30 teams in 30 days: Colorado Avalanche
Finished: 15th western conference
Leading scorers: Ryan Smyth 59, Milan Hejduk 59, Wojtek Wolski 42, John-Michael Liles 39
Who did they add?: Craig Anderson, David Koci, Kyle Quincey, Tom Preissing
Who did they lose?: Andrew Raycroft, Ian Laperriere Joe Sakic, Ryan Smyth
Overview: The avs 2008-2009 season was abysmal, to say the least. Finishing last in the western conference, their worst season since moving to Colorado from Quebec in 1995, they didn’t really have anything going for them. The summer hasn’t been much better for the Avalanche, with the lone bright spots the drafting of Matt Duchene and the signing of Craig Anderson. Joe Sakic retiring, Ryan Smyth leaving, things look bleak in Colorado. Their offense starts - and ends - with Paul Stastny and Milan Hejduk on their first line, with Marek Svatos and Wojtek Wolski able to produce on the second line. They don’t have much more than this though, and will need Matt Duchene or T.J. Hensick to provide some extra scoring. Their defense corps is a little better, with John Liles and Ruslan Salei at the helm. They got a little better when they acquired Tom Preissing and Kyle Quincey through trade, but the bulk of their D are old and immobile. Look for Quincey to be put into a power play and puck moving role, but not much support is behind him. Their goaltending is a little better than last year, with Craig Anderson replacing Andrew Raycroft between the pipes, and Peter Budaj backing him up. Craig Anderson had one good year last year, so it remains to be seen if he can post the same, or better, numbers in Colorado this season. The Avs didn’t get much better this summer, and they are in rebuild mode, so look for them to miss the playoffs once again and finish towards the bottom of western conference.
Winners or losers?: The Avalanche took baby steps this summer to improve their roster, but they are still losers this summer, albeit small ones. They traded away Ryan Smyth, their leading scorer from last year and their character player for a young defenseman who still needs time to develop and an old defenseman who isn’t very good, plain and simple. They also took a gamble on a goalie who had one good year. Perhaps Duchene and Stastny can discover some chemistry and Anderson can discover an amazing first season as starter. If these two discoveries occur, then perhaps the Avs can find their way out of the basement of the West. Not likely though, in my opinion.
