What they still need
Forward depth. It’s very likely the Avalanche will again start the season without captain Gabriel Landeskog, who is still rehabbing from cartilage replacement surgery on his right knee on May 10, 2023. Colorado also will be without forward Valeri Nichushkin until at least November due to suspension. Forward Logan O’Connor is coming off hip surgery and forward Artturi Lehkonen may not be ready for training camp following offseason shoulder surgery.
They said it
“Underneath it all, I think we both felt it’s a marriage that works best with each other. And I’m not going to speak for Jonathan. I’m not privy to the other situations he may have had or not had early on in free agency. But the player has to want to come back, and I think he had a really good impact on our team, and from our coaches and everybody on the coaching side and Joe [Sakic] and myself, it just sort of was like round peg, round hole. And then, obviously with the year he had and he’s a UFA, that’s what makes it challenging. But when I spoke to Jonathan this morning and he said he was going to come back, it was a really good moment. And it certainly made our team better than when we didn’t have him up on the board, that’s for sure. ” — Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland on forward Jonathan Drouin, who signed a one-year contract July 1 to remain with Colorado
Fantasy focus
Center Casey Mittelstadt has perhaps the highest fantasy value prior to a season in his NHL career entering his first full season with the Avalanche. He had 10 points (four goals, six assists) in 18 games with Colorado after being acquired in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres, with whom he had 47 points (14 goals, 33 assists) in 62 games. He benefits from possible exposure to wing Artturi Lehkonen if he centers their second line. Lehkonen had an NHL career-high 51 points (21 goals, 30 assists) in 2022-23 with the Avalanche. Mittelstadt also has a major boost in fantasy value this season with a spot on their top power play unit; Colorado ranked fifth in the NHL with the man-advantage last season (24.5). — Anna Dua
Projected lineup
Artturi Lehkonen — Nathan MacKinnon — Jonathan Drouin
Parker Kelly — Casey Mittelstadt — Mikko Rantanen
Miles Wood — Ross Colton — Logan O’Connor
Joel Kiviranta — Jean-Luc Foudy — Nikolai Kovalenko
Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Samuel Girard — Josh Manson
Calvin de Haan — Erik Brannstrom
Alexandar Georgiev
Justus Annunen
