Avalanche wants to take the next step after trading with Saad

Following the NHL draft, free agency, and other offseason moves, NHL.com is reviewing where each team stands in preparation for the 2020-21 regular season, which is slated to begin January 1st. Today the Colorado Avalanche is:

The Colorado Avalanche did not cause a sensation in the free agency to come over the mountain in the Stanley Cup playoffs this season.

Instead, Colorado focused on locking up its key-restricted free agents, including redirects Andre Burakovsky and Valery Nichushkin, signed a two-year contract October 10 and defense attorney each Ryan Graves, who signed a three-year deal on October 12, after leading the NHL by 40 last season.

“You just have to look very carefully into the future,” said Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic. “We know the contracts we have (forward) Gabriel Landeskog, Goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer) we wanted to make sure that we keep our flexibility. Once we know the numbers there, we can insert the pieces from there. But it’s a different situation (due to the blanket NHL salary cap of $ 81.5 million). “

[RELATED: Complete Team Reset coverage]

The avalanche was acquired onwards Brandon Saad and defense attorney Dennis Gilbert in a deal by the Chicago Blackhawks for defense attorneys Nikita Zadorov and Anton Lindholm on October 11th. Then they added defenders Devon Toews in a deal by the New York Islanders for a second round of voting in the 2021 NHL Draft and the 2022 NHL Draft the following day.

Saad has scored at least 21 goals in five of the last six seasons, including 21 in 2019-20. More importantly, he’s a two-time Stanley Cup champion and will bring the Avalanche valuable playoff experience that fell below expectations last season when they were eliminated by the Dallas Stars in seven games of the second round of the Western Conference.

To acquire Saad, Colorado gave up its largest physical presence, Zadorov (6-foot-6, 235 pounds), who finished seventh among defenders in the NHL with 175 hits last season. However, with defender prospects Bowen Byram and Conor Timmins It was a step Sakic could afford to knock on the door.

“You have to have depth to win. We brought that up,” said Sakic.

“We feel [Graves]He’s a big guy (6-5, 220), he’s a defender. We feel for him, Erik [Johnson]Ian [Cole]They give us a physical presence. Cale [Makar] can also play a physical style. You don’t want him hammering out there, but he’s a tough kid. He won’t flinch. We believe our defense will be fine. ”

This is what the avalanche looks like today:

Key arrivals

Brandon Saad, F: The 27-year-old scored 33 points (21 goals, 12 assists) in 58 regular season games and five points (two goals, three assists) in nine postseason games last season for the Blackhawks, whom he helped to win the 2013 Cup and 2015. … Devon Toews, D: The 26-year-old, who is a restricted free agent with an NHL salary decision hearing scheduled for October 31, scored 28 points (six goals, 22 assists) for the Islanders in 68 regular season games last season second to the NHL and 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in 22 postseason games.

Video: Saad was sold to Avs as part of a four-player deal with Hawks

Key departures

Nikita Zadorov, D: Scored 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 64 regular season games and five points (three goals, two assists) in 15 postseason games in the postseason. He led the Avalanche in hits in each of his four full seasons with Colorado, including an NHL career high of 278 in 2017-18. … Vladislav Namestnikov, F: Signed a two-year deal with the Detroit Red Wings on October 11 after scoring 31 points (17 goals, 14 assists) in 65 games last season, six of which (four goals, two assists) in nine games for the Avalanche him in a bargain from the Ottawa Senators on February 24th.

At the top

Conor Timmins, D: Timmins was selected in the second round (No. 32) of the 2017 NHL Draft and scored 27 points (three goals, 24 assists) in 40 games last season for the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League. The 22-year-old also played two games against the stars in the second round, and Sakic said he had seen enough “to know that he may be ready to take the next step”. … Bowen Byram, D: Byram was selected as the number 4 in the 2019 NHL draft and scored 52 points (14 goals, 38 assists) in 50 games with Vancouver of the Western Hockey League last season. Sakic said the 19-year-old, like Timmins, will get every chance to replace Zadorov. … Martin Kaut, F: Kaut, who was selected in the first round (# 16) in the 2018 NHL Draft, was called up in the late season and has scored three points (two goals, one assist) in nine NHL games. The 21-year-old scored 18 points (five goals, 13 assists) in 34 AHL games. So it wouldn’t be surprising if he started the Avalanche this season. … Alex Newhook, F: The 19-year-old, selected in the first round (# 16) of the 2019 draft, finished seventh in the NCAA last season as a freshman for Boston College with 42 points (19 goals, 23 assists) in 34 games .

What else do you need

A # 1 goalkeeper Grubauer was brought in as this guy two seasons ago, but inconsistent play and injuries didn’t allow that. Last season, Grubauer (18-12-4, 2.63 goals against the average, 0.916 percent fewer) was played out by backup in the regular season Pavel Francouz (21-7-4, 2.41 GAA, save .923 percent) before injuring his lower body in Game 1 of the second round against the Stars.

Video: COL @ DAL, RR: Francouz makes history with shutout

Fantasy focus

Saad could likely have a deep fantasy sleeper after being taken over by Chicago. He averaged the third-highest 5-on-5 ice time per game (13:19) among strikers in Chicago last season and was able to take on a top-tier role with the # 1 fantasy player Nathan MacKinnon or second line with valuable center Nazem Kadri |. Saad has averaged 23.3 goals over the past six seasons and should do even better this season within a stacked avalanche offense. – Rob Reese

Projected placement

Gabriel Landeskog – Nathan MacKinnon – Mikko Rantanen

Brandon Saad – Nazem Kadri – Andre Burakovsky

JT Compher – – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – Valery Nichushkin

Matt Calvert – – Tyson Jost – – Joonas Donskoi

Ryan Graves – Cale Makar

Samuel Girard – – Erik Johnson

Devon Toews – Ian Cole

Philipp Grubauer

Pavel Francouz