The playoffs are coming with the NHL’s official announcement yesterday. While that will focus primarily on the format and the details of the draft, it should also include something about what teams are going to look like upon their return. We’ve touched on this a little bit already but I want to get into the idea of teams carrying a…...

Hockey is inching its way towards returning as the NHLPA voted on Friday to approve the NHL’s 24-team playoff proposal. While the vote was not unanimous with a 29-2 split among the 31 teams, it was more than enough to push forward towards a return to action. The NHLPA released a statement that reads: The executive board of the NHLPA…...

With it looking like hockey creeping its way back to a return, the playoffs become the focus. Along with that comes playoff performances, which define legacies and secure places in the Hall of Fame. All of that in mind, let’s get to today’s topic: Which player is more important if Colorado is going to make a legitimate Stanley Cup run:…...

As we worked our way through Colorado’s two Stanley Cup runs during the ongoing DNVRWatches series, there was something that kept nagging at me as we watched two very different Avalanche teams win the Stanley Cup. The stars are always obvious but you can’t win championships without role players, the glue guys who really bring a roster together and make…...

The NHL has thrown around a handful of proposals to return to the ice recently and we’ll definitely tackle those in time when they narrow them down to something a little more specific that doesn’t drastically change days later. For now, one of our subscribers requested a roundtable topic and I’m happy to oblige. If anyone else has a particular…...

As we here at DNVR continue to delve into the 2020 draft class, it’s only natural we take a stab at trying to predict how these things might actually go. For the draft order, we used the points percentage when play was stopped and ignored conditions on traded draft picks. As these things get clearer in the future, we will…...

It’s been a wild ride following Nathan MacKinnon’s career but at times it feels like he’s almost been taken for granted because ‘the next big thing’ is always around the corner. When MacKinnon finally broke out from underachieving and frustrating 50-point player into the superstar who pushes (but doesn’t quite get…yet) 100 points in a season, he was joined by…...

If the season ever gets back underway, it’s likely they move straight into the postseason. Assuming they use the standings from the end of the year and try to play all four rounds, that would slate Colorado against the Dallas Stars, a team they went 0-2-2 against during the regular season. This is a natural segue into today’s topic: If…...

As we start to shift our coverage here more towards the inevitable NHL draft, the focus naturally shifts to the future. Colorado and St. Louis were setting up for an intriguing sprint to the Central Division title that appears will be cut short by the ongoing pandemic. This brings us to today’s topic: Considering salary cap situations, prospect pools, and…...

The Avalanche did not target Pierre-Édouard Bellemare to come in and be an offensive juggernaut. They signed him to help the penalty kill, anchor the fourth line, and to bring leadership to the locker room. The offense was a nice bonus, though. The 35-year-old center from France was having his best season in the NHL before the league shut down,…...

We’ve talked about goalies a lot in the last week here in this space as top prospect Justus Annunen signed his ELC and kicked off conversation revolving around the position. Yesterday, a report out of Pittsburgh indicated the Avalanche had shown serious interest in Matt Murray at the trade deadline and would potentially revisit the conversation in the offseason. We…...

The NHL continues to make it clear they would like to hold the NHL Draft in early June before the season resumes. This creates a handful of complications and would need a significant amount of tweaking in order to get it accomplished but ultimately they can hold the draft whenever they want. Today’s topic: How do you feel about the…...

When the Avs traded for Andre Burakovsky in June of 2019, they were taking a bit of a gamble. The talented youngster was making good money coming off a season where he fell out of favor in Washington, and the Avs did give up some good value to get him, sending second and third round picks to acquire the then 24 year old winger.

Turns out, they knew what they were doing.

With the news of prospect Justus Annunen signing his entry-level contract yesterday, we’re naturally using that as the jumping-off point for today’s roundtable topic seeing as how he is one of the prospects coming off strong seasons that really boosted his profile. Today’s topic: Given the strength of his play in Finland last year and at WJCs, is Justus Annunen…...

The Avalanche signed another of their top prospects on Thursday afternoon when they announced goaltender Justus Annunen had signed his entry-level contract. The standard three-year pact gets the 20-year-old Annunen under contract through the 2023 season. Annunen is coming off a season in which he was the top goaltender for the top Finnish league’s best team, Karpat, and finished the…...

Today’s Avalanche Roundtable topic is one that probably would’ve been answered pretty easily had the season continued as normal. If they manage to squeeze out an end to the regular season and head into the playoffs, this will be the most pressing question facing the franchise. Today’s topic: Assuming play resumes either at the end of the regular season or…...

We’re back to get into another hot-button Avalanche topic for when the sport inevitably returns. Today’s topic: Tyson Jost. He looked like a stressed-out kid leading up to the deadline and then appeared to be freed from the shackles of worry after it passed and he stayed in Colorado. Are you buying or selling Tyson Jost as the aggressive and…...

Here on the Avalanche side of DNVR, we’re going to start doing something a little bit different. Today begins us tackling a daily question in which all three of the main contributors to DNVR Avalanche will chime in. With a committee now created to help facilitate a return to hockey, the wheels of progress towards a resumption of the season…...

Perhaps this is controversial, or perhaps it isn't, but let it be known: as of right now, Samuel Girard is the Avs #1 defenseman.

Still just 21 years old, Girard led the Avs in average time on ice at 21:19 a game, but where the staff trusted him more than any other player on the team is at even strength, where he averaged over a full minute more than the next closest player (Erik Johnson). While Jared Bednar and Nolan Pratt won't hesitate to put Girard on the ice with Cale Makar for offensive zone face-offs, they pretty consistently use him in defensive matchups against the other teams best players.