Samuel Girard

It felt like Girard could pop after the Avalanche traded away Bowen Byram at the trade deadline in the 2023-24 season. However, Girard has posted 42 points in 132 regular-season games over the last two seasons, just five more than his career year in 2022-23. Part of it is his power-play time has gone down since Cale Makar arrived, bumping Girard to the second unit. The 27-year-old averaged just 43 seconds per game on the power play in 2024-25, and rarely featured in that situation during the Avalanche's first-round playoff exit. The eight-year veteran will have to try to rediscover some of the offense that made him a valuable piece on the third pair and translate it to his spot on the second pair. If he can do that, the 30-point plateau is within reach yet again, though Girard's offense could be negatively affected by Colorado's signing of Brent Burns. Read Past Outlooks