Fraser Looks at the Colorado Avalanche: 2009-10 Season Preview

I will be previewing all 30 NHL clubs. I will be looking at their available salary cap room, the additions and deletions from the 2008-09 rosters, and where I think they will stack up in their division and conference for the 2009-10 season. 

Let's get a move on with the Colorado Avalanche, which plays in the Northwest Division and the Western Conference.

After the face of the franchise, Joe Sakic, decided to call it a career after 20 years with the Nordiques/Avalanche, the Avalanche are not the same organization that once had players, like  Sakic, Forsberg, Roy, Bourque, Blake, Drury and Tanguay. 

It is time for the Avalanche to rebuild, and that means some rough years are ahead in Denver.

The Colorado Avalanche currently has 17 players under one-way contracts: Two goaltenders, seven defensemen, and eight forwards. The salary cap hit for these 17 players is $44.6 million.

The Avs will use the six remaining roster spots to get a good look at some of the talent within the organization.

Significant Additions

Defensemen Tom Preissing and Kyle Quincey were acquired in the Ryan Smyth deal. 

The unrestricted free agent deals that were signed by the new Avs general manager Greg Sherman are as follows: Craig Anderson (Florida), Brett Skinner (Atlanta), Darren Haydar (Detroit), David Koci (Tampa Bay), and Brian Fahey (NY Rangers).

Significant Deletions

Ryan Smyth (trade with Los Angeles Kings), Joe Sakic (retired), and unrestricted free agents Mike Vernace (Atlanta), Nathan Smith (Minnesota), Ben Guite (Nashville), Andrew Raycroft (Vancouver), Tyler Arnason (New York Rangers), Lawrence Nycholat (Vancouver), Ian Laperriere (Philadelphia), and Nigel Williams (New York Rangers).

Top Young Faces in the Organization

Matt Duchene

The top pick of the Avalanche in this year's entry draft (third overall) had found himself in the discussion over who should be the first overall draft pick, along with John Tavares and Victor Hedman.

In 2008-09 with the Brampton Battalion, Duchene racked up 79 points in 57 regular season games and 26 more points in the playoff run to the OHL final. 

NHL Director of Central Scouting E.J. McGuire has this scouting report on Duchene:
"Matt Duchene is a pure offensive player who also is a great penalty killer. He helps the Brampton Battalion in all facets of the game. A pure sniper, he plays the point on the power-play and is a threat to score on the penalty kills as well. He reminds me, probably most of the new breed of snipers, Patrick Kane, Sam Gagner and Steven Stamkos as he grows into his offensive position in the NHL."

Kevin Shattenkirk

The first-round draft choice in 2007 (14th overall) will be returning for his third season with Boston University. 

In 2007-08, Shattenkirk racked up 21 points in 40 games, and in 2008-09, the 20-year-old defensemen potted 28 points in 43 games.

According to MyNHLdraft.com, Shattenkirk is a defenseman that possesses good offensive skills and is able to read the play well in transition. He shows good mobility and quick feet, but he still needs to add a physical presence to his game and improve his consistency in the defensive end.

Chris Stewart

The first-round draft choice in 2006 (18th overall) is entering his third professional season after playing parts of the last two with the Lake Erie Monsters (AHL) and Colorado. 

He had 19 points in his 53 games during his NHL rookie season.

According to hockeysfuture.com, Stewart is a big power forward who is a strong skater who is hard to knock off the puck and is not afraid to get physical when it is necessary. He has great hands for a big man and plays in all situations. Stewart’s size, physicality, and soft hands, combined with excellent work ethic, make him a force to be reckoned with. One area of concern for Stewart was visible to scouts at the draft combine, and that was a body fat level that is too high.

Ryan Stoa

The second-round draft choice in 2005 (34th overall) is entering his first professional season after playing four years with the University of Minnesota. 

Stoa missed all but two games during the 2007-08 season with a knee injury, but he scored 46 points in 36 games last season.

According to hockeysfuture.com, at 6'3” and a bit over 200 pounds, Stoa has the potential to develop into an effective power forward in the future. He is a good skater who possesses deceptive speed despite his size and has a great set of fundamental skills. Stoa does a good job using his body to protect the puck, which helps him to be effective down low and in the corners. He is a good forechecker but also has a bit of a scoring touch. Stoa has shown himself to be a more effective setup man, but he will find ways to bury the puck.

T.J. Galiardi

The second-round pick in 2007 (55th overall), is entering his second professional season. Galiardi played the previous two seasons with Dartmouth College, and once he was drafted, he left school to further his development with his hometown Calgary Hitmen of the WHL.

Galiardi had 27 points in 66 games with the Monsters and was called up late in the year to play 11 games with the Avalanche. He scored three times and chipped in with an assist during his first month in the NHL. 

According to hockeysfuture.com, Galiardi is an instinctive playmaker with tremendous scoring capability. He is very smart, patient and creative with the puck. Those features along with his great on-ice vision help make him an efficient puck distributor who can easily find open teammates as well.

One characteristic that makes Galiardi such an outstanding player is his ability to blend those brilliant puck skills with the mental side of the game. He can be deceptive and what the opposition is reading isn't always what he is thinking.

While Galiardi is a strong competitor and has the puck skills needed to be successful, being more aggressive more often in his puck pursuits would not only make him more difficult to play against but also make him a much more valuable asset to his team.

Galiardi is also a superb skater, combining power and speed with immense fluidity in his long strides. As he continues to develop his size and strength, the power and quickness in those strides will become more pronounced.

Dartmouth head coach Bob Gaudet's comments on Galiardi: "T.J. broke into the college ranks and developed very quickly. T.J. has got an offensive flare. The offensive side of the game appears to come very naturally to him as far as the understanding and hockey intellect side of it. When his body (development) catches up, T.J. is going to be even more dominant and really something special."

Recap of 2008-09

The Avalanche was fifth in the Northwest Division and 15th in the Western Conference with a record of 32-45-5 for 69 points. Colorado had a record of 1-6-3 in its last 10 games, but by then, the Avalanche was crippled with injuries.

The Avs were the only team in the NHL not to score 200 goals, as they averaged only 2.4 goals per game. They were also tied as the worst defensive team in the Western Conference, averaging 3.13 goals against.

Their power play ranked 25th in the NHL, and the penalty killing was tied for 20th.

Outlook for 2009-10

This quote pretty much sums up the current state of the Avalanche organization.

"It was my mess. I caused it. I have no excuses. We lost our way of doing business. But our people, our organization, our owner, our players and I will clean it up." —Avalanche President Pierre Lacroix.

The Avalanche will be led offensively by Paul Stastny and Milan Hejduk. Stastny, who missed a total of 37 games due to suffering two separate injuries and Hejduk, who scored his 300th NHL goal last year, will need to lead this team during its rebuilding phase.

Defensively, the leading tandem of Scott Hannan and Brett Clark will need to help solidify an experienced but an offensively challenged group from a year ago. Tom Preissing and John-Michael Liles will help lead a revamped power play for the back end.

The goaltending tandem of Peter Budaj and Craig Anderson will probably end up sharing the duties in net, but Anderson will be given every opportunity to take control of the crease. Anderson, who was third in the NHL with a .924 save percentage, and had three shutouts in 31 games with the Florida Panthers last season.   

The Avalanche play within the same division as four of the most decorated and experienced goaltenders in the NHL and will be hard-pressed to score offensively.

Both Backstrom (Minnesota) and Kiprusoff (Calgary) should be part of the Finnish Olympic team, Khabibulin (Edmonton) is a Stanley Cup champion and is coming off a bounce-back year with the Blackhawks who will most likely will be part of Team Russia, and Roberto Luongo (Vancouver) should be a part of the Canadian Olympic Team.

I foresee another long winter in Colorado. Look for the Avs to use some of the upcoming unrestricted free agents like Hejduk, Tucker, Foote, Svatos, Salei and Clark to be used as parts to help with the rebuilding process. 

The Avs may be busy around the trade deadline as they look to move forward. I believe that the cornerstones of the organization are Stastny, Wolski, and Duchene, and everyone else on the Avalanche roster could be considered movable assets.

The Avs should finish fifth in the Northwest Division and at or near the bottom of the competitive Western Conference again this season. 

It isn’t the first time this franchise has gone through a re-building phase, as the Quebec Nordiques did it from 1987 to 1992 and built themselves into NHL powerhouse for almost 15 years. 

If history repeats itself again, it won’t be long before the Colorado Avalanche is back on top. 

On Aug. 19, I will be reviewing Columbus Blue Jackets as I continue to preview each of the 30 NHL clubs. Look to for my four-part article on how I would improve the NHL and my other previously published articles on bleacherreport.com.