Colorado Avalanche: 2 Players Who Will Bounce Back Next Season

With the off-season starting to slow down a bit, we now have a better idea of every team's roster going into next season. Of course there will be other moves, but the craziness from the Expansion Draft and first day of free agency is officially done.

In this segment, we will be taking a look at two players from each NHL team who are set to bounce back next season. Sometimes players will have down seasons, but end up completely turning it around in the following one. This will inevitably happen for this upcoming year, too.

In this specific article, we will be looking at the Colorado Avalanche. The Avalanche had a nearly perfect season, as they won the Presidents' Trophy and received wonderful contributions from the vast majority of the lineup. However, the way they lost in the postseason was extremely disappointing and they are heading into this season with three significant losses in Brandon Saad, Philipp Grubauer and Ryan Graves. Therefore, they need these two players to have strong seasons this year to make up for it.

Nazem Kadri C: Nazem Kadri didn't have a bad regular season, but there was noticeable offensive decline. In 56 games, he only scored 11 goals, but did manage to record 32 points still. The season before, he scored 19 goals and had 36 total points in just 51 games. He also ended his Maple Leaf tenure with back-to-back 32-goal campaigns, so one has to expect he can score more this season. Also, can he really get a fourth playoff-ending suspension? The odds seem slim, but hopefully this go-around he will not. Colorado needs him for a full postseason run if they hope to win the Stanley Cup.

Darcy Kuemper G: Darcy Kuemper is a real candidate to rebound next season. Joining a team like the Avalanche from the Arizona Coyotes is a significant upgrade for him, as their defensive group is much stronger. In 27 games this season with Arizona, he had a 10-11-3 record and .907 SV%. Those numbers are not necessarily bad, but the season before, he had a .928 SV%. Therefore, he is capable of doing so much more and will have the chance to with Colorado.