5 Thoughts on the Avs 3/9





1. All of the injuries are starting to catch up to the Avs a bit. They got a little lucky winning some games in which they were outplayed (namely Carolina and Nashville). The lack of depth is really starting to show. Dropping back to back games to the Anaheim and Vancouver is tough but when you’re missing: your starting goaltender, #1 defenseman, and more than half of your top 6 forwards you're going to have a tough hill to climb. The Avs have done well staying in the race but how much longer can they maintain that with so many guys sidelined?

2. Bowen Byram and Alex Newhook are tearing up their respective leagues right now. Byram is above a point per game player after a torrid stretch in the WHL and Newhook is the 2nd leading freshman scorer in the NCAA. Both are headed into their playoffs soon so keep on eye them in Vancouver and Boston respectively.

3. The Dallas Stars are in a total free fall right now, catching the Stars in the 1st round in their current condition scares me a lot less than it did a month ago. Even with the Stars playing poorly there are some really good teams in the wildcard positions right now (Nashville, Minnesota, and Vancouver) so there will be no easy 1st round match up for any team in the west.





Packed Crowd at the Can

4. Its been widely reported that the salary cap is going up significantly next season. It could go up as high as 88 million. I doubt it would go up that high but if it did the Avs would have quite a bit of extra cap space to use in the off season. If they had that much extra space they could easily pursue a big free agent without compromising any of their long term future.

5. Hot take: Its not impossible that the goal Joe Thornton scored against the Avs last night will be the last one he ever scores in his NHL career. I don’t see any way that Thornton comes back next year and he’s not a huge goal scorer. Its sad to see such a legend go out like that. Thornton is one of those guys that literally everyone has great things to say about so if this is the end for him everyone will be happy to see him in the Hall of Fame in a a few years.

Avalanche vs. Sharks







