Colorado Avalanche 2009-'10 Fantasy Hockey Preview

(Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

We are now less than a month away from the start of the 2009-'10 NHL regular season, and I think it's a great time to start publishing my fantasy preview articles for each NHL team.

When looking at a player and predicting how he will fare offensively this season, there are many things to consider: Is the player at an age where he will improve or decline? Is he playing with new line mates this year? Did his team acquire some players who may push them down the depth chart?

Those are just a few of the questions needed to be asked and I believe I can accurately predict a player's point totals for the upcoming season. Of course, things like injuries are impossible to predict, so these are best case scenarios.

2009-'10 Depth Chart

Forwards

Wojtek Wolski-Paul Stastny-Milan Hejduk
T.J Galiardi-Matt Duchene-David Jones
Cody McLeod-T.J Hensick-Marek Svatos
Darcy Tucker-Ryan Stoa-Chris Stewart

Defense

Kyle Quincey-Adam Foote
John Michael Liles-Scott Hannan
Brett Clark-Ruslan Salei

Goalies

Craig Anderson
Peter Budaj

Sure Bet: Paul Stastny

Managing 36 points in 45 games last season, Stastny is back to full health this season and I think he will eclipse his career high in points.

Dark Horse: Wojtek Wolski

Wolski's point production has slipped in each of his first three NHL seasons, but he is only 23 years old and he has the offensive ability to produce much more then he has been lately.

2009-10 Scoring Projections

Player                      GP-G-A-P
1. Paul Stastny          77-31-54-85
2. Wojtek Wolski        80-22-38-60
3. Milan Hejduk          82-28-30-58
4. Matt Duchene        76-17-24-41
5. John-Michael Liles   78-9-30-39
6. Marek Svatos         76-21-17-38
7. TJ Hensick            72-12-20-32       
8. David Jones           80-12-19-31
9. Kyle Quincey         78-7-22-29
10. Ruslan Salei        82-6-18-24
11. TJ Galiardi          76-9-12-21
12. Chris Stewart     64-10-10-20
13. Cody McLeod      77-12-7-19
14. Brett Clark          81-4-14-18
15. Darcy Tucker      60-5-12-17
16. Adam Foote        66-3-11-14
17. Ryan Stoa          61-6-7-13
18. Scott Hannan      73-1-7-8

Goalies
1. Craig Anderson 27-26-6 .914 SVP 2.76 GAA
2. Peter Budaj 7-13-3 .896 SVP 2.90 GAA

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