Colorado Avalanche's Early-Season Grade

Just past a quarter of the way through the 2014-15 season, the Colorado Avalanche have to be one of the biggest disappointments so far. Based on last year’s impressive play, many believed the Avalanche would be one of the better teams in the Western Conference and surely a team to make a good run of the playoffs. In a lot of ways, there’s no way these assumptions shouldn’t be a reality with players like Matt Duchene, Alex Tanguay, Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan Mackinnon and offseason pickup Jarome Iginla.

The problem is, the team just isn’t winning. So far on the season, the Avalanche have a record of 9-11-5, making them second to last in the Western Conference above only the Edmonton Oilers. This is a far cry from the team of last season, that was offensively dominant and had an overall record of 52-22-8, clinching their division and coming in second in the Western Conference to the Anaheim Ducks.

If Colorado wants to turn this season around, an absolute must if there is any hope for the offseason, their superstars have to find a way to be more productive, and there has to be greater defensive responsibility. To his credit, Semyon Varlamov is about as good of a goaltender as he was last year, he just can’t seem to stay healthy already going on injured reserve twice this season. This could be in part due to the amount of action he faces each game with the lack luster Avalanche defense.

Thus far, the team has been a major disappointment. If Colorado is going to change things, they need to do so fast, or more trouble lies ahead.

Early-Season Grade: D 

Kayla Demint is an Anaheim Ducks writer for www.RantSports.com. You can follow her on Twitter @kaylademint, Like her on Facebook or add her to your network on Google.