Apr 17, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Avalanche left wing Gabriel Landeskog (92) celebrates after scoring a goal against the Minnesota Wild during game one of the first round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
Part 2 of our Colorado Avalanche Preview looks at a projected opening night lineup as well as their salary cap situation.
FORWARDS
Gabriel Landeskog – Matt Duchene – Nathan MacKinnon
Jarome Iginla – Ryan O’Reilly – Alex Tanguay
Jamie McGinn – John Mitchell – Daniel Briere
Marc-Andre Cliche – Maxime Talbot – Cody McLeod
EXTRAS: Patrick Bordeleau, Jesse Winchester
The loss of Paul Stastny will be felt, but they are still strong up the middle and have a lot of options. They can play MacKinnon on the wing or up the middle and move O’Reilly down the lineup, or shift him to the wing as well when needed. The veteran experience of Iginla and Briere will help in the leadership department and if they can get anything out of Tanguay it will be a bonus. They have added a lot of salary through signings, trades and internal raises to the point where the 14 forwards account for over $41.5M in cap space.