Dobber’s Offseason Fantasy Grades 2018: Colorado Avalanche
Dobber
2018-08-14
Dobber's offseason fantasy hockey grades – Colorado Avalanche
For the last 15 years (12 with The Hockey News, last year’s via pinch-hitter Cam Robinson) Dobber has reviewed each team from a fantasy-hockey standpoint and graded them.
The 16th annual review will appear here on DobberHockey throughout the summer. This is not a review of the likely performance on the ice or in the standings, but in the realm of fantasy hockey.
Enjoy!
Gone – Nail Yakupov, Rocco Grimaldi, Andrew Hammond, Blake Comeau, Jonathan Bernier
Incoming – Matt Calvert, Ian Cole, Philipp Grubauer, Pavel Francouz
Impact of changes – The Avalanche upgraded their No.2 goalie, even though Bernier had a fantastic season, Grubauer is a future starter and that’s why the Avs got him. Semyon Varlamov is breaking down and no longer can handle even 55-game workloads. So this year Grubauer will shoulder 40 games and transition to become the 2019-20 starter. Francouz was one of the top goaltenders in the KHL and is considered a good upgrade on the No.3 goalie spot.
The team is coming off a good and surprising season that was spearheaded by an elite first line of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog. Helping that line become successful was a pure checking line of Comeau, Carl Soderberg and Matt Nieto. So Comeau obviously had to be replaced and that’s where Calvert comes in. Calvert is probably a slight upgrade on Comeau in on-ice talent, but he’s far more injury prone so this particular swap may turn out to be a wash.
Ready for full-time – Vladislav Kamenev was acquired in the Matt Duchene trade last season and was supposed to make the jump to the NHL right away. But minutes into his first game he broke his arm and that was the end of that notion. He’s ready now and stands a good chance of not only making the roster, but also topping 30 points as a rookie. He has second-line upside down the road. (See Kamenev's scouting profile here)
A.J. Greer was Colorado’s second-round pick in 2015 (39th overall) is a power forward and a bit of an energy guy. He’s still years away from putting up points that would interest fantasy leagues that don’t count hits or PIM, but if your league counts those categories then he should see enough NHL action this season to help out in that regard. (See Greer's scouting profile here)
Conor Timmins is a long shot to make the team. Almost miniscule. But he has been so exceptional over the last 12 months that it should surprise anyone if he over-achieves once again. At the very least he will have cups of coffee with the big club and he is one of hockey’s best prospect defensemen. (See Timmins' scouting profile here)
Pavel Francouz, as already noted, was a top goalie in the KHL last year. He stood a good chance of making the Avs straight away…until they traded for Grubauer (perhaps he should have waited before decided on which NHL team to sign with). Given Varlamov’s injury potential, Francouz will get plenty of recalls throughout 2018-19, but starts will be sporadic. (See Francouz's scouting profile here)
Colorado Avalanche prospect depth chart and fantasy upsides can be found here (not yet ready for mobile viewing, desktop only right now)
Fantasy Outlook – The emergence of MacKinnon as an elite scoring forward has made the Avs a much more interesting team for fantasy owners. If any of our fantasy players get moved to Colorado, it no longer causes us to cringe. The secondary scoring isn’t there yet, but it’s coming along. And after so many disasters with promising prospect defensemen (Duncan Siemens, Chris Bigras, Stefan Elliott) who we thought would be surefire studs – this teams feels as though they actually do have surefire studs now in Sam Girard, Cale Makar and Timmins. Or did I speak to soon?
Steadily improving.
Fantasy Grade: B- (last year was C)
Pick up the 13th annual DobberHockey Fantasy Hockey Guide here (out on August 1)
OR
Get the Fantasy Guide and the Prospects Report as part of a package and save$8.00 – here!
Other Fantasy Grades:
Fantasy Outlook for the Anaheim Ducks
Fantasy Outlook for the Arizona Coyotes
Fantasy Outlook for the Boston Bruins
Fantasy Outlook for the Buffalo Sabres
Fantasy Outlook for the Chicago Blackhawks
Fantasy Outlook for the Colorado Avalanche
Fantasy Outlook for the Columbus Blue Jackets
Fantasy Outlook for the Dallas Stars
Related Posts
UPCOMING GAMES
| Jan 22 - 19:01 |
 N.J
| vs |
 BOS | |
| Jan 22 - 19:01 |
 TOR
| vs |
 CBJ | |
| Jan 22 - 21:01 |
 COL
| vs |
 WPG | |
| Jan 22 - 22:01 |
 L.A
| vs |
 FLA
| |
Starting Goalies
Top Skater Views
| Players | Team | |
|---|---|---|
| DARREN RADDYSH |
 T.B | |
| LANE HUTSON |
 MTL | |
| MIKE LUNDIN |
 | |
| KAAPO KAKKO |
 SEA | |
| PAVEL DOROFEYEV |
 VGK
| |
Top Goalie Profile Views
DAL
WSH
OTT
NYR
LINE COMBOS
| Frequency |
SEA Players
| |
|---|---|---|
| 24.7 | JADEN SCHWARTZ KAAPO KAKKO MATTY BENIERS | |
| 18.7 | CHANDLER STEPHENSON ANDRE BURAKOVSKY OLIVER BJORKSTRAND | |
| 16.0 | SHANE WRIGHT EELI TOLVANEN JARED MCCANN | |
DobberHockey Podcasts
Keeping Karlsson: May the Schwartz Be With You
Elan and Brian see new sides of Jaden Schwartz and Kaapo Kakko, get hopeful for Filip Forsberg, Steven Stamkos, Tomas Hertl and Jason Robertson, and take a moment to sympathize with Eric Comrie.
Fantasy Hockey Life: Western Conference Buys and Sells
Victor and Jesse make the rounds of the Western Conference with an argument on opne buy and one sell for each team. We talk Jackson LaCombe, Mason McTavish, Martin Pospisil, Nazem Kadri, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Matthew Savoie, Drew Doughty, Kevin Fiala, William Eklund, Thomas Bordeleau, Shane Wright, Chandler Stephenson, Tom Willander, Jake DeBrusk, Victor Olofsson, Noah […]
Keeping Karlsson: Matchup Maximizer Week 16
Elan looks at the schedule for the upcoming week of NHL action and recommends some players with good schedules that you should consider streaming in to win your head to head matchups.
Keeping Karlsson Short Shifts – The Wilkes-Jarry Penguins
Elizabeth and Lewis are back to take listeners through a host of power play changes that are giving managers the opportunity to get exposure to great players off the waiver wire, including Philly, Jersey, and Tampa talk. They also cover Jarry’s AHL demotion, Cooley’s ascension to the top-line and powerplay, and injuries to Tavares and Hintz. The duo wrap up with some hot and cold streak deep dives, including discussion of the Red Wings crazy powerplay success in the last ten games, whether Erik Gustafsson is rosterable or an overperforming illusion, Fantilli’s continued success, Merilainen as Hamburglar 2.0, and whether Schenn’s success and Neighbours’ lack thereof are likely to continue.
Keeping Karlsson: Leaving Letang
Elan and Brian find a couple volume and potential starters showing up midseason, consider whether Jake Walman really is on the league’s longest hot streak, and encourage you to pause the pod for a Columbus 1C stepping onto one of the NHL’s best lines.