Early Favorites? Avalanche Rank High in Sportsnet’s August Power Rankings

The offseason is more than halfway through and most of the rosters are set for training camp. I still imagine we’ll see some movement in September, and that’ll probably include something from the Avalanche.

But as of right now, August 12, Sportsnet’s Ryan Dixon thinks highly of the Avs.

In his early power rankings, Dixon ranked the Avalanche fifth, trailing behind the Dallas Stars, Vegas Golden Knights, Washington Capitals, and Carolina Hurricanes.

The full rankings can be found here.

I don’t entirely disagree with his early rankings, although the Capitals at No. 3 and the Florida Panthers at No. 9 both seem insanely off. I would swap those two teams, and then I’d still consider elevating the Panthers past Dallas or Vegas. They’re bringing back pretty much the same roster that won in June.

The rest of the rankings are pretty solid.

As for Colorado, fifth place seems like a reasonable spot. Sure, the bottom six doesn’t look all that great, at least not now, but what Colorado needs shouldn’t be as tough a fix as what they had to go through last year. I have zero doubt in my mind that we’ll see more additions before the trade deadline, and probably sooner than that.

Also, Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar are in their primes and two of arguably the best three players in the NHL. Having solid goaltending from the get-go and all of Valeri Nichushkin, Gabe Landeskog, and Artturi Lehkonen at camp is a nice change from last year. Brock Nelson as the 2C for a full year will also be an upgrade.