The Colorado Avalanche goes into the offseason with the age old question, who plays 2C? The Avalanche may already have the answer before they take any action at all. During the season, they had traded for Brock Nelson, hoping he could fill the role. In truth, Colorado did not have to look far. All they had to do was look down the bench at their third line for Ross Colton.


Ross Colton played on the second line as the center early in the season until a broken foot took him out of the lineup. In that timeframe, Colton had nine points in 10 games. He injected an energy into the second line that the Avalanche woefully needed. The absence of Valeri Nichushkin coupled with no captain Gabriel Landeskog left the second line lacking in power.

Colton has always been a spark plug on whatever line he plays on. When he played for the Tampa Bay Lightning, he played a forechecking role in the bottom-six. Colton can prove himself when given a chance on the top-six.

The New Jersey native averaged 1.09 goals per 60 minutes of ice time played. Most of that time was in the bottom-six of the lineup. You can expect that number to only go up if he were to play consistent top-six minutes. The more he played in the top-six last season, the more he scored.

The Avalanche could also benefit from a defensive center in the top-six. Colton plays a hard-nosed style game. He is annoying and does not let up on the forecheck easily. Placing Colton and Nichushkin on the same line would be a nightmare for the opposing team. Colton has already picked a fight or two, fighting with Logan O’Connor during the 2022 Stanley Cup Finals.

The Avalanche already has the University of Vermont alum on their roster. It would be much easier to find a bottom-six winger or center, not to mention cheaper. I would guess that if the Avalanche sign Brock Nelson, he would sign for over five million per year, pinching the pockets of Colorado. If they do not sign Nelson (yes, it would be a failure), then they have a player already waiting to take the spot of 2C. But the advantage would be the Avalanche would have more cap room to work with in the long run.