The Colorado Avalanche are one of the best teams in the National Hockey League. They won the Stanley Cup in 2022 and haven’t stopped being great. At 23-14-3, they sit in first place in the Central Division with 67 points.
There are a lot of reasons that the Avalanche are an elite team. The biggest is MVP front-runner Nathan MacKinnon. The first overall pick in the 2013 NHL Draft is one of the best players in the league. He currently has 31 goals and 53 assists for a league-leading 84 points.
They also have Cale Makar who is one of the two Norris Trophy front runners for best defenseman in the NHL. He has 58 points which is one point behind Quinn Hughes for the league lead for a blue liner.
You can’t go without mentioning Mikko Rantanen too. He is one of the best players in the NHL but he plays on this loaded team so he can be a bit underrated at times. He is currently 4th in NHL scoring with 66 points.
The Colorado Avalanche are a team loaded with talent in 2023-24
This team is loaded with talent from top to bottom. They have now added a good depth piece in Zach Parise. He is resuming his NHL career after not playing yet this season.
Parise has been an NHL superstar in his career but at 39 years old, he is looking to add some depth to one of the best teams in the league. He will play forward in their bottom six and provide a tenacious effort every single shift.
His best ability through this career has been his goal-scoring. He battles hard and creates space for himself around the net. He has 429 goals and 450 assists for 879 points in 1224 games split between the New Jersey Devils, Minnesota Wild, and New York Islanders.
International competition has also been a part of his career. He was an alternate captain and captain for Team USA in 2010 (Vancouver) and 2014 (Sochi). They won a Silver Medal in 2010.
He also played in the World Junior Championships as a young man and was a part of the first-ever Gold Medal Medal-winning USA team.
Parise’s career year in the NHL came in 2008-09 when he had 45 goals and 49 assists for 94 points. He came in 5th place for the Hart Trophy that season.
In 2012, Parise was the captain of the Devils and they went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final with him leading the way.
That is some good experience coming to the Avalanche who already have a ton of great veterans. This is going to be a great fit. You can expect them to add Parise to the lineup after the All-Star break is complete and make another run at the Cup.