Colorado Avalanche: 2 Underrated Players To Watch

The NHL has so many underrated players who deserve far more recognition. In this segment, we will be discussing two from every team in the league. Their overall roles and abilities may differ, but they all share the common theme that they are not as respected as they ought to be.

For full transparency, two teams will be randomly picked from a wheel each day. The winners will then be discussed.

In this piece, let's look at the Colorado Avalanche. Colorado has one of the best teams in the entire league. They are once again viewed as the Stanley Cup favorites heading into this season because of not only their most popular players, but also their overall depth. These two underrated players in particular will be interesting to pay attention to this season.

Sam Girard D: The Avalanche have more than just superstar Cale Makar on their blueline. Sam Girard is quietly forming into a fantastic offensive defenseman in this league. In 48 games this past season, the 23-year-old scored five goals and recorded 32 points. It was a noticeable increase in production, as he had 34 points the previous season, but in 70 total games. He is continuing to improve not only offensively, but defensively as well. As time goes on, he will become even more important to their success.

André Burakovsky LW: With forwards Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen leading the charge, it's easy to forget how good André Burakovsky is. Ever since being traded from the Washington Capitals to the Avalanche, he has taken that next step forward as a player. This past season was his best one to date, as he scored 19 goals and recorded 44 points. With this being a contract year for him, it would not be surprising to see his offensive totals go up even more this upcoming season, too.

Honorable Mentions: Devon Toews D, Ryan Murray D, Valeri Nichushkin RW