Top 5 NHL teams benefitting the most from the break
2. Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche are like the black knight from Monty Python And The Holy Grail. Sure, their legs and arms have been cut off. But they’re still hanging in there and just won’t go away. You can’t help but admire their resiliency.
Their injury list includes Nazem Kadri, Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Andre Burakovsky, Philipp Grubauer, Colin Wilson, and Matt Calvert. That’s six of their top seven forwards in 5v5 points per hour (min. 100 minutes). Wilson probably wouldn’t be able to return, but everyone else would. And if they managed to get Wilson back, it would make them even more lethal than they already are.
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The Avalanche have very rarely been at full strength this season. But when they’ve been fully healthy, they’ve been one of the best teams in the NHL. Maybe during the break, they can explore an exorcism and that will get rid of whatever curse the hockey gods have put on them.
As an added bonus, Cale Makar has been incredible this season, but let’s be honest, he could probably use a break. After all, this is his first full professional season. He’s gone from a relatively short season in the NCAA to a very long one in the NHL. Makar has adjusted extremely well, but you can’t deny he’s got to be happy he gets to take a break.
Getting Grubauer back would solidify their goaltending depth. Pavel Francousz has performed quite admirably in relief of Grubauer, but Gruabuer’s resume in the postseason is very impressive. In each of the past two seasons, he’s been dominant down the stretch.