It turns out the Colorado Avalanche needed more than one player to replace Mikko Rantanen\u2019s overall impact.<\/p>\n
That was the plan from the beginning, and no slight to Martin Necas. The day Colorado traded one of the best and, at the time, most popular players in franchise history, general manager Chris MacFarland said one of the objectives was to make the roster deeper.<\/p>\n
While Necas has been nearly a like-for-like replacement at even strength as the right wing on Nathan MacKinnon\u2019s line, the Avs have famously struggled on the power play for parts of the nearly 12 months since Rantanen was dealt away. Colorado has tried several players in Rantanen\u2019s old spot, on the right flank opposite where MacKinnon typically is in a 1-3-1 setup.<\/p>\n
It turns out the Avs tried their best option earlier this season, but it took a while to get back to him and for things to begin to click. That guy is Brock Nelson, a player who would have been much harder to trade for in March and retain in the offseason on a three-year contract if Rantanen was still here.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a big part of it,\u201d Avs coach Jared Bednar said. \u201c(A) center, can take the left-side draws, helps on the breakouts \u2014 he\u2019s making all the right decisions over on that side. Mikko is a special player, and in that spot on the power play he\u2019s probably one of the best in the league, if not the best over there. But you have to adjust. Now we\u2019ve got a little bit of a different threat. We\u2019ve got the right shot with Marty.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got the pieces to make it work and they have the right mentality. We\u2019ll just keep working on it and they\u2019ll keep growing together. Now that we\u2019ve kind of got this set, it looks good and hopefully they can keep expanding off what we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The irony of Colorado\u2019s well-documented struggles is that from the day Necas arrived until the end of last regular season, the Avalanche had the No. 1-ranked power play in the NHL at 32.2%. But then it broke at the most critical time of the year, and was a huge part of why Rantanen and the Dallas Stars defeated the Avs in the opening round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.<\/p>\n
Assistant coach Ray Bennett was let go. Dave Hakstol was hired. With Nelson re-signed, Brent Burns added and other impact guys healthy, this season began with plenty of optimism and more power-play options than this club has had in years.<\/p>\n
As the Avalanche stormed to the top of the league standings with one of the greatest first halves in NHL history, Colorado dominated everyone and everything \u2026 except on the power play. It remained broken, often the lone source of consternation after wins and an easy scapegoat to point at after a few of the far in-between defeats.<\/p>\n
When the Avs woke up on the last day of 2025, their power play was sputtering along at 15.5% \u2014 good for 28th in the NHL. Just an unfathomable thing, given the talent available and how excellent this club has been at nearly everything else.<\/p>\n
There are signs of life, though. Two weeks is a blink of an eye in a long season, but the Avs have scored six power-play goals in the past seven games. They are 11th in the NHL at 24.0% in that span, and tied for the sixth-most goals scored with the extra man.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like what we\u2019re doing right now,\u201d Bednar said. \u201cThere was a big meeting last week. We\u2019ve changed some things around, got the guys on the same page, shared a bunch of ideas and just kind of laid out the structure that we\u2019d like to be in and what we\u2019d like to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like the focus of our guys right now. They\u2019re all on the same page. \u2026 It\u2019s trending in the right direction, the right way, but you want to see it be dangerous every night, and that\u2019s to be determined.\u201d<\/p>\n
There haven\u2019t been any major structural changes, but Nelson returning to the top unit in Rantanen\u2019s old spot has made a much greater impact this time than he did early in the season. Nelson has scored five of those six power-play goals in the past seven games.<\/p>\n
MacKinnon and Cale Makar have both assists on all five goals. That has a familiar feeling.<\/p>\n
Nelson\u2019s goals have also felt a bit like playing Rantanen\u2019s greatest hits:<\/p>\n
\u2013 One-timer from Makar, near the right faceoff dot<\/p>\n
\u2013 Tip-in of a MacKinnon shot in front<\/p>\n
\u2013 Tic-tac-toe from Makar and MacKinnon, a down-to-one-knee one-timer<\/p>\n
\u2013 One-timer from MacKinnon, low-right circle<\/p>\n
\u2013 One-timer from MacKinnon, in the slot after a Nelson faceoff win<\/p>\n
All he needs is a deflection from just to the left of the goalie. Nelson having this type of impact for the power play has been seismic.<\/p>\n
MacKinnon, Necas and Makar are always going to handle the puck the most, which means the puck is going to spend a lot of time on the left side of the offensive zone. When the Avs haven\u2019t had a credible threat on the far side, opposing teams have swarmed Colorado\u2019s right-shooting stars.<\/p>\n
The more the Avs struggled, the more the book was out \u2014 pressure those guys, and they\u2019ll make a mistake. This heater from Nelson could help open up other plays for the Avs and more counters to what penalty killers are throwing at them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think all the time, even if you just go through a couple games skid, they\u2019re going to come at you,\u201d Bednar said. \u201cMost teams, I\u2019m assuming, they\u2019re pre-scouting your last three games, special teams are probably going back to five or even maybe a little bit more. If you\u2019re struggling over that time period with some pressure, and one team has success (others will copycat that plan).<\/p>\n
\u201cI also think it\u2019s just the way the penalty kills are trending too. Teams are getting more aggressive, us included, and it\u2019s working. If you\u2019re going to make a play, you\u2019re going to have to make it around that pressure and make it quick and the next guy\u2019s coming. \u2026 I think you have to expect that. I think our guys over the last couple of games have done a nice job sort of working around that, working quickly and getting more into attack mode \u2014 coming to the net, converging to the net, instead of skating away from it and being too perimeter.\u201d<\/p>\n