Hockey Mountain High Podcast

Just when things seem quiet, the Avalanche have signed defenseman Oliver Kylington to a one year deal, adding to an impressive defensive depth going into next season. How does Kylington fit with the Avs style of play, and how much upside is there? With Kylington, Brannstrom, De Haan, and Malinski all in play for the bottom pair roles next season, who will make the opening night lineup? Send questi...

Season 4 of the show has come to a close as the offseason moves into August, and it's time to look back at the season that was as we get ready to transition to our offseason reviews. What will be remembered most from the last Avalanche season, and where do the Avs sit as Stanley Cup contenders for next season? Also, Finally, answering your mailbag questions one more time! Send questions to the mai...

The Summer Olympics have started, which means it's closer to the long awaited Winter Olympics and the undisputed best olympic sport, hockey. Also, looking around the NHL at the Brock Faber signing for Minnesota and Dean Evason hiring in Columbus, and answering your mailbag questions! Could anybody new on this Avalanche team break the 70 point marker next season? Can they still lead the league in o...

The Avalanche made some new hires to their scouting and strength staff, while the Oilers hired Stan Bowman are their new general manager, which very could be the stupidest decision a team has ever made for a multitude of reasons. Speaking of management, how efficiently are the Avalanche spending their money with the contracts they've handed out? Finally, the next snake draft drafting the best game...

The Mikko Rantanen extension is reportedly close to being completed, and going to be a long term deal. What will the final number end up being when the extension is announced? What are the chances that Rantanen will be the highest paid winger in the league? Most importantly, how can they continue to build a true Cup contending team? Also, the guys snake draft the best Avs goals of last season. Who...

Free agency has only been happening for two weeks and there's still three months before the season begins again, so naturally it's time for standings predictions for next season. What are some of the biggest changes potentially coming this season? First things first, the Avs made a trade for another goalie, will this affect anything at the NHL level or is this purely a depth move? Finally, answeri...

It's time to set the record straight on where our biases against other teams stand, because there's a lot of them. Using NHLQuebec, we ranked all of our favorite and least favorite teams from 1 to 32, and wow we really hate a lot of teams in this league, to the point that it's a problem. Finally, answering your mailbag questions! What veteran leadership will step up without Jack Johnson and Coglia...

Cal Ritchie is officially an Av after signing his entry level contract, and will get a fair shot to make the team out of camp next season. Is it realistic to expect Ritchie to be a significant contributor next season, or is it better for his development to get his nine game tryout and go back to the OHL? Val Nichushkin gave an interview about his absence last playoff against Seattle, and there's s...

The dust is settling on the free agency frenzy, so how does the Avalanche roster look after picking up Erik Brännström as one of the best value signing of this offseason? Could getting Brännström out of Ottawa unlock his potential as a former first round pick? With the defensive depth locked down, what else still needs to be done? The Avalanche also got their 2024-25 schedule, how does the new for...

Jonathan Drouin is back! It came down to the wire on Day 1 of Free Agency, but a one year deal will keep Drouin in Colorado at a team friendly price. The Avs also added Calvin De Haan to bolster the defense, Parker Kelly to add to the fourth line, and finished it off with Joel Kiviranta coming back on a one year deal. However with still no clear answers on Landeskog and Nichushkin, is there room f...

The 2024 draft is in the books, and the Avalanche made a total of nine selections after trading out of the first round and stockpiling picks. They also took the first goalie of the draft, Ilya Nabokov with their first pick, and two additional goalies later in the draft. Will Ilya Nabokov develop into the star goalie that the Avalanche haven't been able to develop so far in their history? Will the...

At long last, Nathan MacKinnon finally gets his due and wins the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player, as well as the Ted Lindsey. Is MacKinnon already a hall of fame player? Casey Mittelstadt signs a three year extension with the Avs, giving them a solid one-two punch down the middle for three years. What's Mittelstadt's ceiling in Colorado? What does this mean for Ross Colton's future?...

With the draft less than a week away, Adam Kimelman joins the show once again to look at options for the Avs in the first round and beyond. With their highest pick since 2019, who could be available to the Avalanche at 24th overall? What's the possibility for another late round steal like Cal Ritchie last year? Where does this draft stack up to years past, and how does Macklin Celebrini compare to...

The most important game of our lifetime is on the horizon with Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, with the Oilers looking to complete a 3-0 comeback in the Stanley Cup Final and the Panthers trying to avoid the worst collapse in sports history. In Avalanche news, Andrew Cogliano has announced his retirement and will join the Avs front office + Ross Colton is rumored to be on the trade block as the A...

The Stanley Cup Final marches onto a fifth game after a split in Edmonton, with the Panthers one win away from their first Stanley Cup but the Oilers with the blowout win in Game 4. But, with serious playoff fatigue kicking in both the NHL and NBA, it might be time to start wrapping these playoffs up much earlier. Utah announces their next colors which are... fine. Are there any other teams in nee...

The Florida Panthers are two wins away from the Stanley Cup after outscoring the Edmonton Oilers 7-1 over the first two game of the Final, is there a way for the Oilers to at least make this series interesting? The Washington Capitals are buying and shutting down CapFriendly to the public, but it's also revealed how much the league hates salary information being made public at all, and further sho...

The Edmonton Oilers are taking on the Florida Panthers in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final in what could be one of the best Finals in recent memory. McDavid vs. Barkov is one of the best playoff matchups you can ask for, as well as the best even strength team going up against the best special teams. Are we finally going to get a good Game 7 for the Stanley Cup? Also, Utah is close to deciding on a name...

The Stanley Cup Final is set between the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers, meaning the Dallas Stars and New York are finished after an all-time jinx from the guys. But none of that matters for the Avalanche with free agency less than a month away. What free agents would be the best fit for the Avs in this UFA cycle? Could any of the big names be options? Who could some of the best value re...

The Conference Finals have been exceptional hockey, but how do the Avalanche get back to this point of the playoffs again next season? What do all of the four teams remaining have in common that the Avs can replicate? What are some of undervalued options the Avs can find in the offseason to get them back to this point again? Finally, answering your mailbag questions! Send questions to the mailbag...

Free agency is barely over a month away, so will any of the Avalanche's upcoming unrestricted free agents actually hit the market? Who has the best chance of staying and who's most likely to go? How will a Jonathan Drouin extension work? Also, diving into the Conference Finals and what's shaping up to be an evil Stanley Cup Final. Finally, answering your mailbag questions! Send questions to the ma...

Gabe Landeskog is not retiring and is still looking to return next season, but there's still very little clarity as to when. So what exactly do MacFarland and the Avalanche do in the meantime with the salary cap space? Additionally, not much clarity on the Nichushkin with situation leaves very few options other than possibly coming back. Is there still a path forward? With still so little cleared...

Let's take a look back at the season that was for the Colorado Avalanche, and all of it's up and down moments as the offseason gets underway. Ultimately the season ends earlier than anybody wanted, but when you look at the season as a whole, how stacked the Stars are, and the overall future of this team, are thing even that bad at all? How did the offseason moves ultimately work out? What about th...

The season is over, as the Avalanche lose 2-1 in double overtime to the Stars in Game 6, ending a promising season in disappointment and leaving a lot of questions going into the offseason. Game 6 itself was a solid game that fell apart in overtime despite Georgiev's outstanding performance, but this series was lost long before it got to this point. Disappointment aside, the Avalanche will be back...

The Avalanche are still standing and force a Game 6 in Colorado with a 5-3 win over the Dallas Stars in Game 5, finally having their most complete game of the series with big performances from Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon to put some doubt into the Stars. This effort looked largely repeatable and can even be improved upon by cleaning up some big mistakes that ended up in the back of the net. Th...

The Avalanche lose Game 4 by a final of 5-1 to the Dallas Stars and are pushed to the brink of elimination going into Game 5. Val Nichushkin was placed into the player assistance program and suspended for six months right before the game, and we wish him nothing but health and peace from what's been a horrible battle. Devon Toews missed the game with an illness at the last moment, leaving the Avs...