It turns out the Colorado Avalanche needed more than one player to replace Mikko Rantanen’s overall impact.
That was the plan from the beginning, and no slight to Martin Necas. The day Colorado traded one of the best and, at the time, most popular players in franchise history, general manager Chris MacFarland said one of the objectives was to make the roster deeper.
While Necas has been nearly a like-for-like replacement at even strength as the right wing on Nathan MacKinnon’s line, the Avs have famously struggled on the power play for parts of the nearly 12 months since Rantanen was dealt away.