The post 10 Observations: Avalanche Sent a Message in Game 1 Rout of Stars (+) appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

Both teams were winners at the trade deadline — arguably the two biggest winners. They’re both in their Stanley Cup window, and one is going to look back at 2024-25 in disappointment.

On Saturday night, the Central Division rivals will finally drop the puck for Game 1 of their series with a handful of storylines to keep an eye on.

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Will Gabriel Landeskog make his return after three years on the shelf? And if so, how much of a factor will he be?

Without Miro Heiskanen, can Dallas stop the Avs’ suddenly deep offense?

How will Mikko Rantanen fare against his former club less than three months after suddenly being sent away?

The two teams met in 2024 and the Stars came out on top. Will a shot at retribution give the Avalanche added motivation?

Two Western Conference powerhouse teams. But only one winner. Let’s see how they match up

READ MORE: Flynn’s Take: What Makes Avs Head Coach Jared Bednar Successful

Offense

Avalanche’s Projected Lineup

Artturi Lehkonen — Nathan MacKinnon — Martin Necas
Jonathan Drouin — Brock Nelson — Valeri Nichushkin
Kiviranta/Landeskog — Charlie Coyle — Ross Colton
Parker Kelly — Jack Drury — Logan O’Connor

Stars Projected Lineup

Mikael Granlund — Roope Hintz — Mikko Rantanen
Mason Marchment — Matt Duchene — Tyler Seguin
Jamie Benn — Wyatt Johnston — Evgenii Dadonov
Oskar Back — Sam Steel — Mavrik Bourque

*Both lineups are predictions

The Stars have one of the deepest forward groups in the NHL. Last year, they used their depth to overcome a star-studded and top-heavy Avs roster. Rantanen, along with Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon, were the biggest Avalanche threats. But things are different this time around.

The Avs still have superstars. MacKinnon is still playing MVP-level hockey, and Makar is coming off a 30-goal campaign. But the third piece, Rantanen, was shipped out of town for Martin Necas, Jack Drury, and the extra cap space and assets were used to deepen Colorado’s center pool.

Dallas has Roope Hintz, Matt Duchene, Wyatt Johnston, and Sam Steel down the middle. Their third-line center is coming off a 33-goal season. He’s that good.

But now the Avs can counter it. MacKinnon is the best of the bunch on either side. And the three centers playing behind him — Brock Nelson, Charlie Coyle, and Drury — were all added to the roster after the calendar turned to 2025.

On the wing, the Stars suffered a massive blow with an injury in Game 82 to Jason Robertson. On the other side, the Avalanche might be welcoming back their captain as early as Game 1.

Valeri Nichushkin is in a good place, Jonathan Drouin is healthy, and Artturi Lehkonen enters the postseason in a bit of a scoring slump in what has otherwise been a successful season. It’s a deep forward group all around.

But the biggest question lies with Necas.

Rantanen always produced in the postseason. Even when he wasn’t playing his best, he still managed to find the scoresheet. Can Necas provide some of that magic? It’s well documented that the playoffs are a different game from the regular season. Necas and MacKinnon had instant chemistry in the regular season. But if that doesn’t carry over to the postseason, and if Rantanen can provide that added offensive spark on the other side, it could even things out quite a bit.

Even without Robertson, the Stars still boast a deep lineup. Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin are both still dangerous, as is deadline acquisition Mikael Granlund.

It’s hard to say which team will have the upper hand. On paper, the Stars look great. But missing Robertson might put the Avs ahead.

READ MORE: More Than Teammates: Inside the Friendship of Valeri Nichushkin and Mackenzie Blackwood (+)

Defense

Avalanche’s Projected Lineup

Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Samuel Girard — Josh Manson
Ryan Lindgren — Sam Malinski/Erik Johnson

Stars Projected Lineup

Esa Lindell — Cody Ceci
Thomas Harley — Ilya Lyubushkin
Lian Bischell — Matt Dumba

*Both lineups are predictions

Injuries often shift who has the upper hand in a series. But that could change on a dime. Not to bring back memories, but we all remember the 2020 bubble when it seemed like Colorado’s top players were dropping each game.

It’s hard to speculate what will happen. But what we do know is, Heiskanen is not an option for Dallas. At least not to start. And given the fact that he plays nearly 27 minutes per night in the playoffs, it’s going to be a massive loss for Pete DeBoer’s defense.

Dallas’ underlying numbers with Heiskanen compared to without are night and day. He’s that good. But it’s not the only difference from a year ago.

Last year, DeBoer stapled Chris Tanev to MacKinnon for six games. Tanev is one of the best shutdown defensemen in the NHL, but he’s no longer an issue after departing for Toronto last July. Instead, the Stars’ right side consists of Cody Ceci, Ilya Lyubushkin, and Matt Dumba.

The top pair that Dallas had up against Colorado’s top-heavy lineup is no longer an option. And that’ll hurt.

It’s worth noting that Thomas Harley has taken a massive step this season and could have a coming-out party in a series like this. He’ll probably go head-to-head with the Avs’ top guys and see a lot of action opposite Makar, too. Could he rise to the occasion? It’s possible. But it would be a lot more probable if Heiskanen were healthy enough to pitch in with some of those tough matchups.

I do want to mention that Esa Lindell is also a threat for the Stars on the left side. He’ll carry the brunt of those matchups with Harley. But he’s still not Heiskanen.

On the Avs’ side, health might also play a part in how the blueline looks. The top pair is healthy. Makar and his running mate, Devon Toews, will continue to play nearly half the game. But if Ryan Lindgren and Josh Manson struggle to stay in the lineup, it’ll give the Stars the upper hand in depth.

Basically, an injury to one or both of those guys could make the defense matchup look a lot like last year. One team is top heavy, the other has depth.

Avs coach Jared Bednar said on Friday that both Manson and Lindgren are good to go. Let’s hope they’re able to stay healthy.

READ MORE: Avalanche Excited to Have Gabe Landeskog Back

Goaltending

Even with all the changes the Avalanche made up front, the goaltending duo they have this year might still be the best upgrade of them all.

Backup goalie Scott Wedgewood was on the Stars’ bench a year ago. He was the backup to Jake Oettinger but didn’t make a postseason appearance.

The starter for the Avs, Mackenzie Blackwood, is perhaps the biggest X-factor of the series. Blackwood has long been an up-and-coming netminder in the league, but couldn’t quite solidify a long-term starter’s role in New Jersey or San Jose consistently.

Nearly five months into his Avalanche tenure, the 28-year-old is set to make his postseason debut and is locked in for five more years following this season.

Oettinger has the experience, Blackwood has the potential. If Colorado’s guy doesn’t live up to that expectation, it’ll quickly put a damper on this entire playoff run.

Blackwood is 22-12-3 with a .913 save percentage since being acquired in December. His numbers took a dip with the Avs’ late-season struggle but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s been one of the better goalies in the NHL since then.

It’s hard to give the Avs the upper hand in the goaltending department. But like last year, nobody needs Colorado’s goalie to be better than Oettinger. He could be. But as long as Blackwood plays average, or slightly above average, he could come out of this series with four wins.

Final Thoughts

On paper, the Avs have the better roster. But a lineup on paper doesn’t win you games.

Whether it’s Blackwood’s play, Landeskog’s return, health on the blueline, or Nichushkin remaining focused on hockey, all of these are factors that could help the Avs breeze through this series.

But the beauty of hockey is its unpredictability.

Even without Robertson and Heiskanen. Even with a weaker right side on the blueline, even with a 0-5-2 skid heading into the postseason, the Stars are still one of the best teams in the league. They’re not riding a two-year Western Conference Final streak by accident.

They have a great coach, incredible depth, and veterans who know what it takes to win. It’s not a series the Avs are going to take lightly. But it’s still one they can, and should, win.

It all starts Saturday night.

The post Round 1 Preview: Avalanche vs Stars — The Storylines Are Endless appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

All that and more on this edition of Deen’s Daily — January 29.

Colorado Hockey Now

The road trip is finally over and the Avalanche have a chance to regroup with a day off in Denver following an emotional four days. On Tuesday, the third period got away from them in a 5-2 loss to the New York Islanders.

Aside from good health for Valeri Nichushkin (and perhaps Gabriel Landeskog), what else does Colorado need? Catch my updated trade board, released on Monday following the Mikko Rantanen trade.

Around the NHL

Heiskanen Hurt: Dirty play in the Dallas — Vegas game on Tuesday. Mark Stone tripped Miro Heiskanen and injured the Stars’ top defenseman. Stone seemed to get tripped before falling into Heiskanen but it’s a bad play all around and would sting if the Stars miss him for any period of time.

Miro Heiskanen heads to the locker room after being tripped by Mark Stone pic.twitter.com/0i0VWQGJ2i

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) January 29, 2025

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: It might be time to slow down on the Sidney Crosby rumors, again. A close source to the team shrugged off the latest speculation from the hockey world. The dream of Crosby to the Avs doesn’t seem likely right now.

Montreal Hockey Now: The Habs got goalie’d by Connor Hellebuyck and lost a defenseman to injury in the process. Tough game for a team fighting for a playoff spot.

New Jersey Hockey Now: The Devils need more from Timo Meier. Is another second-half breakout coming?

NYI Hockey Now: Hear what the Islanders room had to say about both Simon Holmstrom and Alexander Romanov following the Islander’s win over the Avalanche.

Boston Hockey Now: Two players scored a hat trick against Boston on Tuesday. Boston played the struggling Buffalo Sabres. Tough look.

The post Deen’s Daily: Hush the Crosby to Avalanche Rumors; Avs Get Much-Needed Day Off; Heiskanen Hurt appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

This was one of those nights.

It started on one of his first shifts of the night. Evgeni Dadonov came out to the blueline to challenge Makar. Big mistake. The 25 year old defenseman head-faked to his left, then cut to his right, leaving Dadonov in the dust. Oettinger did a good job working through the screen in front to stop Makar’s shot, but he was just getting started. Later in the period, it was Jason Robertson who he danced, and instead of pulling up, Cale took this one to the net. Oettinger looked like he barely got his blocker on it, but that might have been the last time he got something on one of Makar’s shots.

His powerplay goal late in the second was almost a carbon copy of his goal in Game One, sending a wrister through traffic to beat Oettinger. This one might have been more impressive, though. Then in the third, Makar did to Tyler Seguin what he did to Dadonov and Robertson earlier. This time, luck was on his side, with his pass deflecting off a stick and into the net for the game-winner.

These are the games where elite skill and elite players can take over. Colorado’s number one defenseman did just that to make sure his team lived to fight another day.

“Every one of our D or theirs doesn’t have the ability (like Makar) to dance a guy in space and get to the net, right?” Bednar said after the game. “It takes elite skill to be able to do that and there’s only a handful of guys in the league that can do it. And he ends up doing it multiple times tonight to create that scoring chance. It’s just high skill awareness.”

We’re seeing some high-end skill on the blueline in this series. At the other end of the ice you have Miro Heiskanen, taken just one pick before Makar in the 2017 NHL Draft. He scored again on Wednesday to give him five goals this postseason, the same total as Makar. Heiskanen has four goals this series alone.

Get used to it, folks. We’ve already been watching these two go head-to-head for a few years now, and we’ll likely be witnessing it for the next decade. Back and forth, back and forth. It’s going to be a lot of fun.

As for Game Five?

Advantage: Makar.

The post RAPID REACTION: Makar Shows Why He’s The Best appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

With the Colorado Avalanche, I spoke to an NHL scout out East about the players the Avalanche acquired, and received some interesting tidbits on how opposing teams view the organization.

All that and more in this Monday edition of Evan’s Daily.

Colorado Hockey Now

Ross Colton, Miles Wood, and Jonathan Drouin all are coming to the Avalanche from the Eastern Conference. With that being the case, I spoke to an NHL scout who mainly sticks to the East, and got their opinion on those three players. While doing so, they mentioned something I had been wondering – The Avalanche (and their style) can help even average players produce more than what most think they should

Eastern Conference Scout Talks Avalanche Acquisitions, Philosophy (+)

Terrible news out of Seattle, as Joonas Donskoi has announced his retirement due to concussions. He plays two season with the Avalanche, and missed all of the 2022/23 season due to a head injury.

Around The NHL

Sportsnet took a look at the biggest questions facing teams in the Central Division.

I guess the Avalanche answer wasn’t that surprising, as we all know they need to figure out a Devon Toews extension sooner rather than later. Same goes for Winnipeg, as no one expects Hellebuyck or Scheifele to stick around all season.

The Dallas question is interesting, and one I mentioned before – do they have enough on defense past Miro Heiskanen?

National Hockey Now

The top 5 overrated Pittsburgh Penguins players of all-time.

Who are the Florida Panthers going to lock up next?

Timeline for Max Pacioretty‘s return to the ice is still unclear.

Interesting story here, as the Carolina Hurricanes threatened to fire their AHL affiliate coach during the playoffs because he wasn’t playing the goalie the Hurricanes wanted him to play.

The post Evan’s NHL Daily: Scout Talks Avalanche, Biggest Questions In Central appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.