Everything is subject to change in the NHL, but a depth chart in June is really subject to change. As of right now, the Colorado Avalanche have just 28 players under contract for next season. By the time the middle of July rolls around, the Avalanche should be around the 40 player mark, as they add depth to both their NHL and AHL lineups. Players will be signed, and trades will (likely) be made.
For now, this is where Colorado stands. There’s a pretty steep drop off up front and on defense, but that’s to be expected with so much of the roster having to be rebuilt. Unrestricted free agents will not be included on the depth chart, but restricted free agents will be. The Avalanche really have just one restricted free agent of note, so it doesn’t change much.
(+ means they’re a restricted free agent)
Forwards
Left Wing
Center
Right Wing
Artturi Lehkonen*
Nathan MacKinnon
Mikko Rantanen
Gabriel Landeskog*
Casey Mittelstadt+
Valeri Nichushkin*
Miles Wood
Ross Colton
Logan O'Connor*
Jere Innala
Chris Wagner
Nikolai Kovalenko
Oskar Olausson
Ondrej Pavel
Jean-Luc Foudy
Jason Polin+
Ivan Ivan
Matthew Steinburg
Alex Beaucage+
On paper…not bad, right? Well, that would be the case if all of those players were available to the team when the season starts. As it looks right now, that will not be the case.
The asterisks indicate someone is either recovering from a major surgery or is currently suspended. That suspended guy, Valeri Nichushkin, might never play for the franchise again. He is under contract, so I felt like I had to include him, but if you skip over him, I wouldn’t blame you. Then you have Lehkonen, O’Connor, and Gabriel Landeskog. The former two are expected to be ready for training camp (O’Connor has already started skating), while there are still major question marks around when Landeskog will be ready. That means there are some holes on the wing. Jonathan Drouin would fill a big hole there, but he is currently unsigned.
If there’s one area you have to feel pretty good, it’s down the middle. Nathan MacKinnon, Casey Mittelstadt, and Ross Colton is a solid 1-2-3 punch, even if they might be lacking a little bit defensively. That’s one area the Avalanche don’t need to worry about, although they will need to find a solid fourth line center. I don’t believe Calum Ritchie will be in the NHL either way next season, but the reason he’s not listed is because he still hasn’t been given an entry-level contract.
Defense
Left D
Right D
Devon Toews
Cale Makar
Samuel Girard
Josh Manson
Jack Ahcan
Sam Malinski
Keaton Middleton
Sean Behrens
Sage Weinstein
Wyatt Aamodt+
Gianni Fairbrother
The top four from the postseason are all under contract for 2024-25, but will they all be there? That’s something we’ll discuss in the coming days. Nearly $26 million tied up into your top four isn’t all that bad, but I think it’s that $9.5 million second pair that sticks out a little bit. Is that somewhere the team could look to save some space?
The one thing that would scare you away from moving one of the top four guys is the depth behind them. Jack Johnson, Sean Walker, and Caleb Jones are all set to hit free agency, and while Sam Malinski looked good in his time up with the Avalanche, he’s still a relative unknown. The Avalanche are in need of depth on defense, and if they move a top four defenseman to save cap space, they’d immediately have to replace them.
Goaltending
Goaltenders
Alexandar Georgiev
Justus Annunen
Trent Miner
Depth chart is pretty cut and dry here. Barring the team going out and making a big change this summer, Alexandar Georgiev is the starter, while Justus Annunen will back him up. There is a definite need for a third goaltender, as you don’t really want to see Trent Miner get thrust into NHL action. Whether that third goaltender is signed this summer or picked up off waivers at the start of the season is the real question.
