2012 Projections: Colorado

The meteoric rise of the Avalanche in 2010 to the crashing fall of 2011 makes the 2012 edition an enigma, which will be hard to figure out before the puck drops in October.

There is very little question as to how much talent the Avalanche have up front, I think that they will score a lot of goals, many in the 'very pretty' variety, but keeping the puck out of their own net, may hinder their numbers to a certain degree.

The youth of the Avalanche, especially in keeper leagues, will be very appealing to poolies everywhere, especially because they have so much upside, even the players like Matt Duchene, who have already had a couple of seasons put under their belt.

The deals that have been made, both at the trade deadline and the off-season, have left a few questions hanging in the air, the biggest one being 'are they really going to help this team right away?'  Well, I don't project the Avalanche to do well this year, suggesting that I'm not convinced that these deals will actually help.

Forwards		Defense		Goalies
Matt Duchene	75	Erik Johnson	30	Semyon Varlamov	65
Paul Stastny	70	Jan Hejda	25	J-S Giguere	25
Milan Hejduk	70	Kyle Quincey	25
David Jones	40	Ryan Wilson	20
Ryan O'Reilly	30	Matt Hunwick	15
Peter Mueller	30	Ryan O'Byrne	15
Daniel Winnik	25	Shane O'Brien	10
Kevin Porter	20
Brandon Yip	25
Jay McClement	20
Chuck Kobasew	15
Cody McLeod	5
Gabriel Landeskog	35	Tyson Barrie	15	Cedrik Desjardins	5
T.J. Galiardi	30	Jonas Holos	15
Joey Hishon	30
Greg Mauldin	20
Mark Olver	10

Pool Worthy Forwards (Inside the top 160, 40 points)
The top three forwards for the Avalanche should be pool locks again this year, with Duchene possibly taking the next step in his development and making a really good push towards the top 25 in scoring this year.  Unfortunately, I just can't see the offense, as a whole, overcoming some of the team's defensive shortcomings, which will muzzle the scoring to a certain degree.  Paul Stastny and Milan Hejduk will still put points up, but from there, I can see a real drop-off.

The depth of the players up front are not as strong as most teams, especially in the West, which won't help the causes of some of those flash-in-the-pan players like Brandon Yip or Ryan O'Reilly.  Some accomplished depth would go a long way to helping this team out.

Pool Worthy Defensemen (Inside the top 80, 25 points)
The defense may fare a little bit better, but not by too much.  Erik Johnson has jumped from growing team to growing team, possibly even taking a step back in the deal from St. Louis last season.  Johnson is a number one defenseman, but he'll really have to step up his game, if he is going to push the Avs further.

Jan Hejda hasn't embraced being a top-four defenseman, according to his scoring numbers and Kyle Quincey is coming off a partial season, due to major shoulder surgery.  The effectiveness of either blueliner here is definitely in question, which makes them harder to pick for your pool team.

Pool Worthy Goalies (Inside the top 40, 25 points)
Yes, Semyon Varlamov has plenty of hype associated to his name as a goalie, but he wasn't able to stick as the highest-profile prospect keeper with the Capitals, so the Avalanche were able to snap him up in an off-season deal.  With all of that being said, he is coming to a program in Colorado, which isn't as good as the Capitals, by any stretch, which puts his numbers in jeopardy.  He should be granted number one status out of training camp, but with the acquisition of J-S Giguere, his leash may be a bit shorter than other number one goalies.

Giguere, could figure in as an option for a late round goaltender for your draft, especially if Varlamov starts to lose focus, but how many wins Giguere may get could be limited by the team in front of him.

Pool Worthy Rookies
I'm not completely sold that Gabriel Landeskog will make an immediate impact with the Colorado Avalanche, I don't think he's the player that will lift this team above and beyond expectations, but he will probably fit in quite well.  He has a certain potential that I would include him in my draft list, but it will be quite low, because I find it hard to believe that the Avalanche have enough depth for his line to help push him forward.

On the blueline, there could be a big break for Tyson Barrie, who has turned some heads in the past 12 months, not to mention a 5-6-7 combination on defense that may leave a little to be desired, meaning he could jump into some bottom pairing minutes on his way into some better time.  It might be a slower transition for Barrie, being only 20 years old, but his time might be now.

Unsigned Players
Restricted free agent defenseman Kyle Cumiskey remains on the shelf without a deal and with the Avalanche making a lot of moves on the blueline, the bargaining chips have definitely fallen towards the club, instead of the player.  Cumiskey is a considerable talent, but he also suffered a concussion in February and his not being signed may also be health related as well.  Hard to say without confirmation.

Key Injuries
Forward Peter Mueller has been cleared to play again in the NHL after dealing with concussion issues last season, but I would be weary of ranking him too high before seeing how he plays and for how long he plays.  Concussions, be it current or previous, should always be a concern for poolies.