With the preseasn here, it's now year 3 of the Shuck reign in Colorado.

The team started with nothing, all that was on the roster at one time was Philip Grubauer and draft picks, 2 seasons later, here we are, the Aves have one goal, and thats to win the cup. Anything else this year will be a failure.

First off, the Aves enter the season in the enviable situation of having roughly 13 million in cap room. It's expected the team has a trade lined up for a top tier dman, but nothing has been confirmed from the teams HQ. So how much space they truly have is unknown (to you schmucks).

In net, the team still has the aforementioned Grubauer, who has good ratings, though lacks the DU and EN you typically want from the starter. With the intent to win, the team ponied up and acquired Pekka Rinne, who is the top goalie in the sim, giving the team the best goaltending tandem in the league, bar none. The cost was high, as Shuck had to move his prized pet project in Kiril Kaprizov (amongst other assets). 

On defense the team added Dan Hamhuis to add to Erik Johnson giving the team two premier two way defensemen. They have Jake Gardiner and Nick Leddy to drive offense from the point. Mark Barbeiro has strong defensive ratings, and will pair with Matt Benning (for now) on the third pairing. The necessity for an upgrade from Benning to a top dman is obvious, and one the team believes they have addressed. The Defense will be diverse top to bottom and should help the team move towards their goal.

Up front, there is firepower galore. The top 2 vote getters for the Hart Trophy in NHL in Taylor Hall and Nathan MacKinnon will each anchor their own line. Mikko Rantanen, Evgeni Dadonov and Sebastian Aho headline the support group, though others like Ondrej Palat, Craig Smith, Patrick Maroon, Alex Kerfoot, JT Compher and others will contribute as well. The organization feels their top line forwards are better than any other assembled group for the upcoming season.

So whats left? An offense that should shoot the lights out. The best goaltending in the league. And a defense that can defend and move the puck. And sufficient cap room (even after a speculated trade) to acquire at least 1 high end asset, if not more.

The parade route along 16th street mall and the capital grounds has been laid. Now it's on the team to execute and deliver the cup to Denver.