DENVER — The 2023-24 Colorado Avalanche won't be pushovers.
After winning the Stanley Cup in 2022, the Avalanche were bounced early by the Seattle Kraken from the 2023 Playoffs, and the absence of captain Gabriel Landeskog was noticeable.
With Landeskog ruled out for another season due to knee injuries, the team addressed a certain quality that was clearly lacking.
"You can chalk every fiber of the moves they have made up to a win because it's a commitment to a team grittiness that they did not have last year," according to Kyle Sullivan of Locked on Avalanche.
"This team can outscore you, this team can out-finesse you, they are fast, but they are fragile."
The additions of Ross Colton and Miles Wood - previously with the Tampa Bay Lightning and New Jersey Devils, respectively - certainly give the Avalanche that extra bite.
That's somewhat less true of the trade with the Nashville Predators for Ryan Johansen and the addition of Jonathan Drouin from the Montreal Canadiens, but Colorado is clearly looking to add depth up front in order to try to take the Cup back from the reigning champs in Las Vegas.
"Vegas was a team built to last, and Colorado is trying to replicate that," Sullivan adds.
The additions didn't cost the Avs all that much, either. They acquired Colton for a second-round pick, Nashville retained 50 percent of Johansen's contract to dump him, and they were willing to part with Alex Newhook, who hadn't quite popped but on whom Montreal was willing to take a risk.
Colorado, of course, has a core of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Cale Makar to build around. If everyone is healthy, it should be a fun season incoming for the Avalanche.