The Avalanche are receiving timely secondary scoring from their veterans

The Colorado Avalanche are known for their top players. Guys like Mikko Rantanen, Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog are all household names for many NHL fans worldwide. These players comprise this generation of Avalanche players and will live on as franchise icons. 

Over the past few weeks, however, it is the players of yesterday, the ones who have all but hung up their skates, who have been making waves. As the NHL season heads into the final quarter, players like Zach Parise (39), Jack Johnson (37), and Andrew Cogliano (36) have been turning heads with their recent performances. 

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The eldest member of the club, Parise, signed with the Avalanche on Jan. 26 and has been limited to a third-line role and second power-play responsibilities while averaging 13:44 of ice time per game. 

The veteran has produced three goals and six points through 13 games this year but has come alive over his last six games with two goals, four points and a plus-4 rating. Parise's four points tie him for third on the team in scoring over their past six games, and he should remain a consistent scoring threat throughout the rest of the regular season and into the playoffs. 

Johnson has found new life on defense and has done all he can to keep himself in the lineup nightly. After playing only 25 games last season for the Avalanche, the veteran defender has seen his ice time reduced from 17:32 during the 2022-23 season to under 15 minutes this season. However, the reduced ice time may be the right formula for him now in his career. 

The 2005 third overall draft pick has appeared in 60 of his club's 62 games this season, scoring three goals and 14 points with a plus-14 rating. 

By limiting his ice time earlier in the season, he has provided his club in all three areas late into the season. With big defensive plays in his own zone, three assists, a plus-5 rating and 15:57 of time on ice, Johnson is cementing himself as a mainstay on the third-pairing unit alongside Bowen Byram. 

The youngest of the trio, Cogliano has been an effective bottom-six, penalty-killing forward this season. He has not typically been in the point-producing conversation. Still, he has proven himself a difference-maker offensively over the past few games, producing two goals and three points in his past five games after logging one goal and one assist against his former team, the Dallas Stars, and one goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs. 

The 17-year NHL veteran has played over 1,200 games and could find himself in his final push for a second Stanley Cup ring. 

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