The Colorado Avalanche Shouldn't Be Too Concerned About The Dallas Stars Just Yet

The Colorado Avalanche have been far and away the best team in the NHL for most of the season.

On Jan. 1, the Avalanche were 10 points ahead of the league's next-best team – the Dallas Stars. It was astonishing to see Colorado's dominance. 

But in recent weeks, the Avalanche have started to show they're a group of mortals.

By Feb. 1, the Stars and Minnesota Wild were eight and seven points behind the Avs, respectively. And now, Dallas is only three points behind the Avalanche with one more game played.

But while it's good for all teams to go through adversity in one form or another, Avalanche fans shouldn't be overly concerned as their team pushes through a tough stretch.

The Avs' recently improved depth makes them a slightly better team than the Stars on paper, and they have the experience necessary to ride out some turbulence and avoid an early playoff exit.

At a point where there's very little separating the Stars and Avs, Colorado GM Chris MacFarland's huge moves at the trade deadline give the Avalanche the edge the rest of the way to finish in first place in the Central Division, avoiding a potential first-round matchup against the Wild.

That said, it's understandable why the Avs have struggled somewhat, going 6-4-0 in their past 10 games. Bringing in a new group of veteran players – including former Toronto Maple Leafs center Nic Roy, former Calgary Flames center Nazem Kadri and former Edmonton Oilers defenseman Brett Kulak – in a relatively short period of time will cause some bumps in the road. And Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon said growing into a different team can take time.

"The chemistry matters," MacKinnon told reporters after Colorado's ugly 7-2 loss to Pittsburgh on Monday. "It's no one's fault. It's just different. New teams, and then a lot of different line combinations lately, for everybody. It's hard. It sounds like an excuse. (Monday night) was just bad, too. We just played bad."

Meanwhile, the Stars have been hot of late, going 8-1-1 in their last 10 games and a stunning 14-1-1 since Jan. 23.

Dallas GM Jim Nill did his part to try and keep up with the Joneses in the Central, picking up right winger Michael Bunting from the Nashville Predators and defenseman Tyler Myers from the Vancouver Canucks.

What it comes down to is Colorado's Cup-winning experience over the Stars, which have not been able to put a full four-round playoff run despite being one of the NHL's better regular-season teams in recent years.

When you're MacKinnon or superstar defenseman Cale Makar, you earn the benefit of the doubt when you win a Cup. And although Colorado is currently ironing out some issues, we expect they'll be a buzz-saw machine sooner than later and go into the playoffs on a high.

The bottom line: even with Colorado's recent wobble, the Avalanche are still the NHL's best offensive team with 3.73 goals-for per game and the best defensive team at a 2.50 goals-against average.

They now have increased firepower at both ends of the ice from Kadri, Roy and Kulak. They're stacked, everywhere.

If the Avs hadn't made their deadline moves this year, we might've been ready to say the Stars were the better team. But Kadri, in particular, is a massive addition who makes Colorado harder to play against, and Roy helps their bottom six forwards be effective in the defensive zone.

We expect we'll see a turnaround from Colorado very shortly. They definitely don't want to slip out of first in the Central, and they want to go into the playoffs like lions. 

So don't fret too much just yet, Avalanche fans. The Avs are an excellent team, and now they just have to put it all together.

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