For a second straight season, the Colorado Avalanche were eliminated by the Dallas Stars in the playoffs. While the club has talent, it also needs improvement to make it further in the playoffs. They made some of those moves in NHL Free Agency, but the major step is going to come from players on the roster primed for a breakout season in 2025-26.
The Avalanche have some stars already on its roster. Nathan MacKinnon is one of the best players in the world. He is coming off a campaign in which he scored 32 goals while adding 84 assists. It was his third straight season scoring over 110 points in a campaign. His goals number did drop from the 51 of 2023-24, but it was still the seventh time in eight years he scored 30 or more goals in a year.
On defense, Cale Makar has proven himself to be a major threat. He is coming off a career high by lighting the lamp 30 times, while also having a career high amassing 92 points. The Avs also retained Brock Nelson, securing their future at the second-line center position. While the team has great players, they need players to breakout in 2025-26 if they want to make a run at the Cup.
Mackenzie Blackwood is great in between the pipes
During the 2024-25 campaign, the San Jose Sharks traded Mackenzie Blackwood to the Avalanche. Blackwood was amazing during his time in Colorado.
He played in 37 games, starting 36 of them. The netminder went 22-12-3 with a 2.33 goals against average and a .913 save percentage. That was the best goals against average of his NHL career. It was also one of the best save percentages of his career, and best since 2019-20 with the New Jersey Devils.
He was not quite as good in the playoffs, with a 2.71 goals against average and a .892 save percentage. Regardless, after his trade to Colorado, he was fifth in the NHL in wins, fifth in goals against average, fourth in save percentage, and sixth in shutouts among goalies who played 30 games after December 9.
With a quality defense in front of him plus a high-scoring attack and playoff experience now obtained, Blackwood could be in for a career year.
A former seventh-rounder becomes a star
With the No. 217 overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, the Avalanche picked Nikita Prishchepov, a center out of Russia. He joined the AHL team and was solid, finding the back of the net nine times while also adding 14 assists. He became just the second player since 2004-05 to make it to the NHL level after being drafted in the final round of the draft that same season.
While he played in just ten games at the NHL level and did not have a point, he was impressive. He created just under three scoring chances per 60 minutes of ice time, with one of them being a high-danger chance. He also made ten hits and blocked two shots, showing he is willing to be a two-way threat.
While it is possible the 21-year-old will start at the AHL level, if he gets another chance to play at the NHL level, he has all the tools necessary to breakout immediately.
The Avalanche see Jack Drury take the next step
Jack Drury joined the Avs as part of the Mikko Rantanen trade with the Carolina Hurricanes. In his 33 games with the team, he lit the lamp five times while adding four assists. His advanced stats show the potential for a huge jump this year.
In his 33 games in Colorado, he had the highest Individual Point Percentage, IPP, of his career. He also had the best shooting percentage of his career by nearly eight percentage points. His expected goals, scoring chances created, and high danger chances created per 60 minutes all hit career highs in his time in Colorado. Drury will also be in a great situation to breakout in 2025-26.
He is projected to play on the third line this year with Victor Olofsson and Ross Colton. This should increase his ice time per game next season. Olofsson has been a solid goal scorer in his career, so this will give a chance for Drury to pile up the assists this year. His passing has improved year over year, and he will get a chance to show that off this year.
Furthermore, he will still be a primary goal-scoring option for the third line and should eclipse his career high in goals this season. The Colorado Avalanche are a great team. They were one of the best scoring teams in the NHL, and, after trading for Blackwood, had one of the best defensive units as well.
Now, they need other players to take the next step. If they can get the same level of goaltending from Blackwood as last season, with two new scoring threats to go along with MacKinnon and Nelson, the Avalanche will have all the pieces needed to make a run at the Cup.
