Erik Johnson and Nathan MacKinnon practiced with the Avalanche for the first time Monday after getting three days off the ice following their World Cup of Hockey games.

They spent about an hour Sunday watching videotape with first-year coach Jared Bednar, who is implementing a new system.

"We did some video just to go over stuff so I wouldn't come in blind and (not) know what was going on," MacKinnon said. "It was good."

MacKinnon said Bednar’s system is different than what the Avalanche did under Patrick Roy.

"Yeah, it is,” he said. “Now every puck we get, we want to move it up quickly and use our speed and not wait and go D-to-D, back to D and slow the game down. We have very good skaters on our team and we want to use that. We were doing it in practice. It should be good."

Here's my latest JARED BEDNAR STORY for NHL.com. It went on the site Monday.

Bednar said it shouldn't take long for MacKinnon and Johnson to get a handle on how he wants them to play.

"They're intelligent guys," he said. "They got in a little bit of a cram session yesterday and they're going to get to review it and review it through practices every day. You've got to get these guys back integrated with the group."

MacKinnon said he feels fine, but he called Monday's practice a "tough one" as he continues to get acclimated to the altitude.

"I just want to grow as a player," he said. "I want to be a solid player every game. I feel very ready for the season. I don't look at points scored, I just want to be the best player I can be."

MacKinnon said Roy's decision to resign as coach and vice president of hockey operations shocked him, but he's impressed with Bednar.

"He's a really smart guy, I really like him," he said. "He explains himself really well, he's very clear. He's going to demand a lot of me, which I like; I like that from a coach. I'm excited for the season, I think it's going to be a bounce-back season for us."

Bednar said he plans to use MacKinnon as a center, his natural position. The 2014 Calder Trophy winner has played center and wing in his three seasons with the Avalanche.

"I loved the way he played on the wing in the tournament, but (center) is his position," Bednar said. "We're not saying he's not going to play both. We're still going to experiment as we go through camp and find some combinations that work, and we have to keep looking at some of the other guys as well."

MacKinnon had a strong showing for Team North America, which was eliminated from the World Cup competition despite a 2-1 record. He scored a spectacular overtime goal against Team Sweden goalie Henrik Lundqvist.

“I didn’t know I had that move in me, to be honest with you,” MacKinnon said. “I just got it from Johnny (Gaudreau) and Lundqvist tried to poke check and I managed to toe drag around and score, so it definitely felt good.

”It sucks that we didn't move on, but it was fun playing with those guys and now it's time to get back. Competing against the world's best and being successful as a team and as an individual feels good. It's nice to succeed in any kind of game, but against countries' best players, it feels that much better."

Johnson, who averaged 23:26 in ice time for the Avalanche last season, had a limited role with Team USA, which went 0-3.

"It was disappointing, but not a lot of people get the opportunity to represent their country at the highest level," he said. "That's always an honor, but the result obviously wasn't what we wanted.

"I haven't played limited ice time like that in a long time, so it was a different kind of experience. You definitely get an appreciation for the guys who play third and fourth line 82 games a year to see how they have to stay into it mentally. It's tough not going out there every other shift like you're used to. To get that perspective is a good learning experience."

Johnson said he feels recharged after getting time off following the tournament.

"The biggest thing after the tournament was it felt like such a letdown, you felt like your season was over, but really it's just beginning," he said. "I'm ready to go. It's always good to get back to your comfort zone, your home town and your home rink with all your teammates.

"I have to be a lot better than I was last year to help us get to the next level. I take a lot of responsibility and I look forward to the challenge."

The Avalanche will use a handful of veterans for Tuesday's preseason opener in Minnesota. The traveling roster wasn't finalized as of Monday afternoon, but Johnson and MacKinnon won't be on it.

*****

Forwards Gabriel Landeskog and Carl Soderberg, who played for Sweden, are expected to practice this week, along with goalie Semyon Varlamov, who played for Russia. Center Matt Duchene is playing for Canada, which faces Europe in the best-of-three tournament final that begins Tuesday in Toronto.

*****

The Avalanche made their first roster cuts, reassigning six players:

Defenseman Josh Anderson (Prince George, WHL); left wing Travis Barron (Ottawa, OHL); right wing Jackson Houck (San Antonio, AHL); left wing Brogan O'Brien (Prince George, WHL); center Gustav Olhaver (Rogle J20, Sweden); left wing Jeffrey Truchon-Viel (Acadie-Bathurst, QMJHL).



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