Where will the Avs finish this season?

[Jazzguitar]

Tough to say, and it really depends on injury's and the state of the locker room. There's a good chance the locker room is a complete mess right now, or it's a party since Saco's gone.

I voted last the only team's I can see us being better than is maybe Dallas, maybe the preds and mayyyybe the Jet's although we lost to them pretty bad last time we played them didn't we?

The Wild's pretty underrated on here, when healthy they're a very good team.

 

[NOTENOUGHJTCGOALS]

I might be, but I doubt it. Year 2 is a different story though.

I don't see the better offense... They lost:
Erat - Preds leading scorer at the time of the trade and the previous 2 seasons... 50-60 point player
Kostitsyn - tied for the scoring lead in 10-11 and 4th in 11-12... 50 point player when he cared
Halishuk - finished 6th on the team in goals the last two seasons.. 15g 10a 3rd liner can be be replaced by a player like Nystrom

Replaced them with:
Cullen - Wild #2C last year... hasn't scored over 45 points since 07-08
Stalberg - Only scored over 40 points once in his career.... will be worse in Nashville than Chicago
Nystrom - A 3rd/4th liner
Forsberg - a rookie that will be lucky to get 40 points next season

I think those guys easily replace what they lost. You're looking at their impact on different teams. As they are brought into the Preds system and relied upon as top offensive players I think they'll succeed.

Not to mention they should be stronger defensively and harder to play against with a Cullen rather than a Kostitsyn etc.

 

[DarioinDenver]

I think they will battle for that last playoff spot.

I think they will improve through the entire season where under Sacco they tended to jump out to hot starts and fade.

Special teams, in particular the power play will improve dramatically. I have concerns about the PK.

This is just about the time that Hitchcock starts to salt up his teams and I think St. Louis is overrated in several respects. Still a better club than the Avs but don't be surprised if they take a step back.

The Avalanche defense could not be worse, they literally could not be. I don't expect Roy will choose his worst defenders to start in the defensive zone when he has last change (ala Hunwick/Zanon vs Getzlaf/Perry). I would expect the Avalanche defense to contribute a lot more in the offense.

There's always a team that dissapoints and a team that surprises people. Hope always springs eternal before a new season but I think the Avalanhe will be vastly improved.

 

[Ceremony]

Bottom third of the League.

 

[cgf]

Hawks



Blues
Preds
Avs
Wild
Stars
Jets

 

[Bubba Thudd]

Looks like Anaheim.

 

[shadow1]

Voted 3rd. The Avs come in as a huge unknown after their changes, but the competition isn't too steep outside of Chicago and St. Louis.

 

[Flanagan]

I said 6th. Only ahead of Winnipeg.

 

[lucsamundy]

3rd

beaten by hawks and blues

 

[Avs]

Hard to say for me.

I think we could make a run at the 3rd spot in our division, but I certainly won't be surprised if we finish in 5th or 6th.

Playoffs = possible, not probable

However, I do think they new playoffs format gives us a lot better chances at making it in this year.

 

[Cypher]

1. Chicago
2. St. Louis

3 to 7. Could be anyone of COL, DAL, MIN, WIN or NSH.

Voted 5, Avs beat out half of them in that mix of 5, and possibly make the playoffs via wildcard, as its possible only 3 teams come out of the Pacific.

With this new division, its Essentially going to be the Avs top 3 lines vs teams with pretty much 3 top defensemen.

CHI: Keith, Seabrook, Hjalmarsson,
STL: Pietrangelo, Bouwmeester, Shattenkirk
WIN: Byfuglien, Enstrom, Bogosian
NSH: Weber, Jones, Josi
MIN: Suter, Brodin, Spurgeon?
DAL: Gonchar, Goligoski?, Robidas?

 

[FrostyBear21]

1. Chicago
2. St. Louis

3 to 7. Could be anyone of COL, DAL, MIN, WIN or NSH.

Voted 5, Avs beat out half of them in that mix of 5, and possibly make the playoffs via wildcard, as its possible only 3 teams come out of the Pacific.

With this new division, its Essentially going to be the Avs top 3 lines vs teams with pretty much 3 top defensemen.

CHI: Keith, Seabrook, Hjalmarsson,
STL: Pietrangelo, Bouwmeester, Shattenkirk
WIN: Byfuglien, Enstrom, Bogosian
NSH: Weber, Jones, Josi
MIN: Suter, Brodin, Spurgeon?
DAL: Gonchar, Goligoski?, Robidas?

I live closer to Dallas than Denver, so I catch a few Stars games here and there. Second favorite team as it were. Just wanted to say Robidas and Daley are probably their best D-men after Gonchar. Goligoski hasn't really lived up to expectations, from what I've seen. And I happen to like Goligoski. Dillon will probably one of their top 3 in a few years. He wass paired with Robidas most of last year, and did a damn good job there. Nasty D-man. What we project Siemens to be, IMO.

As for where the Avs will finish, I think they'll beat out Winnipeg. Jets are a decent team, but we're better I think. Nashville and Minnesota depend on whether they can keep the team together.

Dallas is a wild card. Could go either way. Retooling, picking up Peverley, Horcoff, and Seguin made their forwards a bit stronger IMO. Before that I'd have thought we could beat them. Now I'm not so sure. So I figure a 5th place finish too. But like Cypher said, 3-7 will be a bit of a toss-up.

 

[Zih]

I voted 5th. I think Winnipeg is going to have it rough transitioning to the West. I see us, Nashville, Dallas, and Minnesota all being in a relatively close race for 3-6, but I think Dallas and Minnesota end up on top out of those 4. I'm guessing division standings to be:

Chicago
St Louis
Minnesota
Dallas
Avs
Nashville
Winnipeg

 

[ANewHope]

Chicago
St Louis.

After that wouldn't be shocked to see us finish anywhere else. Health will obviously play a huge factor. Won't be surprised to see us finish 3rd, expecting to finish 4th or 5th. I think we'll have a really good idea in the first 5-6 games. Just how much this team changed and just how much the injuries/shortened season impacted last year.

 

[Taak19]

Reminiscent of 2009 after we drafted Duchene. Not really viewed as a threat by anyone, no expectations, new coach, young players...

I originally picked us to finish 5, but I really want the Avs to prove everyone wrong.

I expect Stastny to rebound to a 70 point player again, Johnson to take that step to be our true #1 guy and Varlamov, with proper coaching to take that next step and become a top 15 goalie in the league.

 

[tucker3434]

IMO, people are overrating Dallas and underrating Colorado. Absolutely no way their two shooting percentages continue in the 13-14 season. Co has a top 15 offense next year. Dallas's shooting returns to earth and they fall.

 

[the_fan]

4 people voted 1st?

 

[the_fan]

IMO, people are overrating Dallas and underrating Colorado. Absolutely no way their two shooting percentages continue in the 13-14 season. Co has a top 15 offense next year. Dallas's shooting returns to earth and they fall.

Yeah, where is all this Stars are gonna be a top team hype coming from? All they did is trade for Seguin who's not a PPG player or anything, actually they gave up a better player in Eriksson who put up better numbers, and Horcoff? LOL

I guess this is HF boards, nothing can surprise me.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Feel free to rip me for being the pessimistic outsider critical of a new divisional rival, but right now I have you guys pegged for 7th.

That being said, 5-7 is a total craps shoot right now, so I wouldn't be surprised to see Colorado, Winnipeg, and Nashville in any order. I feel very confident ranking the top four as Chicago, St. Louis, Minnesota, and Dallas, in that order, though. And I think you guys are poised for a brighter future then say Winnipeg, who I don't really see doing much barring major changes, and Nashville, who I only see as being a suffocating defensive team and not much on the offensive side of the puck, so I definitely think you'll be battling for a playoff spot within a couple years.

 

[cgf]

I'm not really sold on Dallas being better than us at all. I think they're absolutely in the Colorado, Nashville, Winnipeg tier of the division and not the Chicago, St Louis and Minnesota tier.

 

[S E P H]

Feel free to rip me for being the pessimistic outsider critical of a new divisional rival, but right now I have you guys pegged for 7th.

That being said, 5-7 is a total craps shoot right now, so I wouldn't be surprised to see Colorado, Winnipeg, and Nashville in any order. I feel very confident ranking the top four as Chicago, St. Louis, Minnesota, and Dallas, in that order, though. And I think you guys are poised for a brighter future then say Winnipeg, who I don't really see doing much barring major changes, and Nashville, who I only see as being a suffocating defensive team and not much on the offensive side of the puck, so I definitely think you'll be battling for a playoff spot within a couple years.

Disagree in terms of having Dallas over Nashville, Dallas just lost their best player and replaced him with someone who isn't a top centre in the NHL by any means except potential. While Nashville, though have offensive problems lost majority of their scoring depth last season due to injuries.

Personally I think Avs will challenge for the 4th spot and might even get it, but won't obtain a playoff spot due to Pacific being so strong. I do agree that from 3rd to 7th should be freakin ass close and the team that stays the healthiest has a decent chance to gain a playoff spot.

 

[the_fan]

I'm not really sold on Dallas being better than us at all. I think they're absolutely in the Colorado, Nashville, Winnipeg tier of the division and not the Chicago, St Louis and Minnesota tier.

Dallas is not better than the Avs. Check their roster, their best d-man is a 39 year old Gonchar, they have a pretty good goalie, and an average forward group.

 

[NateTheGreat]

I see them finishing 4th at best, to me it all depends on Varly, we know we have a terrible defence, and what looks to be a potent offense, so if Varly can have consistency over a full season, we have a shot at making the playoffs.

 

[Avs]

If we score 8 goals a game..boom, we're in!