Chicago Blackhawks: 1 team has a clear path to a division title

The Chicago Blackhawks are in a very good Central Division. There are many teams that should have around the same level of talent so it should be very competitive all season long. However, there is one team that is clearly above the rest of them and that is the Colorado Avalanche. They are the clear early favorite to win the division and be contenders in the Western Conference.

The Avalanche are a good team in every way. They lost their goalie Philipp Grubauer to the Seattle Kraken so they knew they needed to address that problem fast. They did by adding Darcy Kuemper. He has been a very good goalie in his NHL career so we will see if it carries over to Colorado in his first year there.

Outside of goaltending, the Avalanche had multiple superstar skaters. It starts and ends with Nathan MacKinnon. He is one of the three best players in the entire league. Connor McDavid is the best player in the league but MacKinnon is right there in the conversation of second best. He will lead the Avalanche in scoring en route to another very good season.

There are so many other good forwards that support MacKinnon which makes it a success for the Colorado Avalanche. Gabriel Landeskog, Mikko Rantanen, Nazem Kadri, and Andre Burakovsky come to mind as the best secondary players on the team. In the case of Rantanen and Landeskog, they are both superstars in their own right and thrive playing with MacKinnon.

On defense, there is Cale Makar. He has quickly become one of the best defensemen in the NHL. With him on the blue line, Colorado has stars everywhere. He creates offense as good as any blueliner around. With other defensemen that are good in all areas like Erik Johnson, Samuel Girard, and Bowen Bryam, it should be a very good unit.

The Chicago Blackhawks and Colorado Avalanche are in line for an amazing season.

When the Chicago Blackhawks face them this season, they will get crushed unless they bring their best effort. It is going to be a lot of fun to watch because there will be a lot of skill on the ice when they do meet. Hopefully, the Hawks are able to give them a run for their money in head-to-head matchups.

When Colorado plays other teams, however, they will win a lot more than they lose. Don’t be surprised if they pull away with the division and compete for the top spot in the Western Conference and perhaps the President’s Trophy. Regardless of what happens, it will be a fun matchup to watch in every way.