The NHL season is just around the corner, and The Colorado Avalanche are getting ready to improve from last year’s disappointing season.

In an 82-game season, the Avs were only able to win 22 games and finished last in the Central Division and the entire league.

Avalanche forward, Nathan Mackinnon, is coming into his fifth season with the Avs and is looking forward to leading this new roster.

Already, the Avs have won three of the five preseason games, two of which were against their division rival the Minnesota Wild. Last season The Wild finished second in their division and won 49 games.

The Avs were able to take down The Wild 5-1 on September 24th and lost by one goal September 23rd 2-1. Their only other loss was to the newest member of the NHL family, The Las Vegas Golden Knights. Preseason games may not dictate how a season will go, but seeing the Avs win is a great sign for fans.

Many faces returned to start another year with the Avs including, MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, and Tyson Barrie just to name a few. However, Av’s Forward Matt Duchene did not express the same excitement.

A lot of rumors spun around Duchene last year due to a potential trade, bad blood with management, and being a locker room nuisance. Duchene reported for training camp September 14th despite many rumors he would not participate in Avalanche activities due to a potential trade.

Duchene has as many as eight teams looking to trade for him, but is a trade really the best move for the Avs?

He provided 18 goals and 23 assists for a total of 41 points last season. Over his career, Duchene has scored 174 goals in 572 games and is one of The Av’s leaders.

The Avs lost a goalie in the NHL expansion draft in which teams could protect up to 11 players and one goalie, due to the addition of The Las Vegas team.

Las Vegas picked up Avs’ goalie Calvin Pickard who saw an increase in play time due to Avs’ starting goalie, Semyon Varlamov, being injured most of last season. The only concern in losing a great goalie like Pickard is, should Varlamov get injured again can backup, Jonathan Berrier, perform as well as Pickard?

The Avs want to get the nasty taste of last season out of their mouths quickly. Landeskog and Mackinnon are prepared to lead a team that looks to compete every night. These young guns are hungry and ready to play. The puck drops October 5th against the New York Rangers in New York at 5 pm.