One week. That’s how long you have to wait until the Avalanche rookies are back on the ice.
You can do this.
In the meantime, we have more questions to get to for our pre-season mailbag, as there were quite a few submitted. If you have any more, please submit them in the comments section and I’ll add them to part three, because yes, we have even more waiting. In part one, a big focus was on a potential extension for Alexandar Georgiev. In this mailbag, I’ll undo a trade from the last two seasons and give my opinion on whether or not this team is better than the one we saw in May.
From Justin: If you could undo one Avs trade of the past two seasons, which would it be?
That’s a good question. I’ve thought about that Lars Ellen for a second round pick trade, because it just felt like making a trade for the sake of making one. That was a flawed Avalanche team and adding a slow veteran didn’t really do any good.
However, I think the real answer here is the Ryan Johansen for Alex Galchenyuk trade. On paper, they gave up nothing, but Johansen was so bad that they had to attach a first round pick just to get rid of him. Yes, they got Sean Walker back in that deal, but it ended up costing the Avalanche a quality asset that they now don’t have moving forward. That first rounder would have been nice to keep in the back pocket to use on a draft pick or use in a future trade.
From Fourth Overall Pick: If you’re still taking questions, have you heard anything about the Avs practice facility? I remember CMac saying something after last season ended but are there any updates?
I haven’t heard anything new, and it’s kind of been the same thing for a few years now. There’s always talk of them building a new practice structure either in the Ball Arena parking lot or where Elitch’s currently is, but there’s not really been any movement on it as far as I know. They could certainly use an upgrade.
The Crossover Podcast: What would you say to convince me that this team is more than a 2nd round exit to Dallas again this year?
With all the question marks surrounding the team right now? I don’t think I can make the argument that this team is better than they were last year. Until there’s some clarity surrounding Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin, I think it’s fair to say that they’ve taken a bit of a step back.
If those guys come back and are the players everyone hopes they can be, my answer is very different, but I’m skeptical that will be the case. Landeskog hasn’t played an NHL game in over two years. What is a realistic expectation of what he can be on the ice again? And with Nichushkin, he says he’s planning on returning, but how long will that reunion last? These are two huge pieces that will really determine where this team is headed in 2024-25.
All this being said, I don’t really think Dallas got better this summer either. In fact, I think they got worse on defense, so we’ll see how their season goes. Nashville is kind of the wild card in all of this. We’ll have to see how that team gels with all the new pieces.
From Keith: Assuming Nichushkin comes back, who do you think it would make the most sense for the Avs to move to clear up cap space? I’m thinking Manson but curious about your thoughts.
Manson seems like the wrong guy to move given how the rest of the defense is built. You’d have to immediately go and replace his physicality.
The one guy that I’d look at might be Miles Wood. It wouldn’t be huge savings on the cap, but you could replace him with an entry-level deal and save over $1.5 million. I liked Wood last year, but that’s just the first contract that comes to mind.