Morning Flurries: Nathan MacKinnon’s greatness and a preview of Stamkos

The Colorado Avalanche have wrapped up a disappointing home stand with their loss to the Buffalo Sabres earlier this week, and they’re now headed on the road in hopes of turning their luck around.

They’ll start that off with a stop in Tampa Bay, coming up against one of the hottest teams in the league - and a few of the hottest players in Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov.

That’s going to be a tough contest - but for the Avalanche, it’s one fans may not be all that familiar with. As such, the writers over at Raw Charge got together with Mile High Hockey and talked about what to expect from tomorrow’s host team. [Mile High Hockey]

Here’s another Stamkos-centric article, by the way. He plays like a Russian - and here’s how. [Raw Charge]

Meanwhile, Nathan MacKinnon just made Avalanche history. Does he have the right supporting cast, though? [MHH]

Speaking of supporting cast, here’s a look at the Avalanche prospects that will take part in the World Juniors selection camp this month, hoping to go for gold for their respective nations. [MHH]

Is this the best bobblehead ever, or the most disturbing? You decide:

After getting dropped from the Florida Panthers as an exposed player in this summer’s expansion draft, it appears that Jonathan Marchessault is, actually, as good as advertised. Does he deserve the contract security that comes with it? [Knights on Ice]

In the Eastern Conference, there’s a bit of frustration (and not from the Panthers, who let Marchessault go). Instead, it’s the Carolina Hurricanes, who just... can’t seem to figure out why they’re still bad. [Canes Country]

Could JT Miller be playing his way into a big payday? A deeper look at what his next contract is set to be. [Blueshirt Banter]

Finally, for our moment of goalie zen:

This is Julius Hudacek. This delightful veteran goaltender has danced, fished, cartwheeled, and leapfrogged his way across the ice to get fans going for years now. And in his first KHL season, he’s on his way to the All-Star Game.

Safe to say he’s pretty pumped: