This is EVEN BETTER than we expected… (And I love it)

This is even better than I expected and I love it. Because if you told me just last year, same date, July 22nd, that Nazem Qadri would rejoin the Colorado Avalanche, not only that, they would get Nick Waugh and Brett Kulak, revitalize their defense, and become a powerhouse down the middle, I would be elated. And with this Colorado Avalanche roster heading into the 26-27 season, it is even better than the one that started last season as well. And that is the most important thing to recognize when looking at this team's future and just all the moves that they've made to make this lineup so versatile. So welcome into Avalanche Digest. So happy to have you here. As always, you already know the drill. And if you specifically, you know who you are, haven't hit that subscribe button, you might as well do it now before they come for you. That is the end of that. But let's get right into why exactly this Avalanche roster is so good and so much more improved than the one that iced the starting lineup in October in 2025. And while I was looking at this list posted earlier about the offseason grades, comparing how the teams ended the playoffs versus how they look now, you'll notice that the Avalanche are towards the bottom. And this is the complete wrong way to look at pretty much the entire offseason for the Colorado Avalanche. Because if you look year to year, man, this roster has improved so much and is primed to add at the deadline. It really doesn't have a lot of holes going forward. I think this article by Evan Rawl spells it out perfectly. We're going to look at some of the points he made here. And really, I think this is the way to look at it. He asked the question, are the avs a better team than they were when the playoffs ended? No. But is their roster better or similar to the one they started last season with? That's probably a better question. And man, is that the question to really ask? And I think that there is no mistake as he continues here that the Avalanche are not a better team than they were when the Golden Knights eliminated them in May. It would have been impossible for them to keep that group together with a rising salary cap. But when the puck drops September 30th, because yeah, the season starts a lot sooner now, will their opening night lineup be better or equal to the one they dressed to start is the better question. And let's really get into why this is the case and really all the ads that the Avalanche made. I want to use this as reference. Feast your eyes on this right here for the Colorado Avalanche. This is their starting roster for this season. I would honestly be pretty shocked that a single player would not start the lineup, excluding injury. This is kind of the first time I've said that going into the season. I fully expect every player on this roster shown right here to make camp to make the spot. Obviously, we've got camp to go through. Guys are going to fight for a spot, especially Fetchkoff, LaRue, Gavin Brindley, guys not even seen here, TJ Hughes, Fabian Lysel. Plenty of guys will be fighting for a roster spot. But this is really how I see the players shaking up. Maybe not exactly the order. I would rather not have Parker Kelly on the third line. But this is more or less what you're going to get for every single player. The defense is locked in. It's incredibly solid. I love how it projects. But let's compare that to just a year ago. And this is where you really start to appreciate all that the Avalanche have done over the last few seasons or just even a whole year. I mean, you've got guys like Victor Olofsson, Zakir Bardikoff starting on this roster. No offense to those guys, but we all know that they are not clutch come playoff time, that they are not guys that you would want on your everyday roster. And in the case of Zakir Bardikoff, just not an NHL player. So the Avs have significantly improved. Their center depth is amazing. They are still running the five centers on the roster plan. Nick Waugh is on this roster. I mean, if you told me Kulak, Waugh, and Nazem Qadri would all be on this roster, I mean, those are three guys that the Avs did not have. And straight up, I'm going to say right now, this is more or less the roster that was unreal to start the season. If you guys remember that first half where it was all bliss, and do you remember, do you know that one where they're playing the meme where they're playing the song, I took a pill in Ibiza, and it's that guy just enjoying life? That was the first half of the season for the Colorado Avalanche in the 25-26 season. And this roster today that the Avalanche have is better than that one. I think that is the most important thing to realize. And I don't think the Avs will near have as much of a bad power play as they did last season. I still think it's going to be top 10. I don't think that the Avs will win the President's Trophy. I don't think that the Avs are going to be that great, but I think having a decent power play will make up a lot for it. And I still think the Avs are going to win first in the Western Conference because there's really not anyone that's going to challenge them for that spot. The Avs still are the best team on paper in the West. Postseason says otherwise. I know the Vegas Golden Knights obviously are not a team to be underrated or undermined in that respect, but I think the Avs are extra motivated heading into this season, and I think they're going to come in with the mentality of no one believes in us, and our legacy will be that of failure if we don't turn it around. Now just looking at some simple moves the Avs have made, which I think have made them awesome, I think Svejkaf and Svejkoff and Zach Leroux, it's French, I'm American, I'm not going to get that right. But at the end of the day, I think that these two moves for these young players is an underrated piece in this Avs lineup. I haven't seen nearly enough people talk about how good these two moves are to get such young former first round pick talents. I think this will significantly help the roster. A more underrated piece is Brett Kulak. Brett Kulak is a phenomenal stabilizing piece on this Avs defense, and I think he is important. I think straight up, I don't even think it's a hot take to say, I'll bring back up the roster here, that this Avs defense right here is much better than the one that played the majority of last season. I think when you had Sam Gerrard really reclining in his NHL career, hopefully he turns around in Pittsburgh or wherever he gets traded to. I think that with Brett Kulak, he brings a much more stabilizing presence. He's so smart defensively, and I'll bring this up. Do you guys remember Ilya Solovyov? How many games he started for the Colorado Avalanche last season? But now you have a certified piece in Noah Yulson, and Noah Yulson, you'll see this a lot. I saw this image tweeted a lot about Noah Yulson, a guy that just does not do a lot on the offensive side of the puck, and a little bit scary and foreshadowing saying, hey Avs fans, you're going to need this picture here. We'll keep this all season long, and I'm sure I'll need it, but Noah Yulson as a seventh defenseman, as a smart stay-at-home guy, that's something that the Avs really haven't gotten as a quality NHLer to be their seventh guy. They haven't had that since, I don't know, 22 with Jack Johnson. I really like the makeup of what he brings as just, hey, if there's an injury, put me on your bottom pair, I'll work out. I think that's what I love about the Avs. I know I'm glazing a seventh defenseman right now, but I think that's when you look at this defense, it is leagues ahead of anything else in the Central Division. Minnesota's defense, I have concerns about. Dallas's defense, I love to point out concerns out. I think everyone else is probably inferior, especially in the Central Division. I will give love to the Edmonton Oilers, and I would even say the Vegas Golden Knights, even though theirs have regressed the last few years, they have good defense, but that is a Western Conference Final problem, and the Avs are in the Central right now. I think that they are primed to own the Central and really just have the best decor out of anyone else at this current moment. I think when you look at the addition of Jaden Schwartz and Zach LaRue, especially, I want to highlight those two players. The Avs, I would wager, are a better team for the postseason than they were last season, particularly because Jaden Schwartz has a much better track record in the playoffs. He brings that oomph more than Valnichushkin did. I think Jaden Schwartz, if you look at his numbers, has been incredibly consistent as a playoff performer, and Valnichushkin last season didn't contribute much of anything to their attempted cup run in 2026. So I can see Jaden Schwartz being much more productive than Valnichushkin, contributing to a lot more goals, and also being the spark plug, gaining the zone, setting up guys, being that heart and soul kind of guy. I like that for the Colorado Avalanche in general. When we look at someone like Zach LaRue with his edge, with his competitiveness, and his overall psychopathic behavior, I really see that as a better option and a more improved option of who Ross Colton was. And Jack Drury, of course, will be missed, but at the end, that's a 4th seed. That's a luxury position that not many teams can afford, and if the Avs get another winger, Nick Wall is going to be their 4th seed. And if you guys remember, Nick Wall was awesome in the last playoff series. So I really like how the Avs make up, specifically in the postseason, and how that looks going forward. This is also something I really wanted to point out, though, and with the Jaden Schwartz acquisition, I think that there is something to worry about with the left side. He goes on to say, the Avs are banking on Schwartz, Leckanen, and Gabe Landeskog to be their top three left wingers, all of which have extensive injury history in their careers. So I think that is a very valid point to bring up from Evan Rall. I think that is a concern I do have going forward. I think also a very fun tidbit of information that I didn't know how to really bring into a normal video, but I do want to bring up. I love Brett Kulak. I will talk about his defensive stability going forward. I already have in this video, but it is interesting to know that Val Nichushkin did nix a trade to another team for a young defenseman. So the Avs are continuing to look for better options and better deals, and Brett Kulak was kind of the plan B to bring him back. And knowing that the Avs had an attempted trade nixed by Val Nichushkin with the Ottawa Senators, that was a confirmed thing. I think that it is pretty fair to realize, and Evan Rall is the only one I have tweeted saying that it was for a young defenseman. No one really knew the details of this trade with the Ottawa Senators, but I do think it is important to realize that with the timelines lining up, I think this young defenseman was Jordan Spence of the Ottawa Senators. He did resign there basically the day after Val Nichushkin was traded, and before that he would have been a perfect candidate for the Avs to bring in on their left side defense. I'm not going to go too much into who Jordan Spence is as a player. I really like him. I think he's awesome, and all respect to Kulak, I would have preferred Spence, but I do think it is important to realize and look at Val Nichushkin was a guy that a lot of people were interested in, but it was a very hard player to move. And I think going forward with Val Nichushkin's overall career path, I see him declining. I really think his foot speed has declined. I think that his physicality along the boards has really declined, and that's not something people were mentioning a lot. I know he obviously has his lingering foot issue from when he helped the Avs win in the Stanley Cup final, and you can always thank him for that. He'll always be engraved in silver with the Colorado Avalanche on the Stanley Cup, but I think there's a lot to look at Val Nichushkin specifically and say the Avs moved off of him on the perfect right time. I think the meme with Captain Jack Sparrow getting off of that sinking ship at the possible last moment to step onto the dock, I think that's Val Nichushkin. I think Val Nichushkin's play is really going to start to decline after this season. I think the Avs got positive value at him at the very last moment, so I think we're going to look at that deal more favorably as time goes on. But another thing I did want to mention and seeing as something going forward, because this I don't think can be a video in and of itself, but according to Elliott Freeman and according to a lot of people in the Avs organization, Andrew Cogliano is emerging as a guy that the Avs really want in their front office. He's a guy that is being actively prepared to take a bigger role as time goes on, so I would say watch out for it. Elliott Freeman did say himself the guy I wondered about internally there is Andrew Cogliano. He is a guy that the Avs brought in kind of doesn't have a defined role at the current moment, but is someone the Avs love and is kind of the dad to all of the prospects. If you guys remember when Cal Ritchie was still in the organization, he came out and said, yeah, Andrew Cogliano is the best. He's given me meal plans. He's given me workout plans. He's really telling me how to be an NHL-er, and I love that this guy is in the organization, and I think Andrew Cogliano has a large future with the Colorado Avalanche. I could see potential GM as the very ceiling or assistant GM. I think Gabe Landeskog has something to say about being a future Colorado Avalanche GM, but I love the path that Andrew Cogliano takes with this organization. I saw this image right here. It's perfect. I'm going to save this. This is going to be saved on my computer for years. I just want you all to know that, and closing out with this Colorado Avalanche roster, I think the overall thing you have to realize is don't look at the offseason. Don't look at, oh, what does the Avs look like from playoffs to offseason? Oh, well, they've got worse. Sure, of course. That's what happens to every single playoff team that is actually serious about contending for a cup. They always regress. The rentals always walk into free agency, but with the Avalanche, you have to look start to start. They are better in every single way. There is not a huge potential where I see, oh, this team has actively regressed. I think this year is going to be a very good run for the Colorado Avalanche. I know I was very down on the Avs after the end of this season. Of course, who wouldn't be after the way they lost, but I think as time goes on, I get really positive for this season. I think this season is definitely the last dance for at least this core of players. I think there's going to be huge changes next season. So, hey, the Avs have that mentality going into it, and I really hope that the players do as well of go in. This is the last dance. This is the last dance of a lot of guys. Bednar doesn't have a contract after this season. Several guys are going to walk after this season. Go do it with this core of players, and I cannot wait for this season to get started. Thank you all so much for watching. I will see you in the next one, and as always, go Avs.