Minnesota Wild: Central Division Preview; Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche were little match for the Minnesota Wild during the 2015-16 season. With little improvement and a few steps back this offseason, expect that the Avalanche will more than likely continue to struggle against the Wild and rest of the Central Division this season.

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One of the Minnesota Wild’s biggest rivals in the franchises short history is a team that has had a lot of successes in the past but has fallen on hard times the last two seasons. The Colorado Avalanche won the Central Division two seasons ago in the 2013-14 season, coming out of nowhere to finish first in the NHL’s toughest division.

The team rode a wave of strong energy that season from their new Head Coach, Hall of Famer Patrick Roy. Roy seemed to be the glue that brought together the young talent of the Avs to play well enough to come out on top of their division foes. Still that Avalanche team would fall victim to an old curse in the playoffs, the Minnesota Wild as they would best them in the first round in seven games.

Fast forward to now and you see an Avalanche team that is coming off of two straight seasons of missing the playoffs, and has suddenly and unexpectedly seen Roy depart. That means that new Head Coach and NHL rookie Jared Bednar has had to step in quickly and formulate his plan for the upcoming season after being hired two weeks ago. And with the Avs looking to be somewhere not at the bottom of the division he’ll have his work cut out for him for sure.

Feb 2, 2016; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Columbus Blue Jackets defensemen Fedor Tyutin (51) skates against the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports

The coaching change doesn’t bode very well for a team that was looking to compete for the playoffs this season. In addition to that unexpected coaching change the team was largely cap strapped, and was unable to make a huge impact in the free-agent or trade market. The Avs brought in forward Joe Colborne and defensemen Patrick Wiercioch and Fedor Tyutin. Not really all that great of impact really although Colborne notched 19 goals last season.

Loss wise the Avalanche did lose quite a bit. Departures included forward Mikkel Boedker, forward Shawn Matthias, defenseman Zach Redmond, defenseman Nick Holden, and goaltender Reto Berra. Boedker may have been a late addition, but his departure hurts the team’s scoring bottom line a bit. And Redmond and Holden seemed to be up and coming defenders with good defensive instincts.

Mar 18, 2016; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (29) controls the puck against the Calgary Flames during the first period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Colorado Avalanche won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

Still for all the losses incurred, GM Joe Sakic did very well to keep the young core of this team intact. The young guns of Nate MacKinnon, Gabe Landeskog, and Tyson Barrie will all be back and ready to improve on excellent numbers in their young careers. In addition, some veteran faces like Jerome Iginla, Carl Sodeberg, Erik Johnson, and Francois Beauchemin will be excellent to round out this lineup.

The expectation is that they will be an improved team, but the reality is that they’ll more than likely be in the same position as last season or maybe even a bit worse as they battle with Winnipeg to stay out of last place. The coaching change so late in the offseason is going to hurt this team as Bednar who has never coached in the NHL before this will not be able to effectively insert all of his system and plans effectively. Also you have to think that the players will take some time to get used to a new coach and by all accounts the players liked Roy, so there might be some issues that arise out of that.

Last season the Wild throttled the Avs to the tune of 4-0-1. They seemed to have their number at all season and there’s no reason that this season should be any different. The key is to shutting down the Avalanche offense is containing MacKinnon and antagonizing Landeskog into being in the box rather than being on the ice to score. To get around their defense it is about being physical up front. The Avs defenders are a bit undersized, so it’s all about getting the puck deep on them and then grinding out the goals.

With more depth and more size on defense, the season series should really tilt lopsidedly towards the Wild again. The Wild got better in every way, and it seems like the Avalanche really got worse or at best stayed the same in many areas. Sure anything can happen when these teams play each other, but it just seems like the nothing for Colorado has changed, so therefore the results shouldn’t change as well.

In the division the Avalanche will more than likely finish last or 6th just ahead of the Jets. The playoffs are still not going to be in sight for this team. They have the pieces to get there in the future. But until they can get a few more pieces around the young core and the new coaching staff get some experience, it seems as if the Avalanche are doomed to sit out another playoffs. Still with respect to the Wild’s chances against them all year, it’s a rivalry so anything can happen but then again there’s something to be said for just being better.