Norris Trophy for his efforts and Toews made the trade with the Islanders look like a fleece job. To have Makar and Toews on the backend while you have Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Gabriel Landeskog snapping the puck around is simply unfair. The offense didn't stop there, though, as Nazem Kadri, Valeri Nichushkin, Andre Burakovsky, and J.T Compher all had career years. They were an unstoppable force and an immovable object all in one.
The Avalanche crawled into playoffs winning just one of their last seven games. Once they got in, though, it was DEFCON 1 for their division rival Nashville Predators. The Preds were banged up going into the series with their Vezina finalist goaltender Juuse Saros on the mend. Even if Saros was able to go the Predators wouldn't have stood a chance. The Avs steamrolled them winning the series in a clean sweep. The Avs outscored Nashville 21-9 in the four games, with Cale Makar putting up 10 points by himself. It wasn't even a contest. Even with Darcy Kuemper out with a nasty eye injury, the Avs were able to take care of business.
The series against St. Louis, however, was a bit more competitive. The Blues were on a winning streak of their own coming out on top in the final three games against the Wild where Jordan Binnington found his mojo. In Game 1, Binner was brilliant to say the least. He was the only reason Colorado didn't put up a 10-spot on the Blues. The Avalanche outshot the Blues 54-25, but needed an extra half of a period to put them away thanks to Binners' performance. The Blues adjusted in Game 2 and handed Colorado their first loss of postseason. The Avs immediately bounced back in Games 3 and 4 in St. Louis and went back to Denver with a 3-1 series lead. With Binnington going down in Game 3 after a collision with Nazem Kadri this series was all but over. For a while in Game 5 it seemed like Colorado was going to close it out. Then the Blues rallied back in the third and tied the game with under a minute left. Just a few minutes into the overtime period, Tyler Bozak scored to keep the Blues' hopes alive.
The score may have been close, but the Avs controlled just about all of Game 6. They trailed 2-1 going into the third, but like Game 1, the Blues' goaltending kept them afloat. This time it was Ville Husso being the brick wall in net. With a little over ten minutes left in regulation, J.T Compher scored on the powerplay to tie the game. Then with just 15 seconds to go, the Avs stormed up the ice for one final rush. Erik Johnson gained entry before passing off to Logan O'Connor who found a trailing Darren Helm streaking up the wing. He dished the puck across to the open patch of ice where it banked off the boards setting up a one timer for Helm. The puck went right through the traffic and over Husso's glove sending the Avalanche to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2002.
The opener against the Edmonton Oilers was a roller coaster of a game. Evander Kane opened up the scoring five minutes in. Then JT Compher scored 36 seconds later to knot it at 1. Nate MacKinnon scored a gorgeous goal to give the Avs the lead, but with under a minute left in the first frame Zach Hyman tied the game back up at 2. Just nine seconds after Cale Makar made a great pinch in the neutral zone skated in and ripped on over Mike Smith's shoulder to put his team up 3-2. This goal was awfully close to being offsides and I think if that's how it was called on the ice it would have been called as such. Unfortunately for the Oilers that's not how it ended up going ,and the Avs were off and running after a chaotic opening period to the series. They would wind up scoring four goals in the second and another one in the third to secure an 8-6 victory. The biggest takeaway from this game was that Darcy Kuemper left the game with an upper body injury and didn't play the rest of the series. Luckily for Colorado, Pavel Francouz is a very good backup. He would shut out the Oilers in Game 2 and give up just two goals on the road in Game 3. While they were up 3-0 in the series, they did lose Nazem Kadri early in Game 3 after a nasty hit from behind by Evander Kane. Kadri would need surgery on his thumb as a result of the hit.
Game 4 would be another mayhem filled contest. Colorado found themselves down 3-1 after 40 minutes of play, but would come roaring back in the third taking a late 5-4 lead after a Mikko Rantanen powerplay goal. Not even two minutes went by before the Oilers tied it to force overtime. The Avs wasted no time during the extra time to put the Oilers away. Darren Helm won an offensively zone draw back to Makar who immediately fired a shot on net. Artturi Lehkonen, who was acquired at the trade deadline, deflected the shot with almost a high stick, picked up the rebound with no one contesting him and buried it home. This was the second year in a row where Lehkonen was the overtime hero that sent his team to to the Stanley Cup Finals, a feat that I'm not sure anyone else has accomplished.
The Avalanche were well rested going into the finals against Tampa. The break gave Darcy Kuemper the time he needed to be ready for Game 1 in Colorado. Part of me as a Rangers' fan was glad Tampa ended up winning because I didn't think the Blueshirts stood any chance against the Avs. After seeing how Colorado came out in the first two games, I was over the moon that I didn't have to watch the Rangers get demolished that way. The first game went to overtime where Andre Burakovsky scored on a one timer 90 seconds in. If it weren't for Andrei Vasilevskiy this game would have been over in the first ten minutes which is essentially how Game 2 went down. Colorado took an early 2-0 lead and never looked back, winning by a score of 7-0. Tampa was able to bounce back in Game 3 handing the Avs their first road loss of the playoffs.
Game 4 was the best game of the series in my opinion. Tampa needed to do anything they could to prevent going down 3-1. Colorado was trying to give themselves an opportunity to win the Stanley Cup on home ice. This was such a hard fought battle right up until its controversial end. Nazem Kadri should have been sidelined for six weeks, but instead came back in 18 days to make his Stanley Cup debut. He jumped on for Nate MacKinnon a bit too early, received a pass from Artturi Lehkonen and scored a beautiful goal as he drove to the net. It definitely should have been called too many men, but the officials missed it and Kadri became the first player in history to score an overtime goal in his Cup final debut. This pretty much sealed the deal for Colorado. They were unable to close out the Bolts in Denver due to Andrei Vasilevskiy being a god in net, but they were able to take down the back to back defending champions in their own building.
Only a handful of teams of won the Stanley Cup in 20 games or fewer in the expansion era. Even fewer have closed every series out on the road. They were destined to win from day 1. No one could compete with their speed, their skill, and their depth. Outscoring their opponents 85-55 in playoffs and losing just once on the road, the 2022 Avalanche cemented themselves as one of the best teams of all time. They were the most deserving team out of all 32 to win, and Cale Makar was the most deserving player to take home the Conn Smythe honors as playoff MVP. He led the team with 29 points, which was the fourth most ever by a defenseman in a single postseason. He was without question the best guy on the ice every night. Nathan MacKinnon was incredible with his 13 goals and 24 points. Mikko Rantanen and Gabe Landeskog were terrific with their 47 combined points. There was no one who could stop them, even with the injuries they dealt with along the way.
After all of the celebrating Joe Sakic had to get back to work. Like many other contending teams around the league, the Avalanche weren't able to keep the whole group together because of their salary cap bind. They unfortunately had to say goodbye to Nazem Kadri, Andre Burakovsky, and Darcy Kuemper. They all signed contracts elsewhere that Colorado wasn't able to take on with who they had to make sure they locked in. Nathan MacKinnon was priority number. He's entering the final year of his insane team friendly deal where he was only taking a six-million dollar cap hit. His new contract that will kick in at the beginning of next season is worth twice as much per year. The Nate Dawg signed an eight-year $100.8 million dollar contract to keep him in the Centennial State for the remainder of the decade. The deal has the highest annual value in the history of the NHL, just barely squeaking out Connor McDavid's annual income. MacKinnon has come a long way since being taken first overall in 2013 and has earned every penny in this deal.
That wasn't all Sakic did to keep the team as whole as he could. He signed Val Nichushkin to an eight-year extension. He signed their two big trade deadline acquisitions Josh Manson and Artturi Lehkonen to long term deals. He traded two picks to the New York Rangers for their backup goalie Alexander Georgiev and extended his contract to keep him in Colorado for three years. It's a bit of a risk as Georgiev wasn't consistent during his time in New York, but the Avs have a good enough team where they don't need an all star goalie to win.
It will be a tall task for Colorado to go back to back this year. It will also be a tall task to take them down. With the core of their team very much in their primes, there is no way this team doesn't make another run at it. Even with the departures of Kadri and Burakovsky they still have one of the most potent offenses in the league led by two of the best players in the world. Their defense will be impenetrable. They have one of the best leaders behind the bench who will make sure that his team plays at 110% every night. Look for the Avalanche to dominate the league once again.
Heavy is the head that wears the crown, and right now, the Avs are in possession of that crown. Will they able to keep it? Or will someone else out there be able to dethrone them? It's a long season and a lot can happen, but I think we will have a new champion come next June. Let's just hope that whoever does end up winning doesn't dent the cup like the Avalanche did. Until we get to that point, let's enjoy another incredible year of hockey.
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