Preview: New & Improved Avs welcome Bedard and the Blackhawks

The Avalanche can win their 6th straight tonight!

Things are up and up in Colorado as the Avalanche have won five straight games after a successful trade deadline and impactful return of Val Nichushkin. During this win streak, Cale Makar put up a record six points in one night, MacKinnon scored his 100th point of the season, and Val Nichushkin logged his first regular season hatty. The Avalanche must beat Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks to secure a sixth straight victory.

Colorado Avalanche

The Avalanche have easily been the most active team in the NHL regarding trades, and this lineup looks different from the one that was iced back in October of 2024. A whole new goalie room and 5 of 12 forwards are new, and that might feel like an unhealthy turnover. That is, until you see the result on the ice.

This new look makes this Avs team more prominent, experienced, and heavier than six months ago. It’s all about getting geared up for the playoffs, and the Avalanche now have a roster far more suited for the playstyle shift that comes April-June, in my opinion.

Projected Lineup:

Artturi Lehkonen — Nathan MacKinnon — Martin Necas
Jonathan Drouin — Brock Nelson — Valeri Nichushkin
Joel Kiviranta — Charlie Coyle — Ross Colton
Parker Kelly — Jack Drury — Logan O’Connor

Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Ryan Lindgren — Josh Manson
Samuel Girard — Sam Malinski

Chicago Blackhawks

It’s another year of rebuilding for the Blackhawks and performing well inside that rebuild entry. Hopefully, the Hawks can start to get some talent around Bedard because this league and central division are better when the Hawks are competitive. Surprisingly, they defeated the Avalanche the last time they faced this season, but let’s hope that doesn’t happen again.

Projected Lineup:

Colton Dach — Connor Bedard — Frank Nazar
Teuvo Teravainen — Ryan Donato — Ilya Mikheyev
Landon Slaggert — Nick Foligno — Tyler Bertuzzi
Pat Maroon — Joe Veleno — Lukas Reichel

Alex Vlasic — Louis Crevier
Ethan Del Mastro — Connor Murphy
Wyatt Kaiser — Alec Martinez

Goaltenders

Spencer Knight and MacKenzie Blackwood are the unconfirmed starters this evening, so let’s watch the morning skate.