KEY ADDITIONS				KEY LOSSES
Name None	Pos.	From		Name Theo Fleury Valeri Kamensky Dale Hunter Sylvain Lefebvre Craig Billington	Pos. F F F D G	To Rangers Rangers Retired Rangers Capitals

Outlook
Still stinging from a Western Conference finals loss to Dallas, the Colorado Avalanche saw three key players leave during the offseason via free agency. Not to worry, though, if you're an Avalanche fan. The club has enough depth to offset the loss of Theo Fleury, Valeri Kamensky and Sylvain Lefebvre (All three signed with the Rangers).

		The main focus for the Avs will be balance. The most interesting thing about the Avs is how they will look defensively. The Avs have Patrick Roy, who makes up for a lot of mistakes. They have four spots open for new players this year because of players they lost: backup goalie, defense and two forwards. They are still a top level team. But the young talent must come in and perform like Milan Hejduk and Chris Drury did last year. That's tough to find. Forsberg will be out for two months or more at the beginning. That will affect their balance. Their defense led by Adam Foote and Sandis Ozolinsh is solid, and they have experience, but not as much as three and four years ago. They will tweaked a little from last year. Realistic goal is as a top contender for the title. They will be among the top two or three in the West, and it will be knockdown drag-out in the West again.

The Avs are hopeful 19-year-old center Alex Tanguay is ready to make the jump to the NHL. Coach Bob Hartley says Tanguay has a good shot at making an impact this season provided the rookie can make the adjustment from center to wing. There's reason to be hopeful that he can because Colorado has had good luck with its young players. Last season, the club was bolstered by the play of rookie forwards Chris Drury -- who was named the NHL's top rookie -- and Milan Hejduk (48 points).

A lot of the Avs' hopes depend on center Peter Forsberg. The star remains out after undergoing shoulder surgery during the offseason. Because of the injury, right wing Adam Deadmarsh is being asked to play center on the top line until Forsberg returns.

Remember, Colorado got off to a slow start last season due to missing players, but in that case, it was on defense; the Avs had several regular defensemen out of the lineup due to injury, and their best defenseman, Sandis Ozolinsh, was holding out with a contract dispute.

Ozolinsh is in camp and happy, and Tanguay isn't the only 19-year old making waves in camp. Hockey insiders say Martin Skoula will eventually be a carbon copy of Ozolinsh -- a solid and dynamic two-way defenseman. The youngster was an astounding plus-58 for his junior club last season.

There's not much more that can be said about the goaltending? Patrick Roy needs just 36 wins to become the all-time winningest goaltender in NHL regular season history. He underwent minor hip surgery prior to the preseason but is expected to be at or near 100 percent for the start of the regular season. Rookie Marc Denis -- Roy's heir apparent -- will be the backup.

The beginning of the season will again be critical. The Avs will need to get a good start this season, as they will play 10 of their first 12 games on the road in preparation for the opening of the new Pepsi Center.

'98-99 NORTHWEST STANDINGS
TEAM	W	L	T	Pts.
Colorado	44	28	10	98
Edmonton	33	37	12	78
Calgary	30	40	12	72
Vancouver	23	47	12	58

The bottom line
Better or not: Not
By how much: 2-3 wins
Most improved: Adam Deadmarsh
Most valuable: Peter Forsberg
Biggest disappointment: Claude Lemieux

Charles Avellino is a lead NHL researcher for ESPN.