Team: 2017-18 Colorado Avalanche

Initial Creation Date: Oct. 11, 2017

Published: Oct. 11, 2017

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

This new lineup doesn't look half bad through three games. MacKinnon and Rantanen have good chemistry on the first line, plus Andrighetto has added more speed. Yakupov looks like a new player with Duchene and Kerfoot. Jost just got moved up with fellow rookie JT Compher and the captain Gabe Landeskog for a gritty but skilled third line. The fourth line is all vets who won't be around long, but Soderberg has been good since being scratched for game 1.
Johnson looks great, as usual before the injury bug gets him. Zadorov is coming along. Barrie's defensive game looks much better, and Nemeth has been a quiet but very solid addition. Bigras has been extremely impressive, and Lindholm has gone unnoticed, which is good, except for a couple of penalties.
Varlamov has been phenomenal coming off of surgery, and Bernier made some of the best saves we may see all year in game 2.
There's lots of upside with this team. There's also plenty that could go wrong, and there are some inevitable growing pains coming. But it's nice to have some real hope as an Avs fan for once this decade :')