The Avalanche’s center group is in a very different place now than it was not long ago, and that’s the biggest takeaway from The Athletic’s latest ranking of NHL top center duos.
Harman Dayal recently sorted every team’s top pair down the middle into tiers, and the top of the list came with little surprise. The Edmonton Oilers stood alone in the highest tier with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Right behind them, in a tier of their own, were just two teams: the Florida Panthers, with Aleksander Barkov and Sam Bennett, and the Colorado Avalanche, with Nathan MacKinnon and Brock Nelson.
That placement says plenty about where Colorado’s top-end talent sits. MacKinnon remains the headliner, but the addition of Nelson gives the Avalanche something they haven’t always had: a true second center who can anchor the position behind him.
That’s a major shift from what Colorado looked like for stretches over the past few years. The Avalanche were heavily dependent on MacKinnon, and there wasn’t always another clear top-six center to take pressure off him. Now Nelson is in place as a legitimate No. 2, and the depth behind that pair has also taken a step forward with Nazem Kadri, Nic Roy and Fedor Svechkov all part of the mix down the middle.
The bigger story here isn’t just where Dayal ranked Colorado. It’s how far the Avalanche have come in center depth over the last 24 months. What used to be a one-man show has turned into a group with real layers.
Do you believe the Avalanche have one of the NHL’s three best center duos? If not, where would you rank them?
Top five? Top 10?
In Other News...
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Brindleys case is a little trickier because of how he profiles. He is smaller, but his quickness and work off the puck make him intriguing, and there is also a sense that he may be better suited on the wing than in the middle after holding his own on faceoffs. Even so, the path to a secure roster spot for 2026-27 is far from clear, with more competition coming and a decision point starting to come into view. [Read more 🡒]
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Avalanche Prospect Depth Is Real But The NHL Path Isn't Clear
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Among the players just outside the top 25 were forward Nolan Roed, goaltender Tobias Tvrznik and defenseman Saige Weinstien, each of whom drew enough notice to earn honorable mention status after recent performances that kept them in the conversation. The broader takeaway is familiar for a team trying to balance contention with development: the Avalanche may have more young talent on hand than outsiders realize, but sorting out which prospects can realistically translate that promise into NHL roles is still the hard part. [Read more 🡒]