Preseason Preview: Avs and Stars begin the new season

The wait is finally over! Today is Colorado Avalanche gameday!

The Colorado Avalanche will play an actual hockey game today. Although it’s just the preseason, we at Mile High Hockey have been anticipating this day since the last season ended in May. Will Cal Ritchie stake his claim and make the opening night roster? Is Sam Malinski going to make the jump for good? Is Pierre Eduoard Bellemare the long-term solution at 4C and on the PK? We will begin to answer those questions tonight!

Colorado Avalanche

This has to be one of the more anticipated camps and preseason schedules, with multiple storylines heading in. Of all the narratives I’ve laid out, I haven’t even touched on Gabe Landeskog’s involvement or lack thereof. Simply put, Colorado Avalanche fans will begin to get a clear-ish picture of what this roster might look like on opening night and beyond.

Colorado is still in win-now mode, and the team’s culture and disposition need a boost after two straight playoff eliminations. The Avalanche will start the season short-staffed, with Gabe Landeskog, Valeri Nichuskin, and Arturri Lehkonen on the mend or otherwise unavailable. That should offer a good opportunity for Oskar Olausson, Callum Ritchie, and Andrei Kovalenko, and their respective performances will sway the race toward that opportunity in tonight’s contest. It’s too bad we can only listen to this one.

Projected Lineups

I won’t pretend to know what tonight’s lineup might look like. Preseason game number one and its rosters are impossible to pin down, so I don’t have any predictions for Dallas either. I think all the younger prospects will play, and most, if not all, of the big guns won’t.

Dallas Stars

The Stars eliminated the Avalanche but still came up short of the ultimate goal of winning the Stanley Cup. Adding another chapter to two and a half decades of fruitless pursuit in ‘Big D.’ Dallas still has Oettinger, a proven playoff performer, secured some talent ahead of last year’s playoff run that has stuck around. They should be one of Colorado’s fiercest divisional opponents in 2024-25.

Goaltenders

Typically, goalies split the game in some way during the preseason. My guess for Colorado is a mix of Annunen and Mandolese. I was hoping you wouldn’t quote me on that, though. Again, preseason hockey is flighty.