Avalanche Lines Set for Season Opener

Landeskog, MacKinnon, Rantanen lead top line

Newcomer Lehkonen joins Burakovsky, Compher on second line

With the Colorado Avalanche set to open their season Wednesday against the Chicago Blackhawks, the team has released its lineup combinations. The top line will feature the familiar trio of Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. The second line will see Valeri Nichushkin move up to play with Alex Newhook and Artturi Lehkonen, who was acquired in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens in the offseason. The third line will feature Andrew Cogliano, Evan Rodrigues and J.T. Compher, while the fourth line will consist of Darren Helm, Kurtis MacDermid and Martin Kaut. On the blue line, Devon Toews and Bowen Byram will form the top pairing, followed by Cale Makar and Sam Girard. Jack Johnson and Erik Johnson will round out the third pairing. The Avalanche are coming off a disappointing playoff performance, losing to the Edmonton Oilers in the second round. The team is hoping to make a deeper run this year and is confident that the new-look lineup will help them achieve their goals.