Colorado Avalanche Preview

Departures
Joe Sakic, Ian Laperriere, Ryan Smyth, Ben Guite, Tyler Arnason, Andrew Raycroft, Cody McCormick, Daniel Tjarnqvist

Arrivals
David Koci, Kyle Quincey, Tom Preissing, Brian Fahey, Craig Anderson

Forwards
When Joe Sakic announced his retirement there was a collective sigh heard around the state of Colorado. The fans finally realizing that they are in a major rebuilding mode. To top it off, fan favourite Ryan Smyth was shipped out for two defenseman. Veterans Milan Hejduk, Darcy Tucker and Marek Svatos will have to lead this squad. If Paul Stastny can stay healthy and Wojtek Wolski plays to his potential they will have a solid top-five forwards. Fans are anxiously awaiting their chance to catch a glimpse of third overall pick Matt Duchene, the center grew up idolizing the former Av’s captain, Sakic. The Brampton Battalion star intends on staying with the big club but the Av’s won’t risk slowing the 18-year-old’s development by keeping him if he looks out of place.

Defenseman
Surprisingly the defense for Colorado looks pretty strong on paper with veterans Adam Foote, Scott Hannan Ruslan Salei and John-Michael Liles logging the majority of the minutes. Newbies Tom Preissing and Kyle Quincey (Smyth trade) will add some much needed offense from the backend.

Goalies
The Andrew Raycroft experiment was a failure, Leafs’ fans could have guessed that. So, in comes perennial back-up Craig Anderson looking to finally snag a number one job. He posted solid numbers last season in Florida 15-7-5 with .924 SV%. If he isn’t able to take the number one job, Peter Budaj will likely get another crack at it.

Strengths
- If Duchene is able to step in right away the Av’s will have a great 1-2 punch at center with Statsny

- The Av’s will be a leading candidate for either John MacFarland or Taylor Hall in the 2010 draft. Both are exceptional scoring forwards.

– The defense might be seasoned but they still have a lot left in the tank. Foote and Hannan will have their hands full trying to shut teams down.

Weaknesses
- Statsny is often injured, Wolski’s development has slowed and Tucker and Svatos had seasons to forget. If these four don’t produce it’s off to another draft lottery.

- A rookie head coach and a rookie GM. Enough said.

Analysis
The Av’s are going to be looking a lot like the Nordiques of the late ’80′s. The only good thing about that is the number of high draft picks those teams produced. There are some solid players in the system, lead by Duchene. Brighter days are coming

Prediction: 15th in the West