Avalanche Organizational Depth Chart – August Edition

The Avalanche haven’t made any real big splashes this summer, but they’ve stayed consistently busy, which is more than you can say for the majority of NHL teams, especially in August.

Colorado added two more players this month, including one that will likely play a decent role on the blueline. In addition to those new players, the thought of Gabriel Landeskog actually playing NHL games this year is becoming more and more of a reality. When will it happen? No one really knows, but his presence on the depth chart makes more sense now.

Here’s where their depth chart stands with less than a month to go until training camp.

Forwards

While it sounds like there’s a very real chance we see Gabriel Landeskog this season, it’s starting to sound like Artturi Lehkonen is very much a question mark to start training camp. That’s not a huge deal, but if it starts to linger into the regular season, then you start to worry.

Calum Ritchie has been in Denver training a lot of the summer, and I do believe there’s a real chance he starts the season with the Avalanche. Will he finish it there? That’s another question entirely, but I think he plays his first NHL game this Fall.

There’s still a glaring hole at 4C even if Ritchie makes the team, as you don’t really want him playing that role. There’s still time to find a PTO that could fight for that role. There’s also the very real possibility that a guy like Parker Kelly or Nikolai Kovalenko is given a chance to play center as well, although that’s far from ideal. I don’t mean to discount Chris Wagner, who could certainly do the job at least to start the season, but you’d like to push him down the depth chart if at all possible.

Defense

I’ll be honest – between Oliver Kylington and Erik Brannstrom, I prefer Brannstrom. I believe there’s some more upside in his game. That being said, Kylington got more money from the Avalanche, so he may very well have the inside track until we see what each can do in training camp. Kylington’s dynamic skating ability will be interesting to watch in the Avalanche system.

Right now, the team is pretty deep on defense, although it’s certainly lacking some snarl. One thing all these signings have done is push Sean Behrens down the depth chart. It seems like it would take a lot of injuries or a huge season from him to earn some time in the NHL.

Goaltenders

For better or for worse, no changes here from the last month. We’ll see if they look to acquire a true #3 goaltender in camp or if they wait and see how things play out. A guy like Kevin Lankinen is still available in free agency, but I’m not sure he’d make it through waivers.