Blue Line Station
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Learning how to build a winner like the Colorado Avalanche

By Steve Paulus

DENVER, COLORADO - JANUARY 04: Samuel Girard #49 of the Colorado Avalanche fights for the puck against Mika Zibanejad #92 of the New York Rangers in the third period at the Pepsi Center on January 04, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
DENVER, COLORADO - JANUARY 04: Samuel Girard #49 of the Colorado Avalanche fights for the puck against Mika Zibanejad #92 of the New York Rangers in the third period at the Pepsi Center on January 04, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /
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DENVER, CO – JANUARY 04: Nathan MacKinnon #29 of the Colorado Avalanche skates against the New York Rangers at the Pepsi Center on January 4, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. The Avalanche defeated the Rangers 6-1. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images)
DENVER, CO – JANUARY 04: Nathan MacKinnon #29 of the Colorado Avalanche skates against the New York Rangers at the Pepsi Center on January 4, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. The Avalanche defeated the Rangers 6-1. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images) /

The Colorado Avalanche are one of the best teams in the NHL with many considering them a favorite to win it all.  Three years ago they were the laughingstock of the NHL.  What can the New York Rangers learn from the revival of the Avalanche?

The Colorado Avalanche are one of the top teams in the NHL.  They finally lost their first game in regulation Monday night, a 3-1 road loss to the Blues.  Their season is in flux with injuries to Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog, but there are still a contender. They are where the New York Rangers want to be.  It’s worth looking at how they did it.

In the 2016-17, the Colorado  Avalanche had one of the worst seasons in the NHL’s history. They won only 22 games and had a points percentage of .293, the ninth lowest in modern NHL history.  Their coach resigned before the season even started and when it was over, they even lost out in the draft lottery, dropping from first to fourth pick overall.

This season the Avalanche are in first place in the Central Division with an 8-2-1 record.  They are averaging four goals per game (second best in the NHL) and boast the 11th best goals against average (2.73).   Already, they’ve beaten Washington, Tampa, Vegas, Boston and Calgary, among the elite teams in the league.

They are doing it through balanced scoring and structure.  They only have one player, Nathan MacKinnon, who is in the top 16 in both goals and points. Their top line of MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen is as good as any in the league.  Rookie defenseman Cale Makar is already the Calder Trophy favorite.

How did General Manager Joe Sakic remake this team in just three years?

How the team was remade

First off, the roster from that awful team is radically different.  Sakic kept the best players and through savvy drafting, trades and free agent signings, he built a Stanley Cup contender.

Only eight players are left from the 2016-17 team.   They include the stars  including MacKinnon, Landeskog, Rantanen.   Blueline holdovers include Erik Johnson, Mark Barberio and Nikita Zadarov.  Matt Nieto is the only other forward from that team.   Tyson Jost was an 18-year old rookie who played six games for that team.

Surprisingly, only five current Avalanche players were draft picks and that includes four holdovers from the 2016-17 team.   MacKinnon was first overall in 2012. Landeskog was second overall in 2011.  Rantanen and Jost were tenth picks in 2015 and 2016.

Cale Makar was the fourth overall pick in 2017, the year they dropped in the lottery. The players selected before him were Nico Hischier, Nolan Patrick and Miro Heiskanen.  It could turn out that Makar will be the best of the four.

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