The Colorado Avalanche can tick off just about every item on the Stanley Cup contender checklist.
World-class skill, led by the reigning league MVP? Elite team speed? One of the deepest defense corps, fronted by arguably the best of his generation? Cup-winning experience?
It’s all there, although with every discussion about the 2024-25 Avalanche, this comes with a $13 million caveat about the two big names whose eventual impact is a mystery.
Speaking of size — are the Avs too small? It’s a simple question with a complex answer.
“I don’t know. I mean, size isn’t everything,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “I think it kind of depends on how guys play. We’ve got some smaller guys on our team that play really hard and play bigger than their size. We want everyone to sort of play that way, with a certain amount of ability to play in traffic and play through tough situations, which is what you’re going to see come playoff time.”
Marcus Antonelli (@Marcussi_MA on X, formerly known as Twitter) compiled a ranking of every NHL’s average weight earlier this month, and the Avalanche ranked last at 192 pounds. There are some caveats here: the precise weights of NHL players fluctuates a lot more frequently than gets updated on the league’s website, the rosters were not set in early September, etc.
But the Avalanche are definitely going to grade out on the lower end of any ranking like this. A projected Avs roster, including Artturi Lehkonen but not Gabe Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin, has an average weight of 190.38 pounds. Adding Landeskog and Nichushkin makes it 192.47 pounds.
“I definitely think there is a place in the game for some size, and I think you need some heavy bodies out there,” said Josh Manson, the Avs’ heaviest defenseman at 215 pounds. “The way our team is built is for speed, and I think when our game is playing at that fast level, it can make it really hard to keep up.
“We have weight in our top six. I don’t know if other teams have bigger ‘D’ and that kind of inflates it a little bit maybe.”
Colorado is likely to be a bit smaller than the Avalanche were at the end of last season, especially without Nichushkin. The Avs had a Cup-contending roster in February, but felt they could use a size boost, particularly among their depth forwards. So they traded for Yakov Trenin and Brandon Duhaime, not just for some extra beef but also for the tenacious, physical brand of hockey both guys are known for.
Trenin, Duhaime and Jack Johnson are gone. Calvin de Haan is going to play a similar style of game to Johnson, but weighs 35 pounds less. None of Erik Brannstrom, Oliver Kylington or Sam Malinski are going to make the Avs heavier on defense.
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Source:: The Denver Post – Sports
