The Colorado Avalanche are off to a fantastic start to 2023-24, their 6-2 record good enough for first place in the Central Division. The Avs started the season with six consecutive wins before miraculously failing to score a single goal in matching 4-0 shutout losses to the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres last week.

Still, it's an overall positive start to the campaign for a club that should compete for the President's Trophy this season. Mikko Rantanen has been leading the charge in the early going, posting 12 points over his first eight contests. Cale Makar has nine, Nathan MacKinnon has seven, and Colorado's star power will only get better as the season goes on. MacKinnon hasn't recorded a season under a point-per-game since 2016-17, and it's only a matter of time before he really gets going.

But besides the top guys, there are a few complementary players moving the needle in Denver through three weeks of NHL hockey. One of them is Logan O'Connor, who is chipping in offensively despite seeing limited minutes each night. Another one is Bowen Byram, who has struggled mightily with concussions throughout his young career, but seems poised to excel in his first full NHL season.

There are a few offseason additions who have gotten off to slow starts, including Tomas Tatar, Ross Colton and Jonathan Drouin. But O'Connor and Byram, who have both been in Colorado's system their entire careers, are ready to break out in 2023-24.

Logan O'Connor eyeing career highs

Logan O'Connor worked his way up from an undrafted invitee to the Avalanche's development camp in 2018, to a Stanley Cup champion with the team in 2022. O'Connor has become a fan favorite in Denver for his high-energy, hard-working style of play, and he earned two full seasons with the team from 2021-23. In that span, he recorded 50 points in 163 games, including four points in 17 Stanley Cup Playoffs contests in 2022.

This season, O'Connor looks ready to shatter his career-high of nine goals and 17 points. Through eight contests with the Avs this year, the Missouri City, TX native has already scored three goals and added an assist, a full season pace of 41 points. It's impressive considering O'Connor isn't getting any looks on the powerplay. The second unit currently features Byram and Devon Toews, along with Valeri Nichushkin, Ross Colton and Jonathan Drouin.

O'Connor is averaging just 11:28 time on ice per game while skating on the fourth line with Andrew Cogliano and Fredrik Olofsson, but there is certainly potential for him to get a look on the top-nine, especially with the line of Tatar-Colton-Miles Wood not producing too much offense in the early going.

If the Avs can give O'Connor a longer look, whether that be a spot on the second powerplay unit or a look in the top-nine, he could have serious breakout potential in 2023-24. Regardless, he should set career-highs across the board this year.

Bowen Byram looking healthy

The expectations were high for Bowen Byram when the Avalanche selected him with the No. 4 overall selection in the 2019 NHL Draft. But the highly-touted prospect has suffered from concussions and other injury issues that at one point had him questioning if he still wanted to play hockey. It all ended up being worth it for Byram, who had his coming out party in the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He recorded nine points in 20 games, including eight of them over the last 12, to help the Avs defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning and capture their first title since 2001.

But he was again limited to just 42 games last year, although he was great again with 10 goals and 24 points in that span. This season, Byram has earned a full-time second pairing role along with Samuel Girard, as well as the quarterback slot on the second powerplay unit. He is looking healthy and as fast as ever while averaging 18:40 of ice time. That will likely increase as the season goes along, but the top priority is keeping this player healthy.

Still, Byram doesn't need much to have a career year statistically. He should have no trouble at all breaking his personal career-high of 24 points, as long as he stays healthy. He's been considered a special prospect, but this could be the year he breaks out as one of the better young defenders in the game.

Through just over three weeks, the Avalanche are looking formidable, although they'll be looking to quickly forget about their back-to-back shutout losses last week. Despite those, this remains an elite team, and will be even better if they can unlock Logan O'Connor and Bowen Byram in 2023-24.