DENVER — The Avs are bored.

That’s what it looks and sounds like to me, anyway. Then again, maybe “bored” isn’t the correct way to put it. Disinterested? Distracted? Looking ahead? That’s the one right there: the Colorado Avalanche are looking ahead.

“I think everyone’s excited here to get to playoff time and get to the real time,” veteran winger Brandon Saad was saying the other day, right before an injury shelved him for 2-4 weeks.

Hey, that makes a bunch of us. This crazy COVID-19 schedule the NHL handed out is a recipe for looking ahead. The Avs play the division-leading Golden Knights in Las Vegas on Wednesday night, and it should be considered a possible preview of the Western Conference final. Yet it feels more like the backs seat on a family vacation to the Black Canyon or Great Sand Dunes: Are we there yet? The Avalanche have 10 games over the next 16 days, scattered from Nevada to California to Colorado. The condensed nature of the schedule is great for frantic scoreboard watching … or a countdown.

That’s a lot of games packed into little time, which is all fine and dandy when it’s the Stanley Cup playoffs we’re talking about. But the Avs already have a playoff spot reserved. They clinched it with 13 games left. They’re mostly interested in reaching the regular-season finish line with all their horses healthy. Right or wrong, playoff seeding remains secondary to the Avs.

“My focus is to get our team playing with the right amount of intensity, with the right winning habits, having the belief system that we can go play our game and win hockey games come playoff time,” said coach Jared Bednar, whose club just dropped a pair of uninspired games to the Blues. “We’re going through a little bit of a rut and it’s coincided with a COVID break, the injuries, the guys we have missing. It’s a little bit of a battle for us right now. We’ll get our group back together for the last few games.”

Fantastic news for the Avs on that front, at least for now: No. 1 goalie Philipp Grubauer skated Tuesday after a long stay on the COVID-19 protocols list. Mikko Rantanen and Joonas Donskoi are nearing returns, too. All three could play as soon as Friday against the Sharks.

“Which would be great,” Bednar said.

It would also be great if the Avalanche and Knights can figure out a way to guarantee this series in the postseason. They’ve been tight in the standings since the start, the Avalanche going 3-2-1 against the Knights. The Avs show 13 goals in the series to the Knights’ 12. There’s been nothing boring about their six matchups, even that time they played outside and the ice adjacent to Lake Tahoe melted under the sun. 

“It’s going to be a huge game for us,” defenseman Conor Timmins said.

Stanley Cup seeding is overrated, unless the Presidents’ Trophy is your thing. Beat the Knights on Wednesday and the Presidents’ Trophy could be the Avs’ thing — if they want it. It’s been seven years since a team with the best record went on to reach the Cup final. The most recent team to win both — the Presidents’ and Stanley Cup — was the 2012-13 Blackhawks.

Been a while, in other words.

In a happy world, where Avalanche and Nuggets games are available to Comcast subscribers, the Avs, Knights and Minnesota Wild would survive the next two weeks with healthy rosters free and clear of COVID-19 lists. They are the real-deal contenders from the Western Division, and wouldn’t it be nice to see the best of the best reach the postseason in proper health?

That’s the goal for the Avs. Get their guys back, and it’s OK to look forward to the postseason.

Nobody’s disinterested then.