The Colorado Avalanche couldn’t get a lot going after the first 15 minutes of their game against the St. Louis Blues on Sunday evening, falling 3-1 to one of their division opponents. You could point at several reasons why they lost, and now it’s time to focus on what they’ve been missing since the final day of the 2024 calendar year.
That’s right: December 31, 2024, was the last time that Valeri Nichushkin hit the ice for the Avalanche. While his return is expected soon, that’s nearing two months without one of their key cogs. It was evident on Sunday that something—or a multitude of things—just isn’t clicking for the Avs. It got to a point on Sunday where head coach Jared Bednar even decided to shake things up in terms of lines.
This team has been lacking production from everyone who is not sharing a line with Nathan MacKinnon and Arturri Lehkonen. The last time that a line other than the top line has scored for Colorado was January 31st, when Joel Kiviranta (second-line left wing at the time) got one through the goalie against the Blues. Something needs to be done.
The Avalanche went 0-for-1 on the power play against the Blues Sunday. While there were questionable no-calls, the team really needs to be productive on special teams when given those situations. They’re golden opportunities that are being completely missed.
It’s crazy how much of a difference the absence of a single player can make. Had Nichushkin been in a lot sooner than whenever he’s set to return, we might not even be talking about the lack of depth scoring. We may not have even had to discuss a reset or trade possibilities for Casey Mittelstadt. Nichushkin’s absence has set off a bunch of negative dominoes.
The Avalanche have lost back-to-back games, both against teams below them in the central division: the Blues have 10 less points than the Avalanche and are only one spot behind Colorado in the division standings. The Nashville Predators, who beat Colorado recently, have 47 points and are seventh in the division. Those two things alone should tell you that the Avalanche are not playing playoff-level hockey right now.
With 23 games remaining in the 2024-25 regular season, the Colorado Avalanche need to step on the gas with or without Nichushkin. Ideally, Nichushkin returns in the very near future and Colorado gets back on track. If not, it’s very possible that a player or two currently on the roster might not be around by March 7th at 3pm ET.
I’m not suggesting the team trades anymore big names like Jonathan Drouin or Devon Toews—they need to figure out where the holes are in the lineup and hopefully bring in some players who can make a bigger impact than what they are advertising right now. The season doesn’t slow down for anybody.
When Nichushkin returns to the lineup, I expect the Avalanche to get back on track. They have a lot of work to do but are not completely out of the playoff race. However, as I alluded to earlier, the clock stops for nobody.
