How Avalanche has crafted contender around homegrown stars

Nearly everyone who joins the Colorado Avalanche from another NHL organization has their own story about when they learned that this place was different.

Josh Manson has been in Colorado since March 2022, so he’s had the chance to watch plenty of new teammates go through the same experience. The veteran defenseman’s own education came a few days after he was acquired in a trade from Anaheim — at his first morning skate.

“I was tired,” Manson said. “I was like, ‘Man, this is tough.’ The speed is just way higher. I was exhausted.”

Now, Manson said, “I hear a lot of that from the guys when they come here.”

Casey Mittelstadt, who sits next to Manson in the locker room at Ball Arena, had the same thoughts after arriving in March in a trade from Buffalo.

“My first practice was back here (in Denver) at altitude,” Manson said. “The pace of that practice, and trying to keep up, was like … nearly impossible. Where this team makes you get to, speed-wise, I mean you’re practicing at this extremely high pace and against guys like (Nathan) MacKinnon and (Cale) Makar. You’re trying to keep up and it not only helps you physically but mentally as well.”

Manson came from an organization that had lots of recent success. Mittelstadt came from one that hasn’t reached the playoffs in 13 years.

Both are among a long list of players who have joined the Avalanche from other places and become critical parts of a team with Stanley Cup aspirations. General manager Chris MacFarland and his staff have an incredible core of homegrown talent to build around, but the Avs have also needed to look externally to fill significant needs.

They have excelled at that process.

Some, like Manson, Andrew Cogliano and Yakov Trenin, joined the club and fit a specific need by doing what they’ve always done throughout their careers. Others came to Denver and got better.

Is it the management team, with help from the analytics and scouting staffs, identifying the right players, including some hidden gems with room to grow? Is it the coaching staff’s ability to help these players develop? Is it the Avs’ players, with a well-defined culture of accountability, who push their peers to be at their best?

Yes. It is all of those things.

And it’s a huge reason the Avs believe they can win the Stanley Cup for the second time in three years.

“I think it’s everyone,” Avs defenseman Devon Toews said. “Management and our scouts do a good job of identifying players they think will be good fits. You never know. It’s a bit of trial and error. There are some that work and some that won’t, but they’ve done a good job of identifying pieces that can complement our team.

“In the room, we do a good job of incorporating those guys and helping them understand what it takes to win here. They all come from different environments, but getting them to buy into what we’re trying to do here is something we’ve had success with.”

“What do we want to be?”

It’s easy to look at the top of the Colorado roster and say anyone could win big when the team starts with MacKinnon, Makar and Mikko Rantanen. They are an incredible foundation.

But Colorado is likely to start Game 1 of its second-round series Tuesday night in Dallas with four or five players in the 20-man active lineup who are Avalanche draft picks. That includes the Big Three, plus backup goalie Justus Annunen and possibly one of two depth forwards — Nikolai Kovalenko or Jean-Luc Foudy. The rest of the roster is composed of a series of trades, plus a few free-agent signings.

Why have the Avs been able to fit so many players from other organizations together so seamlessly?

“There are two things you need to look at,” said Craig Button, a TSN analyst and former NHL GM. “Number one, where does this player fit in our lineup? And then, what can we do to bring out the best in him?

“Just go back to Josh Manson and Artturi Lehkonen and Andrew Cogliano in 2022. Did those guys have all the sex appeal on a trade big board? No. But what they did have was massive value for what the Avalanche were looking for. They identified what they needed and they went out and got it.”

Not every player fits after arriving in Denver. The Avalanche had a busy offseason reshaping its roster, particularly with new forward depth after it was a critical weakness in the playoffs last season.

Two of the biggest additions — Ryan Johansen and Tomas Tatar — are already gone. But Jonathan Drouin became one of the best comeback stories in the NHL. Miles Wood went from never playing on the penalty kill in New Jersey to a key part of Colorado’s PK. Ross Colton had played some center with Tampa Bay, but he’s a fixture as the Avs’ 3C.

“When you start to build your team, you have to identify like, ‘Who are we, and what do we want to be?’” said E.J. Hradek, an NHL Network analyst and former pro scout. “Do we want to be rough and tough and hard to play against? Do you want to be really high-skilled? I think Colorado has done a good job of identifying who they want to be.

“They play with such a high pace. That’s probably why Ryan Johansen just never fit there in the big picture. But then you look at a guy like Andrew Cogliano, even if he’s just a fourth-line guy, well, he’s a really good skater so he’s a great fit for them.”

Toews and Lehkonen were two players who were already very good before the Avalanche acquired them. The Avs identified them as players who could thrive in an expanded role, and they’ve become core players.

Both were squeezed out at their previous homes in part because those clubs didn’t think they could afford to keep them on long-term contracts (and chose the wrong players to hang onto instead of them).

“When a player like Devon Toews becomes available, they know he’s a really good skater, he checks all the boxes they are looking for and they go get him,” Hradek said.

Drouin and Valeri Nichushkin were buy-low candidates who have been home-run additions. Nichushkin had zero goals in 57 games in his final season with Dallas. Drouin scored a total of 17 in his final four years with Montreal due to a variety of issues.

Nichushkin has scored 25-plus goals twice for Colorado, and has 17 in 27 playoff games. Drouin scored 19 and had a career-high 56 points this year, but the defensive strides he made were a huge part of his story.

“Bringing in Val was a calculated dart for us, taking a chance on a high-end pedigree player that we felt, based on our reports, some other internal stuff, that he would at least be a good defensive player for us and his talent has really popped through,” MacFarland said.

“Jonathan, again a high-skilled guy. His hands and skill have always been there. As (Jared Bednar) has often said, checking is not optional here. He has to trust you in order to give you the ice that players crave. I give Jonathan full marks for the way he’s played this year.”

“You hear the stories”

Some of the players the Avs have added seemed like obvious fits immediately. Sean Walker’s skating ability and offensive instincts make it feel like he was created in an Avs laboratory in Castle Rock.

Colorado identified a specific need at the trade deadline — more size and speed in the bottom six — so it inserted Trenin and Brandon Duhaime, just like Cogliano and Nico Sturm two years ago.

Not all of the newcomers in recent years have been obvious fits, though. Drouin and Wood have improved facets of their game to earn Bednar’s trust.

How Mittelstadt would fit was a mystery. Not only has he responded to playing in the most important games of his NHL career to date, but he thrived against the Winnipeg Jets in the first round.

MacKinnon offered the simplest reason for why the Avs have embraced Mittelstadt, and why he’s fit in so quickly.

“I just love his competitive level,” MacKinnon said.

Before this season even began, MacKinnon admitted that some players don’t fit here. The ones who have all embraced the culture set by the core players.

“You hear the stories about the guys riding the bikes and stuff, but I think it’s just how hard the leaders on this team work,” Walker said. “Nate goes and scores his 50th goal and immediately after the game he’s on the bike. It’s impressive to see their work ethic day in, day out.”