New Look Avalanche Outlook

Photo Credit: www.reddit.com

Now that the dust has settled a bit on the 2016 off season we can start to get an idea of what the 2016-2017 Colorado Avalanche team will look like.

If you put much stock into the actual website for the Avalanche (www.coloradoavalanche.com) it lists 12 forwards 8 Defenscemen and 2 goalies on their NHL roster.

I am not sure if those players listed will be who actually ends up making the final roster for opening day on October 15th 2016 but lets use
them as a starting point to try and piece together
what some potential line combinations could be.

#	NAME	POS	HEIGHT	WEIGHT	DATE OF BIRTH	AGE	BIRTH PLACE
	JOE COLBORNE	C	6' 5"	221	JAN 30, 1990	26	CALGARY, AB, CAN
14	BLAKE COMEAU	L	6' 1"	202	FEB 18, 1986	30	MEADOW LAKE, SK, CAN
9	MATT DUCHENE	C	5' 11"	200	JAN 16, 1991	25	HALIBURTON, ON, CAN
25	MIKHAIL GRIGORENKO	C	6' 3"	209	MAY 16, 1994	22	KHABAROVSK, RUS
	ROCCO GRIMALDI	C	5' 6"	180	FEB 8, 1993	23	ANAHEIM, CA, USA
12	JAROME IGINLA "A"	R	6' 1"	210	JUL 1, 1977	39	EDMONTON, AB, CAN
92	GABRIEL LANDESKOG "C"	L	6' 1"	210	NOV 23, 1992	23	STOCKHOLM, SWE
29	NATHAN MACKINNON	C	6' 0"	195	SEP 1, 1995	20	HALIFAX, NS, CAN
27	ANDREAS MARTINSEN	L	6' 3"	220	JUN 13, 1990	26	BÆRUM, NOR
55	CODY MCLEOD "A"	L	6' 2"	210	JUN 26, 1984	32	BINSCARTH, MB, CAN
7	JOHN MITCHELL	C	6' 1"	204	JAN 22, 1985	31	OAKVILLE, ON, CAN
34	CARL SODERBERG	C	6' 3"	216	OCT 12, 1985	30	MALMÖ, SWE

here is the forward chart copied directly from:

http://avalanche.nhl.com/club/roster.htm?location=/roster

Note - Joe Sakic said that Mikko Rantanen would be a full time NHL player this coming season as well as Calvin Pikard, Nikita Zadorov, Chris Bigra.

Note - There are also some reports that the avalanche could be buying out John Mithchel, or he could be on the trade block.

If I were going to be piecing together some line combinations to try for this coming year with these players they would probably look something like this...


Lets take a look first at what some line combinations might look like with just who is listed on the website. After that I will make some predictions about who will make the team for opening night.

LW. Gabriel Landeskog    C. Matt Duchene           RW. Rocco Grimaldi
LW. Joe Colborne              C. Nathan Mackinnon  RW. Mikhail Grigorenko
LW. Blake Comue              C. Carl Soderberg        RW.  Jerome Iginla
LW. Andreas Martinsen    C. John Mitchell           RW. Cody Mcloed

Not sure about you guys, but those forward lines look pretty dang legitimate to me. I will predict that Joe will stick to his word though and Mikko will be starting up with the Avalanche to start the year.

While not many people I speak with have much faith in Grimaldi I personally feel like he has elite level skill and ability. He obviously is smaller but we are seeing more and more of the small players find success at the NHL level.

I remember another small guy by the name of Martin st Louis who went un-drafted because of his size. No scout would deny his skill level, but no scout would risk their job by drafting him either.

He ended up having quiet the career when it was all said and done. The 6 time all star went on to win the Art Ross Trophy twice. (given to the leagues highest scorer) The Lady Byng Memorial Trophy 3 times, (given to the most gentlemanly player) and finally was a Stanley Cup Champion in the 2004. Even playing through the clutch and grab era of the NHL he was able to accomplish all of that and more.

These days smaller players are being able to really show their skill. A player for the Calgary Flames has been putting on a show sense he was drafted by the name of Johnny Gaudreau. With the self given nick name of "Johnny Hockey" Gaudreau has shown that his game is much larger then his 5' 9" frame might suggest. Gaudreau is all ready a 2 time NHL all star despite only playing in the league for 2 years so far.

There are many more examples out there of smaller players who are finding success at the NHL level, but i am digressing from my point so lets get back to Avalanche hockey...

Photo Credit: Getty Images

One Scout I spoke with recently had this to say about Game.

" in that era, I was seeing live Seguin, Hall, Landeskog, Gaudreau, Grimaldi, Yakupov, Galchenyuk, etc on a weekly basis. From a pure skill standpoint, Grimaldi was by far the best. Look into him, he's the kind of guy you'd want your daughter to marry... He was considerably better than Gaudreau. They played on the same team together, so I saw them live a lot against the same competition... His stickhandling is great, passing, shooting, defense, and he's a great penalty killer. Even with that short stick... I had Landeskog #1 and Grimaldi #2 their draft year. Nugent-Hopkins was #4."

Personally I hope that the Avalanche saw what he did as well, and are willing to give him a legitimate shot at showing what he can do at the NHL level.

Next lets take a look at the defensemen that are listed on the website...

Defensemen

#	NAME	HEIGHT	WEIGHT	DATE OF BIRTH	AGE	BIRTH PLACE
4	TYSON BARRIE	5' 10"	190	JUL 26, 1991	24	VICTORIA, BC, CAN
32	FRANCOIS BEAUCHEMIN	6' 1"	208	JUN 4, 1980	36	SOREL, QC, CAN
3	CHRIS BIGRAS	6' 1"	190	FEB 22, 1995	21	ORILLIA, ON, CAN
44	ERIC GELINAS	6' 4"	215	MAY 8, 1991	25	VANIER, ON, CAN
6	ERIK JOHNSON	6' 4"	232	MAR 21, 1988	28	BLOOMINGTON, MN, USA
	FEDOR TYUTIN	6' 2"	221	JUL 19, 1983	32	IZHEVSK, RUS
	PATRICK WIERCIOCH	6' 5"	202	SEP 12, 1990	25	BURNABY, BC, CAN
16	NIKITA ZADOROV	6' 5"	220	APR 16, 1995	21	MOSCOW, RUS

here is one pairing that we could potentially see this coming year. With the core of players they have on the back end I think that a lot of it is going to come down to who shows chemistry and the most growth in their game in camp and pre-season.

Photo Credit: www.denverpost.com

Erik Johnson       Francois Beauchemin
Tyson Barrie       Patrick Wiercioch
Chris Bigra         Nikita Zadorov

rotational players


Fedor Tyutin
Eric Gelinas


Joe Sakic has also recently mentioned that when they traded former player Nick Holden it was to open up more ice time for Nikita Zadorov, Chris Bigra and Duncan Siemens. I think that shows that we may see the Avalanche giving him a really close look as well this season.

I could also see Tyutin beating Bigra or Wiercioch out for a spot on a regular basis also depending on how things shake down in camp.

The nice thing about having such depth on the blue line for the first time in many years is that the Avalanche will be able to play certain match ups based on who they are facing that night as well.

In goal the Avalanche have Semyon Varlamov who is currently slated as the starter on their depth charts with youngster Calvin Pikard right on his heels. It should be fun to watch the tandem this year as both have shown flashes over the past couple seasons that they could have what it takes to take over a game at any given moment.

Of course a lot can change over the course of training camp and the pre-season, but these are some of the combinations I would like to see this year. They look to have a solid position battle at virtually every position this year so camp will be vital for anyone who is hoping to make the team.

Who are you hoping to see make the team out of camp this year? Is there a specific rookie or AHL player that you think is ready to make the jump? Leave your comments and thoughts here I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas!

Nathan MacKinnon here for the long haul!

Photo Credit: thesportsquotient.com

The Colorado Avalanche have announced that forward Nathan Mackinnon has been signed to a 7 year extension at a total hit of 44.1 million dollars.

This is some exciting news as many of the fan base had started to lose faith in the franchises ability to sign and keep their young star players long term. The length and term of the deal indicate that not only did the Avalanche want to keep Nathan around, but he shared the same views.

This leaves the avalanche with an estimated 8.3 million dollars left to sign blue liner Tyson Barrie and forward  Mikhail Grigorenko.

This is a step in the right direction in my honest opinion. The Avalanche have stepped forward and given Mackinnon a nice big long deal. They also did not over pay for him either. This contract will come down to being an absolute steal in the next couple years as the cap goes up and the UFA deals continue to be blown out of the water.

This move allows the team to keep Nathan around long term but still have enough cap left to build the rest of the team around him and the rest of the core.

Praise to the Avalanche, Praise to Nathan and as the famous Disney movie would suggest..

"Praise the Ant Mother!"

Plus Minus - How did the Avalanche do in Free Agent Frenzy 2016?

First lets take a look at the additions the team made on july 1st 2016.

Photo Credit: sports.yahoo.com

Signed on July 1st 2016:

Name: Fedor Tyutin

Height: 6' 2"

Weight: 212

Position: Defenseman 

Age: 32

Contract: 1 year deal worth 2 Million USD per year

Photo Credit: slam.canoe.com

Name: Joe Colborne 

Height: 6' 5"

Weight: 220

Position: Forward

Age: 26

Contract: 2 year deal worth 2.5 Million USD per year

Photo Credit: www.cbc.ca

Name: Patrick Wiercioch

Height: 6' 6"

Weight: 190

Position: Defenseman 

Age: 25

Contract: 1 year deal worth 800k USD per year

The Avalanche also signed many players who are expected to be starting to fill out the San Antonio Rampage American Hockey League (AHL) roster as well. The player they signed expected to start next year with the Rampage are:

Forwards Reid Petryk and Trent Vogelhuber. Both were signed to 2 year deals.

Forwards Turner Elson, Jim O'Brien, Mike Sislo and Joe Whitney were all signed to 1 year deals.

Goalie Jeremy Smith signed a 1 year deal.

Defenseman Ryan Stanton also was signed to a 1 year deal.

Lost Due to free agency on July 1st 2016:

Forward Shawn Matthias - Signed a 2 year deal with the Winnipeg Jets worth 2.125 Million USD per year.

Forward Mikkel Boedker - Signed 4 year deal with the San Jose Sharks worth 4 Million USD per year.

Lets start off with the players that we lost so that we can end things with the positives about who we picked up. While we only were able to see Mikkel Boedker play for us for a short period of time after last seasons trade deadline I really hoped that the Avalanche would be able to bring him back for at least another year.

It was a sheer joy to sit back and watch Nathan Mackinnon actually have a player on his line who was just as fast, if not faster then him. I was predicting a very big season out of both Nathan and Mikkel if they were able to stay together.

That being said it appears that the Avalanche did all they could to keep him but unfortunately he decided to head to the San Jose Sharks.

I would like to wish him the best in his future career. (except for when he suits up against the Avalanche in the future of course...) 

Shawn Matthias was again another player that we only got the pleasure of watching with the Avalanche for a few short weeks but in his time with us he showed that he could be a real asset to a hockey team. He seemed to find pretty quick chemistry with Carl Soderberg and brought a strong nosed physical presence to the team. While the team will miss him I feel like one of the players that were picked up in free agency will help to ease the blow of him going to play for the division rival Winnipeg Jets.

Now to the more fun part of the article..

What EXACTLY are we getting in the players anticipated to be with the Avalanche next year?

Lets take closer look at that starting with Joe Colborne.

The first thing that will jump out at you when you look at him is his pure size. At 6' 5" 220 pounds this guy is an absolute beast of a man. As a fan watching the games you will never have to wonder where he is on the ice.

Joe was also the 16th pick overall in the 2008 National Hockey League (NHL) Entry draft. 

here is a scouting report on him from his draft year courtesy of hockeysfuture.com:

"The smooth skating, 6’5 center, has soft hands, good vision and a wicked release. He also has great puck control which makes him hard to handle when he’s on his game. He oozes potential, but has been unable to put it all together consistently over a long period of time. He’s had some injury troubles over the last few seasons which has hampered his development. Even with his flaws, Colborne is a high-character individual, and is someone willing to put in the work, to improve on his shortcomings."

Photo Credit: www.calgarysun.com

Last season for the Calgary Flames he played in 73 games scoring 19 goals and 25 assists for a total of 44 points. In his last seven games for the Flames he produced 5 multi point games.  When the Avalanche were unable to keep hold of Shawn Matthias I feel like this was a great replacement option for them. Multiple reports were out there that Colborne was looking for a contract in the 4 million USD per year range. The Avalanche were able to talk him into signing a 2 year deal for 2.5 million USD per year. I think that shows that he also felt like the Avalanche were a great fit for him. Here are his thoughts about how his discussions with Joe Sakic went before signing with the team: 

“I asked Joe if he saw me on the wing or center, and he said ‘We don’t really care. We see you doing both.’ He mentioned guys like (Matt) Duchene, who can play center or wing, and (Nathan) MacKinnon, who has played both. You can change based on lineups, matchups, and it gives you a bunch of options.”

personally I am very excited the more I look into this guy. He seems like not only a good solid physical hockey player, but a good stand up person off the ice as well. I look forward to seeing how he fits into the line up. My assumption would be that he might play with captain Gabe Landeskog and Carl Soderberg to form a MASSIVE, strong, physical line that should be able to cycle the puck down low and be a real handful for the opposition defense.


Wherever he plays for us he is coming off a career year in goals and scoring and is looking to continue the success and scoring touch that he found last season.

Here is a video with some of his highlights for you to get a better feel for the type of heavy game that he brings to a team.

Next up we have 25 year old Patrick Wiercioch. You might remember if your a frequent reader of my blog that a few articles back I spoke about our transition game being a big issue. I also mentioned that we needed to find some help on the back end that can get off a great first pass and help with the transition game going and also keep puck possession going into this season.

Well, it appears that Joe Sakic agrees with that thought as they picked up someone who posses an excellent first pass. Wiercioch also posses a strong offensive game and has scored 62 points in 211 NHL games played.

He has scored 12 goals and 50 assists. He has scored 2 goals and 2 assists in his 7 playoff games that he has played in as well.

Here is HockeysFutures scouting report on Wiercioch when he was drafted..

"Wiercioch has a nice blend of size and skill. He’s a good all-round defenseman who can play in many different situations. A mobile puck moving defenseman, he has very good hands but needs to improve his skating. Additional size and strength will need to be added to become more effective against higher competition. Has the smarts and know how to be effective."

at just 25 still he has a lot of room to still grow and become a more consistent player in the NHL. Generally speaking defensemen take a little bit longer to develop and get a solid handle on the NHL game. The Avalanche signed him to a 1 year deal so to me this is the team giving him a chance to get out there on the ice and prove to them that he is worth a much bigger longer term deal. 

This should give him even more motivation to continue to develop his game and his craft to the next level. Next years Avalanche team will be a very physically big strong team. 

Eliteprospects.com had this to say about him when he was drafted:

"A two-way defenseman with excellent hands. Needs to improve his skating and mobility. Has great hockey sense and size. "

here is a video of an overtime winner he scores. He shows great mobility in this clip centering the puck before he circles behind the net and then gets back in position to receive the pass and lets it rip. 






This kid has got a chip on his shoulder and he has a lot to prove this season to not only the Avalanche and Ottawa Senators who let him go as an Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA) but to the rest of the league as well. I have absolute confidence that mid way through next season Avalanche fans are going to be asking how in the world is this guy on an 800k contract?

Interesting side note.. Wiercioch and Colborne both played for Denver University and actually played together on the same team!

Finally but not least of course lets take a look at the other blueliner that the team was able to sign, Fedor Tyutin.

So Tyutin is that veteran pick up on the blue line this year. He is 32 years old and is much more of a physical hard nosed defenceman. Something that we severely lacked the last couple of seasons.

In 803 games played over his 12 seasons in the NHL Tyutin has put up 54 goals, 197 assists and a whopping 510 penalty minuets.  Those stat lines kind of tell you about all you need to know about the guy. He isn't one to let the other team just stand in front of the goalie, or to sit by after a team mate gets crushed.

Avalanche fans should look at this pick up as what we all expected/anticipated from Brad Stuart when we picked him up. Unfortunately he picked up many quick injurys and never quiet got to show us fans what he really can do for a team when healthy.

My best wishes go out to him and his future en-devours as well.

Here are a couple videos that show the kind of hits and physical play you can expect to see from him this year with the Avalanche:




And Another..





Some might look at him as one of those players who plays on the edge physically speaking. A lot of Avalanche fans thought it was great when Adam Foote played for the Avalanche.

When he later returned to play against us with another team many fans started to say "wow, that was a dirty play!" and have a new thought about the player. While I am not saying that Tyutin is Adam Foote by any stretch of the imagination, what I am saying is that he is going to be that same kind of a player that you absolutely hate to play against but love having on your team.

As this article itself is getting quiet large I will write up a separate one covering the AHL signings and what their stats are what kinds of players they are and if I am predicting that any of them will make it to see NHL ice before their careers are over.

Thanks for the read and until next time.. #GoAvs!