What are the New Year’s resolutions for the Avalanche?

I’ve always enjoyed the end of the year. I like easily digestible moments in time where one era ends and another begins. Some eras, like the golden age Avs or the Matt Duchene era, take time to play out, but every 12 months we get to push reset on the clock and start fresh.

Maybe no year will be as memorable in my lifetime as 2020. From a pure process standpoint, we had two-and-a-half months of relative normalcy. Then things started to get weird, and suddenly the world was completely different one day.

Sports left us, then came back, then left again. As someone who makes a living in sports, it was stressful wondering when sports might come back and what impact that might have on my livelihood. It was scary. While we’re certainly not back to ‘normal’, we’re getting there.

As part of that, we’ve arrived at the final day of the year, New Year’s Eve. This is really just a free chance for me to begin our preseason coverage so I’m taking it. As the Avs enter into the new year, there are some resolutions for them to make to capitalize on the most talented team they’ve had since the 2005 lockout.

Eat Wheaties, drink milk

The first resolution on Colorado’s list is easy. They need a hearty breakfast and strong bones in order to hold up over the course of the season. 56 games in 116 days is a lot of hockey to be played.

After last year’s terrible run of injury issues both in the regular season and playoffs, they need to do whatever possible to avoid that. Granted, there were some freak injuries along the way (Landeskog’s leg cut by Makar’s skate??) but it just seemed like the universe was out to get the Avs with the injuries.

Maybe they run some sage through the locker room or something. I don’t know. It wasn’t like a ton of conditioning-related injuries where the strength and conditioning program needed changing in order to keep players healthy.

The real resolution here is hoping for the best. The power of positive thinking, I suppose. Let’s go with that. Injuries suck.

Find the ‘special’ in special teams

Colorado’s special teams came under a ton of fire last year. People called for the firing of coaches and an overhaul of systems. I’m not sure that was ever really necessary as Colorado’s special team units were…okay.

That’s it, though. Just okay. The PP finished the regular season 19th in the NHL and the PK 13th. They were okay. The PP was actually really good in the playoffs…until the Dallas series. The PK completely collapsed against the Stars.

I don’t really know what to make of that. Everyone has a theory, I’m just not sure it’s anything more than streaky units being just that. I’m of the opinion that special teams, while important, are one of the sport’s most random elements that we don’t always acknowledge as such.

That said, Colorado’s talent level is simply too high for their power play to be anything less than absolutely lethal. They should punish teams who take penalties against them. Their top six is among the league’s best and between Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, they shouldn’t even need anybody else.

The penalty kill? That might need a legitimate overhaul. In the four years of Nolan Pratt running that unit, the Avs have finished 29th, 4th, 25th, and 13th. It should be noted in the year that unit finished 4th, the Avs had one of the best seasons ever on the PK on home ice.

Just for fun, the Avs gave up just ten goals in 121 times shorthanded on home ice in 2017-18 for a success rate of an absurd 91.7%. In the last 30 years, only two other teams had PK units that good at home (95-96 Red Wings and 98-99 Bruins). On the road that year, the Avs PK was 25th.

If you’re looking for a unit that actually needs re-thinking, this just might be the one.

Goaltenders drive you crazy

Nobody can figure out goalies. Even the best of the best will randomly experience major dips in production in the middle of their careers. Look at John Gibson out in Anaheim. What happened last year? People are always quick to blame the team in front of him but even the few advanced goalie numbers we have show he greatly underperformed, especially for a player of his caliber.

For my money, it’s the single most volatile position in major sports. That’s the kind of thing that can ruin even the best laid of plans. This Avs roster is stacked. The division is ripe for the taking. There should be no more excuses for this Colorado organization to take a step forward into the spotlight as prime Stanley Cup contenders.

But goaltenders, man. They can get you. The Avs have made the postseason three consecutive years and in two of those years, their third goaltender (both acquired in-season, mind you) started multiple playoff games.

That would be more of a true concern if the same goalies were the ones who were hurt but it was four different players!

That brings us to today. There isn’t a great answer right now to the third goaltender question. Very few teams have a great answer, it’s true, but the Avs might be rolling the dice more than any of the teams that fancy themselves Cup contenders.

Similar to injury luck, this just needs to go well for the Avs to live up to their potential.

Develop, develop, develop

This isn’t so much of a resolution as it is a general rule of thumb to live by. The Avs have positioned themselves to be among the league’s elite teams over the next three-to-five years.

If they want to extend that window, they have to get impact players out of the current crop of prospects. That’s all development at this point.

With multiple second round picks already traded away, the system is going to thin out significantly in the next 24 months as graduations outpace the influx of new talent.

It is paramount the organization finds a level of success in the development department that they have struggled to achieve in a long time. Just keep developing and you’ll just keep winning.

That’s it for me for 2020. Season previews begin with a series of videos tomorrow on YouTube. You can head over to the channel here and check out what we have planned.

As always, a genuine and heartfelt thank you to everyone who has supported us through an extremely tough time. We think of ourselves as a large sports family and that wouldn’t exist without the incredible support we get from all of you.

It’s going to be a very fun year for the Colorado Avalanche and I’m looking forward to going through the ups and downs with you