Camp Opens. Now We Find Out.

Colorado's front office questions are settled. Sakic is staying, Makar is locked in for eight years at a number that rewrote the league's salary ceiling, and the summer's roster moves are done. What isn't settled is whether any of it works.

The finishing problem that ended Colorado's season in Vegas didn't disappear with the Nichushkin trade or the Schwartz signing. Schwartz, brought in on a three-year deal to add veteran depth up front, still has no clear return timeline from injury. Merkulov and L'Heureux are interesting bets, but they're bets. The core — MacKinnon, Necas, Nelson — is formidable enough that Colorado can absorb some misses in the depth chart. The question is how many.

Gabriel Landeskog is the name worth watching early in camp. He put up 24 points last season in limited ice time, but he's converting at a thin rate right now, and the Avalanche need their veteran forwards to be reliable finishers, not passengers. That was the whole lesson from Vegas.

Sakic owns this roster. The organizational clarity is real and it matters. But clarity at the top doesn't score goals in October. Camp will start answering the questions the offseason only deferred.