Avalanche Enter Training Camp With Refreshingly Different Kind of Problem
The opening of training camp usually comes with its own set of questions.
Who's the starting goalie? Who plays in the top six? Is the defense good enough? Can the stars stay healthy?
For the Colorado Avalanche, you can argue that many of the biggest questions already have answers.
Nathan MacKinnon is the centerpiece. Cale Makar is as strong an anchor on defense that you will find. Martin Necas has established himself as a superstar in his own right, giving the Avalanche a three-headed monster that can match up with any team in the league.
In previous seasons, the Avalanche had to contend with Gabriel Landeskog's absence, questions in goal, significant roster turnover, and finding a second-line center.
Goaltending has frequently provided one of Colorado's biggest preseason questions. This time, the Avalanche aren't spending September searching for an answer in net. They're determining exactly how the workload should be divided.
According to Evan Rawal of The Denver Gazette, Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said yesterday he wants MacKenzie Blackwood to seize the starting job after splitting the workload with Scott Wedgewood last season.
The Avalanche can have a great camp. They can settle their lines. They can determine their goalie rotation. The question is can this group turn another strong regular season into a Stanley Cup championship?
They signed forward Jaden Schwartz to a three-year deal in July. With the cast of stars surrounding him, Schwartz can take his game to another level. The question is his durability. He's averaged 60 games played over the last five seasons.
The Avalanche also brought in big defenseman Noah Juulsen on a two-year contract. Juulsen is a 2015 first round draft pick who is still trying to find his way after stops in Montreal, Florida, Vancouver, and Philadelphia. The Avalanche are hoping playing on the Makar-led defense will show why Montreal took Juulsen in the first round 11 years ago.
Training camp will still provide surprises. A young player will make himself difficult to send down, a line combination may click unexpectedly and injuries can change plans quickly. But the Avalanche aren't beginning the season searching for an identity. They already know who they are.
For the Avalanche, the next two weeks are about figuring out the best way to deploy what it already has. The much bigger question won't be answered in September. It will come months from now, when they find out whether this version of a familiar championship core has another deep run left in it.
Jason Fink is an NHL writer and lifelong hockey fan who fell in love with the game when he watched Wayne Gretzky’s Edmonton Oilers defeat the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1987 Stanley Cup Final. When he’s not writing, Jason enjoys spending time with his wife Michelle and their son Theo and daughter Stella. Whether he’s following the latest NHL news or cheering from the rink, his passion for the sport has been a constant throughout his life.