Jonathan Drouin noticed it right from the start.
Drouin, who signed a one-year contract with the Avalanche this offseason, has played for teams that missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs in five of the past seven seasons. He knew that signing with Colorado was going to be a different experience.
This is a club that in 2023-24 has simple expectations — win the championship. It didn’t take long for him to see why.
“It was the informal (pre-training camp) skates,” Drouin said. “Sometimes the informal skates are kind of relaxing and just going through the motions, but it’s not that kind of skate here. Guys are trying to get better every day. You see guys pushing each other right away.
“I think it’s great that the bar is set that high. I think the expectations are high for the fans and the people who follow us. They are high for us, too. You feel it. You can feel that hunger. It’s not just we are trying to make the playoffs. We want to go far.”
Drouin is one of several key new additions for the Avs, a slightly remodeled group that expects to return to the mountaintop. Colorado won the Cup two seasons ago, but the Avs’ repeat bid fell short amidst a collection of injuries and absences.
The core players from the title team are still here. The championship DNA remains, permeating the dressing room. One newcomer, Ross Colton, has also won the Cup. The others who are expected to be key contributors have not, but they now have a firsthand taste of the culture that is established here.
“The expectation here, I felt it right from day one,” Miles Wood said. “The standards are super high. You can just sense the intensity in the room. I think that’s why they won two years ago. They have very high standards. They hold each other accountable. I’m happy to be part of this group.”
Wood and Tomas Tatar arrived from New Jersey, where the Devils struggled for several years before breaking through in the 2022-23 regular season. They won a playoff round, and the contention window in Newark, N.J., is just starting to open.
Ryan Johansen came from Nashville, where his Predators reached the Cup Final in 2017 but haven’t advanced past the first round since.
“It does have a similar feel to back (in 2017), but the difference is this group has won,” Johansen said. “We hadn’t won in Nashville. There were a couple years in Nashville where we felt we had a good chance. It’s pretty darn hard to pull off. The focus and the intensity in this group from day one has been pretty impressive.
“There’s so many guys in this room that know what it takes. Everything throughout a season can set you up for success in the postseason. It is just about bringing what we can add to this group and this core. It’s a great challenge and a great opportunity.”
Culture is tough to define and easy to overstate in professional sports. Every team wants to build a winning culture. There is no secret recipe, and it becomes more of a “you know it when you see it” kind of thing.
For the Avs, it starts with captain Gabriel Landeskog, even if he’s not available to play right now. Superstars like Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Mikko Rantanen help set the pace. MacKinnon in particular has earned a reputation for his ferocious work ethic.
“We have a high standard,” MacKinnon said. “I think a lot of teams do. The guys who have been here, we like to get better every day. If you’re not really doing that, you don’t fit well here. But we have fun too. Guys are laughing and joking all the time. We have an awesome time, we’re also trying to get better, so it’s a really fun place to come to every day.”
Wood noted that constant turnover in New Jersey was a hindrance for a young team trying to establish a winning culture. He was there for seven seasons, and only he and Damon Severson remained in 2022-23 from year one.
A team like the Devils will likely continue to look for veterans like Tyler Toffoli, an addition this offseason with multiple championships on his resume. For the Avs, adding a player like Colton is a luxury.
Adding players like Johansen, Drouin, Wood and Tatar gives the group a boost on the depth chart, but also guys who are eager to buy what the Colorado core is selling.
“We have some guys who have gotten close, but were not quite there,” Devon Toews said. “I think what they’ve noticed is our culture and the intent behind what we do here is second to none. We don’t take a day off. We don’t take a shift off. It’s that kind of mentality, and I think everybody knows that.”
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