There were a lot of questions surrounding the Colorado Avalanche forwards going into the offseason, but general manager Chris MacFarland has quietly built a pretty solid group. Things will look very different than they did last season, even though there are a number of familiar faces within this group.
The usual suspects of Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen will lead the charge once again, but the depth at the forward position looks much better than it did a year ago. There’s still plenty of time before the season starts, but the forward lines for the Avs already appear to be taking shape. Here’s a preliminary look at what Colorado’s lines could look like on opening night.
Top Line: Drouin-MacKinnon-Rantanen
The familiarity and impact of MacKinnon and Rantanen is well known throughout the NHL. The duo combined for 97 goals and 216 points last season. The only teammates to combine for more points last season were the ridiculous duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers – who combined for 281 points. The Avs pair have been a force for years, but they usually run alongside Gabriel Landeskog at the top line, but the captain will miss the entire season recovering from surgery.
Colorado brought in veteran Jonathan Drouin in free agency, and he will likely get the first crack at filling Landeskog’s shoes. The good news is that there is some familiarity with Drouin, too. He played with MacKinnon with the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in their junior days – and the two of them lit it up together. The other side of that coin is that was roughly 10 years ago.
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Drouin played for the dismal Montreal Canadiens for the last six seasons but managed just 48 total goals over those seasons. Rantanen scored 55, and MacKinnon scored 42 last season alone. If Drouin wants to stick with his running mate from juniors, he’s going to have to step things up. He’ll get some help simply by being on the ice with those two since the Canadiens have nothing even close to a pairing like Rantanen and MacKinnon, but a hot start will be imperative for Drouin.
Second Line: Lehkonen-Johansen-Nichushkin
This is the combination that Avalanche faithful should be most excited about. There is potential oozing from this line, as the Avalanche are banking on a trade for Ryan Johansen to cure the woes from a season ago at second-line center. Artturi Lehkonen – another player that escaped purgatory in Montreal through a trade in 2022 – had the best season of his career in his first full campaign in Colorado. In 2022-23, Lehkonen notched his first 20-goal season and posted a career-high 30 assists as well.
Lehkonen will be a reliable force at left wing, but there is uncertainty in the other two spots. Valeri Nichushkin will likely be on the right side, but he dealt with injuries throughout the regular season and a bizarre situation at the team’s hotel during the Avalanche’s brief playoff stint. He’s been an offensive powerhouse for the Avs the last two seasons and will be an important part of the squad in 2023-24 – but he has to stay on the ice. The more Lehkonen and Nichushkin are available, the better it will be for Johansen.
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Much like Drouin, Johansen is trying to recapture his form from earlier in his career. From 2013-2019, Johansen averaged more than 60 points per season. He’s only eclipsed that 60-point plateau just once in the past four seasons. Colorado has plenty of weapons, and Lehkonen and Nichushkin are two that look prepped for another solid campaign. If Johansen can just remain consistent, this could be a pretty powerful second line.
Third Line: Wood-Colton-O’Connor
This is probably the most intriguing potential line for Colorado, mainly because it has a couple of newcomers to the squad. Both newcomers – Ross Colton and Miles Wood – bring some grit along with some scoring punch. That should fit nicely with Logan O’Connor, who brings a little bit of those things to the table, as well. O’Connor had the best season of his career in 2022-23, scoring nine goals and 17 assists for 26 points – all career highs. Most importantly, his time on the ice has increased in each of his seasons.
The most exciting prospect for this line is Colton. He gives Colorado a lot of depth at the center position – which is a stark contrast from last season. The Avs traded for Colton this offseason, and getting his contract extension wrapped up before arbitration was one of the biggest things the Avalanche had to do before the puck dropped on the 2023-24 campaign. He’s an efficient scorer at even strength (1.99 points per 60 minutes) and should boost the play of both O’Connor and Wood.
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Wood bounced back with a solid 2022-23 after hip surgery, scoring 13 goals and 27 points in 76 games. He is the grinder of the group, as he has shown no issues with getting dirty areas. He’s a guy Colorado knows can deliver good minutes and is going to probably come up with 25-30 points. Wood also has blazing speed, and O’Connor has plenty of jump. There should be multiple opportunities for this group to spread their wings in 2023-24.
Best of the Rest
It’s tough to predict the fourth line going forward, but prospects Ben Meyers and Fredrik Olofsson are probably the frontrunners to make up this line with veteran Andrew Cogliano. In his first full season with the Avalanche, Cogliano was more than sufficient, playing in 79 games. He is a gritty player that brings a lot of knowledge to the ice and is a force on the penalty kill. However, the other two have to prove they can fit in.
Olofsson has played just one NHL campaign, scoring four points in 28 games for the Dallas Stars last season. He has shown flashes of his ability to create scoring opportunities, but consistency has been his issue. Meyers scored four goals in 39 appearances last season, but he should get a lot more minutes in the upcoming season – the last on his contract before becoming a restricted free agent. If those two can string together any consistency playing alongside Cogliano, the fourth line for Colorado could be solid, as well.
Of course, there are other prospects (namely guys like Oskar Olausson and Jean-Luc Foudy), and there is generally more movement with the last line, but the Avalanche looks to be in decent shape. There will certainly take some getting used to these line combinations since each of them possess a player that wasn’t in Denver a year ago. However, faced with little cap room and a glut of expiring contracts, the front office has set this offense up with a lot of potential. The only question is whether or not they come together like they did in the Stanley Cup run of 2022 or if they blaze out with another early playoff exit.