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The Colorado Avalanche had a disappointing 2014-15 season. This setback wasn’t surprising as in 2013-14, the Avalanche were the worst team to win a division title in recent memory. Like the Calgary Flames this year, the Avalanche rode unsustainable shooting percentages along with Semyon Varlamov to the playoffs despite being ranked 27th in possession. This isn’t a good hockey team, so how did management improve their team going into next season?
They didn’t.
Now don’t get me wrong. They tried to improve. But let me outline just how they did that this offseason:
The Avalanche attempted to pad their forward depth by adding Carl Soderberg from the Boston Bruins. However, the contract they signed him to makes Soderberg the fourth-highest paid forward on the team. Soderberg is good, but that contract is questionable even with the large amount of cap space they have. Considering that Jarome Iginla is their third-highest paid forward, these same questions become more apparent. Otherwise, they made smart free agency decisions by signing Francois Beauchemin to aid a terrible defense. That along with adding Blake Comeau give the Avalanche more depth.
But the biggest noise this team made this offseason was at the draft. First, they drafted top-ranked European skater Mikko Rantanen 10th overall. Although Rantanen doesn’t use his size to his advantage, he provides a big body on the wing which any NHL team could use. Though he didn’t score as much as past Finnish sensations Mikael Granlund and Aleksander Barkov, Rantanen played on a terrible team in TPS Turku and showed an ability to contribute offense in the NHL.
While Rantanen helps the Avalanche in the future, the move that will impact their future the most was made when they traded Ryan O’Reilly to the Buffalo Sabres for Mikhail Grigorenko, Nikita Zadorov, J.T. Compher and a second-round pick. While the O’Reilly rumors have been generating for some time now, this trade is horrendous for the Avalanche. Even with his DUI, none of the players in this package have a good chance of making the impact that O’Reilly does — or did.
The Avalanche made some minor improvements this offseason, and the loss of O’Reilly is a major setback. This team continues to boast one of the worst management groups in the NHL and they didn’t learn anything from last year’s setback. Their division title in 2014-15 was a fluke as Varlamov is the only reason for these results. Varlamov should get another assist as he is also the only reason why Patrick Roy is a Jack Adams award winner.
Like the Flames, the Avalanche are another example that proves a simple theory in ice hockey. If you don’t shoot more pucks than the other team, your team will probably have a losing record.
Related:
Grading the Colorado Avalanche’s 2015 NHL Offseason
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