Avalanche Depth Chart: Lineup Coming Together but Still an Unfinished Product

Things are slowly coming together for the Avalanche following the signing of Joel Kiviranta. They now enter the season with 12 NHL-capable forwards under contract, albeit they’re missing a much-needed center in that group. It also includes Logan O’Connor, who will start the year on the shelf as he recovers from hip surgery.

I still wonder about the center position. On one hand, Chris MacFarland made it clear in June that he really loves having Jack Drury as the fourth-line center. If he starts the year at 3C, it might ultimately mean the Avs don’t have a traditional third line. This was also something the general manager noted at the draft — having two hard-working bottom six lines to go along with the talented top-six the team boasts.

Anyway, here’s where things currently stand on the Avs’ depth chart. Some of the players can play multiple positions, but ideally, this is how they’d stack up.

Centers

1. Nathan MacKinnon
2. Brock Nelson
3. Jack Drury
4. Zakhar Bardakov

Extras: Ivan Ivan, T.J. Tynan, & Jason Polin

If the team doesn’t acquire a centerman to replace Charlie Coyle, you can expect Bardakov to get the first look on opening night, assuming he does well at training camp. MacFarland singled him out specifically in June as someone they’d like to see step up.

Bardakov is already 24 years old and has four years of professional hockey experience in the KHL. He had a breakout last season, posting 17 goals, 18 assists, and 35 points in 50 games. At 6’2, 200 lbs, he’s got the physicality and energy to fill that fourth-line role. It’s just a matter of having his game translate to the NHL, which isn’t always the case.

The Avs got Bardakov from the New Jersey Devils in the Kurtis MacDermid trade.

Drury is 25, and this will probably be the season that determines how his career will shake out. If he gets the 3C opportunity and runs with it, there’s a reality where he locks in a higher AAV contract next summer and become the permanent third-line center on the depth chart.

But if the Avs feel the need to still bring in someone to play ahead of him, it likely means Drury as the 4C would be the plan moving forward. Can he develop into something more in the future? Absolutely. We’ve seen several examples of this in the NHL. But at 25 years old and with two full NHL seasons (plus two other years split with the AHL) under his belt, this would be the time for him to take that next step.

Even if Drury steps up, the Avs still lack depth and need another centerman to avoid moving Parker Kelly or Ross Colton back to the middle at any point. Injuries will probably happen.

The first two lines are set. Let’s hope the Nelson gamble pays off. I have high hopes for him in the Avs’ system with a full training camp and without the shock of a mid-season trade for a guy that had to navigate leaving his family around the trade deadline.

I know the production wasn’t all there, but that line with Gabe Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin did a lot of really good things.

Wingers

1. Martin Necas
2. Artturi Lehkonen
3. Valeri Nichushkin
4. Gabe Landeskog
5. Ross Colton
6. Logan O’Connor (injured)
7. Joel Kiviranta
8. Parker Kelly

Extras: Nikita Prischepov, Gavin Brindley, Matthew Stienburg, Danil Gushchin, Tye Felhaber, Taylor Makar, Chase Bradley, Cooper Gay, & Alex Barre-Boulet 

I figured it would make more sense to combine wingers into one category. Aside from Necas, the other three top-six wingers in Colorado’s lineup all have the ability to play both sides. Even Kiviranta and Colton have played on both wings in their two years under Jared Bednar.

I also wouldn’t read into how I ranked the top four. I simply just went by their total points from last season. Any combination of those four guys in the top six makes sense. We’ll probably see Lehkonen and Necas start with MacKinnon, but I’d love to see Landeskog reunited with MacKinnon at some point. I also loved Nichushkin in 2023-24 on MacKinnon’s wing.

I genuinely can’t think of a combo between those four guys that wouldn’t work.

The third line ended last year with Kiviranta and Jonathan Drouin as the wingers. But Colton also started on that line with Kiviranta before his injury, and before Landeskog came back and pushed Drouin out of the top six.

If nobody else is added to the roster, I suspect Kiviranta and Colton will get the first look with Drury on the third line. And that’ll leave Kelly with Bardakov and whichever other AHLer or rookie that makes the opening night roster. It seems bare. And it is.

And that’s why I can’t imagine the front office stops here. I would suspect at least one more bottom six forward gets signed before opening night, and maybe even before training camp.

But even the waiver wire is going to be interesting to watch this year.

Right Defense

1. Cale Makar
2. Josh Manson
3. Brent Burns
4. Sam Malinski

Extra: Ronald Attard

The addition of Burns is so unbelievably intriguing. This is a guy that played heavy minutes in a very important role for a team in Carolina that made it to the Eastern Conference Final in two of the three seasons he was there.

I don’t imagine Burns is going to be the fifth most used defenseman on the team all year. I also think he might see some time on the left to get a chance to line up with Manson. But in a league where right defensemen are hard to find, the Avs have four that are capable of playing every single night.

If everyone is healthy for opening night, and no other additions are made, I imagine Malinski and Burns will make up the third pair with one of them shifting to their offhand side.

Left Defense

1. Devon Toews
2. Samuel Girard
3. Keaton Middleton

Extras: Sean Behrens & Jack Ahcan

Toews will play with Makar. That we know for sure. But that’s basically all that’s set in stone.

Are the Avs going to keep Girard with Manson? Will he get a look with Burns instead? Or will Manson and Burns load up on the second pair and push Girard down with Malinski? The options are endless.

Middleton is a solid extra and deserves to be around the team full-time. He’ll play a lot again this year if or when injuries happen.

Goaltending

1. Mackenzie Blackwood
2. Scott Wedgewood

Extras: Trent Miner & Ilya Nabokov (loaned to the KHL)

The Lumbar Yard is back, and they’re here for a full season this time around. This should be an exciting year in goal for the Avs.

If injuries strike here, Miner will probably be the main guy to get call-ups, just like last season. And Nabokov, who is on loan in the KHL, will be able to join the organization, likely in the AHL, once his season ends in Russia.

That’s assuming the Eagles qualify for the postseason again.