How The Avalanche’s Forward Group Compares to The 2022 Championship Blueprint

The return of Gabriel Landeskog has turned heads. And one of the people who quickly caught notice of his effectiveness after Game 3 was Jared Bednar. That was part of the reason why Landeskog earned a promotion after one game.

It’s very Landeskog-like to impress so quickly. We all remember him getting named captain just one year after entering the NHL. It’s very on brand for Colorado’s leader.

His promotion has also made the Avs’ current forward group look very similar to the one that won the Stanley Cup in 2022. I know it’s a different year and a different group. But you can kind of see the blueprint Bednar is working off of. In Game 4, it was wildly successful.

Ahead of Game 5, I thought it would be fun to go through both rosters up front to see what’s changed, yet how similar the two are.

Line 1 had Nathan MacKinnon and Artturi Lehkonen, two pieces of the top line that closed out the 2022 Stanley Cup Final in Game 6 in Tampa Bay. The third piece was Mikko Rantanen three years ago, and now it’s Martin Necas. This, to me, is the biggest drop-off from this entire experiment. Could Necas eventually be a factor? Yes, of course. But Rantanen’s production on that line was on another level.

On the second line, the Landeskog promotion means he’s reunited with Valeri Nichushkin. Their center, Brock Nelson, is a different player compared to Nazem Kadri. But he’s similar in the sense that you’ve got a stable piece that you’re hoping can make a difference in a series or two. Kadri had a different type of aura to him, and the chemistry of playing with the team for a full year while putting up career-high numbers. It’s a bit of a drop-off here, too, but not to the extent of Rantanen and Necas.

On the third line, Charlie Coyle takes the place of J.T. Compher. Whether it’s 2022, 2025, or any year in between, I do believe that Coyle is the more effective player. And that’s no disrespect to Colorado’s former centerman. Coyle has one goal through four games, but his size and smarts are both a notch better than Compher’s.

On the left, he’s playing with Jonathan Drouin — a point-producing smaller forward who you’re hoping can pitch in from time to time. That’s the spot Alex Newhook held in 2022, albeit Drouin has given the Avs a lot more now than Newhook did back then. And on the right side, it’s Joel Kiviranta, taking the place of Nicolas Aube-Kubel. Both are hard-working, hard-nosed grinders who earn every minute of ice time they get.

Coincidentally, both the 2022 Avs and the current roster have another forward absent with an injury. Ross Colton, if healthy, could make Bednar contemplate scratching Drouin. In 2022, Andre Burakovsky, before his injury, was an option that would keep Newhook or Aube-Kubel out of the lineup. Or in some cases, he provided depth when guys like Kadri or Andrew Cogliano were out with injuries.

On the fourth line, Logan O’Connor is the constant. In 2022, he was the kid looking up to veterans Darren Helm and Cogliano. Now, O’Connor plays the role of the grizzled veteran alongside Jack Drury and Parker Kelly. Bednar has often compared the two fourth lines, and you could certainly see why. Drury and Kelly have been exceptional. And O’Connor has been a pleasant surprise offensively, on top of his relentless forechecking and physical presence.