Avs catch break with Wild division inclusion

While nothing has been finalized, not until the NHL Board of Governor vote tomorrow, reports have circulated that the Minnesota Wild will join the realigned Pacific Division with the Avs – replacing the Dallas Stars, who would be in the Central. That’s good news for the Colorado Avalanche.

Look, there are few easy games in the parity-driven NHL, but it will be a big break for the Avs to have to play the Minnesota Wild for however many games they’ll be paired, as opposed to those games being against the Stars. The schedule has not been set, but it is expected that teams will play the vast majority of their 56 games against division opponents only. The top four teams in each division make the playoffs and play each other until the conference finals.

The Wild will have something of a journeyman starting goalie this season, Cam Talbot, and top players such as Ryan Suter and Zach Parise aren’t getting any younger. The Pacific Division looks to be one of the weakest of the four, if not the weakest. The Avs will share a division with four teams that failed to make the playoffs last season (the three California teams and the Wild). Of course, Vegas is now part of the Avs’ new division, and the Golden Knights certainly will be no picnic to play against.

As we reported last night, the NHL and NHLPA have a tentative agreement on a 56-game season. Here is a good story that has details on things like expanded rosters and “tolled” contracts should players opt out of playing because of virus concerns.

The teams are expected to be able to have four-to-six-man taxi squads, which will make it interesting to see which Colorado Eagles/other prospects make that squad. It might be a very active scene on I-25 back and forth from Loveland to Denver.