Jay McClement from last season
6. Will the penalty kill suffer without Jay McClement?
When McClement arrived in Colorado at trade deadline in 2011, the Avalanche were the reluctant owners of the worst penalty kill in the NHL. They finished that season last in penalty killing at 76.1 percent, and allowed the most power-play goals (75). McClement’s contribution to that turnaround cannot be overstated.
The center’s 3:06 per game of shorthanded ice time led all Avalanche skaters and was third in the League among forwards. Landeskog was a distant second, with 1:20 per game. In short, there is no replacing McClement on the penalty kill, and the Avalanche know it.
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