BOSTON — The Avalanche is the second-youngest team in the NHL, and its players collectively are the second lowest-paid in the league.
Those are the facts, and it remains to be seen whether history records them as being a shrewd way to plan for the here, now and near future — or a classic case of “they got what they paid for.” The Avs are coming off a second-to-last finish of the last NHL season, after all.
The Avs (1-1-0) enter Columbus for tonight’s game against the Blue Jackets with an average player age of 26, just behind Nashville’s 25.9. Detroit, at 29.5, is the oldest.
The Avalanche’s payroll of $49.2 million is higher than only that of the Dallas Stars’ $48.8 million. The maximum for this year’s NHL cap is $64.3 million.
Some Avs fans have grumbled at the penurious ways of the team the last couple of seasons. During the ceremonies for Peter Forsberg on Saturday night, former Avalanche owner Stan Kroenke and current owner, son Josh, received more than a few boos when introduced at the sold-out Pepsi Center.
But the Avs believe they have the talent to exceed their youth and their lowly payroll. The team’s eldest player, Milan Hejduk, has played on teams that were ‘capped out’ and didn’t always succeed. The Avs of 2008-09 had one of the league’s highest payrolls but finished 28th.
“If you have a team that believes in each other and has some talent, you can still win a lot of hockey games even if you don’t have a huge (payroll),” Hejduk said. “I think we’re going to be OK. We’re young, but we have guys who are talented and want to get better and are eager to win.”
After his team lost to the Avs 1-0 on Monday afternoon at the TD Garden, Bruins coach Claude Julien bemoaned what he sees already as some early-season, Cup-hangover complacency. But he also managed to say a couple of good things about the Avalanche.
“We got outworked by a team that was a lot more hungry than we were. Throughout the game, I felt our team was second on the puck,” Julien said.
The Avs’ payroll is likely to get higher for next season because players such as Matt Duchene, Erik Johnson and Ryan O’Reilly are in the last years of their deals. But the average player age doesn’t figure to be much higher; of those three, the oldest is Johnson at 23.
“I like the fact that we’re real young and hungry,” Duchene said. “Last year, things kind of got away from us at the end, with a lot of injuries and stuff. But I think we’re a team that is young and fast and can win.”
Still no captain.
The Avs continue to play without a captain for the time being. Hejduk and Paul Stastny continue to wear the “A” as alternate captains. Erik Johnson wore a third “A” in the season opener, but Cody McLeod wore it for Monday’s game. McLeod registered nine hits against the Bruins.
Adrian Dater: 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com
Colorado at Columbus
5 p.m. today, no TV, 950 AM
Spotlight on Jeff Carter: A multiple 30-goal scorer in Philadelphia, the Flyers shocked everyone by trading him to Columbus over the summer. While Carter put up three assists in the first three games, Columbus is still looking for its first win.
Avalanche: Semyon Varlamov will start in goal, his third consecutive appearance. . . . The Avs practiced Tuesday at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. There were no changes to their lines or defensive pairings. . . . Defenseman Ryan O’Byrne is the only Avs player not to get a shot on goal through the first two games. Rookie Gabriel Landeskog leads with 10. . . . Because of Versus’ exclusive window for NHL game rights, there will be no TV broadcast of the game on Altitude. There is no broadcast of the game in Columbus either.
Blue Jackets: Their 0-3 start is the worst in Blue Jackets history. . . . Columbus is 0-16 on the power play. “We’re not demoralized at all,” Blue Jackets coach Scott Arniel told the Columbus Dispatch. “More than anything, that was three games in four nights for us.” Adrian Dater, The Denver Post
