The Colorado Avalanche were a regular season juggernaut for the 5^th consecutive season, posting a PTS% greater than 65% once again. Despite this, in year where they recorded 107 points, they were the third seed in the Central Division during the postseason, where they were eliminated (Surprisingly) at home in game 6 by the division champion Dallas Stars. In a potentially ironic twist of fate, it was former Stars’ draft pick Valeri Nichushkin’s sudden departure from the team in the playoffs that contributed heavily to the Avalanche coming up short. Chris MacFarland went into the 2024 offseason with limited cap space and draft capital to upgrade the Avalanche roster to overcome the top teams in the Western Conference.

               The Avalanche had a pair of intriguing free agent acquisitions in veteran defenseman Calvin De Haan and former standout prospect Erik Brännström. For the past six years of his career, De Haan has been a low impact, but predominantly positive GAR contributor playing limited minutes, with most of his deployment being in the neutral and defensive zones. He factors to play a similar role on a team who boasts a top-3 of Cale Makar, Devon Toews, and Sam Girard. Brännström is going to see himself filling one of two roles this season in Colorado: Third-pairing Defender alongside De Haan or breakout season. During his time in Ottawa, Brännström showed flashes that he could be a legitimate top-4 impact defenseman in the NHL, but based on his deployment and the overall disorganization of the team itself it became evident that the player who was so electric playing for HV71 in the SHL and the Belleville Senators of the AHL was never going to materialize in Canada’s capital. I am optimistic about what Brännström will be able to do in Colorado under Jared Bednar, because his age 24 season (last year) was fairly like that of then New York Islanders castoff Devon Toews, who ended up, like Brännström, being the odd man out on a young and upcoming group of defenders that included Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock. Aside from these two defenders, MacFarland was unable to make any significant additions due to the cap constraints of Nichushkin and Landeskog’s contracts impacting their spending ability until the start of the season.

There was one more high quality/ceiling, low cost acquisition for Colorado in the form of D Oliver Kylington. Kylington’s career the last few years has been beset by mental health issues that he has been open about, but he still has much to bring to the table as indicated by the higher end of his analytics profile. I think this is a mutually beneficial signing for both parties, as he is going to an organization that has handled matters akin to Kylington’s struggles professionally by NHL standards, and they are getting a gifted D-man that still has much to contribute at a very manageable price tag compliant with their cap situation.

               The draft was both interesting and underwhelming for the Avalanche this season. They did not have a first-round selection in this class and appear to have whiffed on all their third-round picks based on NHLe comps for most these players’ offensive performances in their D-1 and D-0 seasons. However: Ilya Nabokov. Selected at 38^th overall, the 21-year-old Russian goalie recently completed a dominant Gagarin Cup winning season for Magnitogorsk Metallurg of the KHL where he posted a 93.3% save in the regular season and a 94.2% save during the playoff run. Nabokov’s play for Magnitogorsk’s MHL team from 2020 to 2022 was stellar, and his dynamic run as a KHL rookie was seemingly the next step in his progression. Nabokov will likely see the ice in Denver in either 2025 or 2026, and I fully expect an Ilya Sorokin-type trajectory for him.

               Overall, the Avalanche had a very quiet offseason due to things both in and out of their control. MacFarland was unable to make any significant moves to improve their forward depth, which is concerning in the event that any of their top-6 in unable to go for long stretches of the season, but that group of forwards is still among the best the NHL has to offer. The defensive retool has the potential to push the Avalanche back into Stanley Cup title contention if Brännström can do in Colorado what Brandon Montour and Gustav Forsling were able to do in Florida. Kylington also will bolster that back-end if we see him at his absolute best, but there are still overarching question marks. At this point, I have to rate their offseason as a C because the team hasn’t improved or regressed against what they were last season.