The Colorado Avalanche may never lose again. With a comeback win against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night (March 19), the Avalanche extended their winning streak to seven games to bring them to 44-20-5 on the season and into an enthralling three-way tie for first place in the Central Division with 93 points. The Winnipeg Jets currently hold the first tiebreaker with 39 regulation wins (RWs) to the Avalanche’s 37 and the Dallas Stars’ 31, though the Jets and Avalanche are even with 69 games played.
Regardless, the Avalanche look reinvigorated since general manager Chris MacFarland retooled the roster at the trade deadline. They’ve rattled off five wins in five games and knocked off two of their main Western Conference rivals in the Edmonton Oilers and the Vancouver Canucks, with each of the four new acquisitions playing a role in those victories.
Let’s dive into how the Avalanche’s additions have contributed to their success in an admittedly small sample size, and how they figure into their postseason plans as the team eyes an extended run in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Casey Mittelstadt, Center/Left Wing
The Avalanche’s prized acquisition at the deadline, Casey Mittelstadt, is their attempt at rectifying the mistake of the Ryan Johansen experiment. MacFarland was forced to part ways with Bowen Byram in exchange, so there is a lot riding on whether Mittelstadt is able to successfully mesh within the team’s high-octane system. So far, the move has already paid noticeable dividends.
In five games since the deadline, Mittelstadt has scored two goals and four points, all of which have come at even strength (second on the team in that time). The 25-year-old pivot has averaged 15:58 to rank sixth among Avalanche forwards in all situations over that span and assumed a role on the team’s secondary powerplay unit, also ranking sixth among Avalanche forwards in average ice time (ATOI) with the man-advantage since the trade.
Mittelstadt has not featured on the penalty kill, with shorthanded duties falling to the Avalanche’s other deadline acquisitions (more on them later). Even so, he’s swiftly ingrained himself into the team’s top-six and offered more value for a lower cap hit than the one belonging to Johansen. He’s also won 51.4 percent of his draws, which is a welcome development for a club that ranks in the bottom 10 of the NHL by face-off win percentage and has highlighted their success in the face-off circle as a weakness in recent seasons.
Notably, Byram has found early success with the Buffalo Sabres, scoring three goals and six points in eight games while ranking second among all Sabres’ skaters in average ice time. Given that the possibility that the young defender would thrive in a new situation was always a part of the calculus for any trade, the Avalanche should still be satisfied with the early returns on the deal.
Sean Walker, Defenseman
With Byram heading to Buffalo in the Mittelstadt deal, the Avalanche suddenly had a need for another capable defender for what they hope is a long playoff run. Enter right-handed Sean Walker, who was acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers for Johansen along with a first-round pick which was added as a sweetener for taking the full brunt of the veteran center’s cap hit.
The 29-year-old blueliner has already flashed the puck-transporting and proactive instincts in the offensive zone that made him attractive to the Avalanche in the first place, scoring two goals and three points in five games to date. Head coach Jared Bednar frequently has his defensemen jump up into the play whenever possible, and that strategy paid off handsomely with Walker’s two-goal performance against the Oilers in a recent comeback win.
Walker leads all Avalanche rearguards in shots (15) since the deadline while playing the fourth-most average minutes per game on the blue line, including ranking second in shorthanded ice time. Lessening Cale Makar’s penalty-killing duties was a clear goal as the star defenseman has looked out of sorts in recent weeks, and Walker’s presence should help keep the entire defense core fresher come playoff time by spreading out the on-ice responsibilities.
While trading for Walker offers the Avalanche tangible on-ice benefits, it simultaneously keeps the player away from other prospective suitors who could stand to improve significantly by having him in their lineup. The Oilers were scouring the trade market for a potential upgrade on their right side, but saw the cost associated with Walker – one of the top targets at the deadline – as too expensive, paving the way for the veteran to join a direct rival.
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Now, the Avalanche can steadily run three pairs with at least one dynamic, puck-moving defender on each of them which enables them to push the tempo regardless of which forward group is on the ice. It’s early, but it’s clear that the addition of Walker could stand to be the most impactful move from this season’s deadline.
Yakov Trenin, Left Wing/Cener
27-year-old utility forward Yakov Trenin has yet to hit the scoresheet as a member of the Avalanche (zero points in five games), but his physicality and positional versatility have been on full display.
The 6-foot-2, 201-pound Trenin ranks second on the team with 14 hits since joining the Avalanche at the deadline, and has fired an average of two shots on goal per game. He’s also taken (50) and won (25) the third-most draws among Avalanche skaters, and has been the team’s second-most used forward on the penalty kill with 2:18 per game while shorthanded. The Avalanche have killed all 14 of their penalties since the deadline, with Trenin playing a key role in their success.
Trenin has played primarily with Miles Wood and Ross Colton at five-on-five, and the newly formed line has dominated their opposition. According to MoneyPuck, that line has accounted for 76.5 percent of the expected goals share (xGF%) despite being outscored 1-0 in 18 minutes of ice time. It’s an extremely small sample size, but also an encouraging development for a team looking for dependable depth behind their offensive superstars.
Any coach would be thrilled to have a security blanket dropped in his lap as Trenin was at the deadline, and the Russian forward has been a solid addition despite his quiet boxscore output. He’s scored five goals in 10 career playoff games so he’s shown some ability to score in high-stakes situations, and the Avalanche will hope that version re-emerges this spring.
Brandon Duhaime, Right Wing/Left Wing
Brandon Duhaime was the Avalanche’s least heralded acquisition at the deadline but becomes an underrated piece to the puzzle, especially after Logan O’Connor underwent season-ending surgery. The 26-year-old winger has seen borderline top-nine usage by averaging 11:54 per game in all situations (ninth among forwards since the deadline) and ranks fifth among Avalanche forwards in shorthanded ice time (1:27 per game).
Duhaime only has a lone assist to his name through five games with the Avalanche, but surprisingly ranks fifth on the team in shots on goal since the deadline (13) and leads all skaters in hits (15) despite his diminished deployment. He doesn’t boast much NHL playoff experience (12 career games), but it’s not difficult to imagine Duhaime’s physical and energetic style translating well to the postseason.
Related: Avalanche’s Post-2024 NHL Trade Deadline Playoff Outlook
In Duhaime’s 50 minutes of ice time at five-on-five, the Avalanche have out-chanced the opposition 30-18 (62.5 percent), out-shot them 36-19 (65.5 percent), and accounted for 65.5 percent of the expected goals tally. If you (rightfully) assume that the likes of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Makar will win their minutes by enough of a margin that what the depth does doesn’t matter, then anything else is gravy.
That Duhaime has contributed to a significant ice-tilt in limited minutes is a good sign and with how draining an extended playoff run can be, a 2026 third-round pick is a small price to pay for a player who could shift the momentum at a crucial point in any potential series come the spring.
Avalanche Ready for Deep Stanley Cup Playoff Run
Even if the Avalanche fail to win the Central Division, this is still a team capable of reaching – and winning – the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. They’re fifth in the NHL by points percentage (PTS%) since the start of 2024 and second since the start of March, with the Nashville Predators the only other team in the Western Conference to put up a better stretch of results over the past two weeks.
Tankathon’s strength-of-schedule metric (SOS) gives them the 11th-hardest schedule for the rest of the season, easier than that of the Jets (sixth) but more difficult than that of the Stars (27th). They still have direct match-ups with each of the Jets, Stars, and Oilers (twice) over their final 13 games, and those outcomes could have a significant impact on the final seeding for the postseason.
Through earning home-ice advantage for the entirety of the Western bracket, the Avalanche boast the talent and experience to feel confident against any potential opponent. If all goes right, a second Stanley Cup Final appearance (and win) in the past three seasons could be in the cards, and I wouldn’t bet against MacKinnon and company to ascend to the top of the NHL mountain.