Fantasy: 5 players to target on the Colorado Avalanche
With your fantasy draft just around the corner, theScore's Ian McLaren and Darren Kritzer take a look at 5 players you should consider drafting this season.
Top Targets
Nathan MacKinnon
Last year's Calder Trophy winner finished his season with 24 goals, 39 assists, and 17 power play points on 241 shots on net. Impressive numbers out of the 1st overall selection in the 2013 draft. The good news is he's only going to get better, making him a guaranteed keeper and a player to target in the early second round.
MacKinnon's season was tremendous, and he notably broke Wayne Gretzky's record for an 18-year-old with points in 13 consecutive games. He played in all 82 regular-season games and looked to be getting stronger as the season went on, recording 39 points over the final 42. He took that momentum with him into the playoffs, notching 10 points in the Avalanche's seven-game first-round series.
Expect the sophomore to play with Gabriel Landeskog and newcomer Jarome Iginla on the top line.
Gabriel Landeskog
The 21-year-old returned to his rookie form in 2013-14, scoring a career-high 26 goals while pouring in 39 assists, with 10 power play points and 222 shots on net.
Landeskog is the perfect player for you to draft in roto leagues, as he was the only player last season with 25-plus goals, a rating of plus-20 or better, 175-plus hits, and 220-plus shot on net. Although losing Paul Stastny to the Blues will hurt him offensively, it shouldn't be reflected too much in his numbers with MacKinnon still on the top line.
Matt Duchene
Matt Duchene is still thought of as a young player in this league, but don't be fooled. This former first-round pick of the Avalanche showed signs the last two seasons that he means business in this league, and this upcoming year might just be his best yet. This will be his sixth season already - hard to believe.
After a disappointing 2011-12 campaign in which he scored 14 goals and averaged just 0.48 points per game, Duchene rebounded the following year with 0.91 points per game, and one-upped himself last season, with a 0.99 average. With Iginla now in the fold, a potential line of Duchene, O'Reilly and Iginla could be a lethal second unit.
Draft him in the late-second to early-third round. He's going to put up some serious numbers this year.
Proceed With Caution
Jarome iginla
Iginla surprised many by agreeing to a three-year, $16-million deal with Colorado this offseason, but the 37-year-old showed no signs of slowing down last year, scoring 30 goals for the Boston Bruins.
Iginla, who has now scored 30 or more 12 times in his career, with be playing with Matt Duchene or Nathan MacKinnon this year, so don't expect a dramatic drop-off in his offensive output.
But his age has to start showing soon - although we said the same thing after his 14-goal campaign in 2012-13 with the Flames and Penguins - and it's probably best to stay cautious. Look to take him closer to the sixth round.
Take A Flier On
Alex Tanguay
Tanguay has become a forgotten player recently, especially after dealing with knee and hip issues last season that resulted in him playing just 16 games.
But when he returned to the ice, good things happened. Tanguay notched four goals and 11 assists in those 16 games, while the Avalanche went an astonishing 15-1.
He won't be that point-per-game player he was from 2003-2007, but he's worth picking near the end of your draft, especially if he ends up playing on one of the top two lines.
Stats courtesy: NHL.com