Like any general manager in any sport, assuming he's doing his job, Joe Sakic said he'll be "listening to different ideas" to improve an Avalanche team that remains last in the NHL following a 2-1 overtime win against the New York Islanders on Friday at the Pepsi Center.
More on this in a bit, but Sakic told the Denver Post that Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and last year's first-round draft pick, Tyson Jost, are the only players he wouldn't consider trading.
MacKinnon converted the rebound of Jarome Iginla's shot on a power play with 16.1 seconds left in the extra period to end the Avalanche's losing streak at five games, along with a 10-game home losing streak (0-9-1).
Gabriel Landeskog scored a first-period goal and Calvin Pickard made 35 saves to send the Avalanche (13-25-1) into their NHL-mandated "bye week" on a positive note. They won't practice again until Wednesday at 4 p.m. MT and play Anaheim at home on Thursday.
MacKinnon ended a wildly entertaining overtime that featured back-and-forth play throughout with terrific play from Pickard and Islanders goalie Thomas Greiss, who finished with 37 saves.
"We just wanted to end the streak, obviously," said MacKinnon, whose overtime goal also gave the Avalanche their previous win, 2-1 in Chicago on Dec. 23. "It's a question we don't want to keep having to answer. It feels like it's a rarity with only 13 wins this season. It is a rarity. We wanted to get that extra point, and we're happy we did."
Pickard, who made his seventh consecutive start, had allowed 22 goals during the five-game losing streak.
"A lot of relief, for sure," he said. "It's been tough sledding for us. It was a lot like that game (in Chicago) before the Christmas break. I felt good, the team was buzzing, we had a lot of chances and their goalie played great.
"Huge relief. It's tough to get out of a streak when you're losing every game at home. We weren't playing with a whole lot of confidence. Hopefully this builds some of that and we can string some wins together. It's been a long time, it's been tough. We're still in a huge hole."
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The NHL trading deadline is March 1, and rumors and speculation involving the Avalanche have been all over the map during the team's free fall since mid-November.
"The only thing I’m going to do is what helps this franchise down the line,… Sakic told the Denver Post. “We’re not going to be looking to doing anything for just this year. When we talk trades with different teams, I’m looking at the future. That’s where we have to go. We have to get younger. We have some good young guys that hopefully can make the next step in the next year or two and that’s the direction we’re doing. We’re trying to build this up.…
Sakic said it's "frustrating" to lose with so much frequency, but that he plans to remain as GM for the long haul.
"It wasn’t fun as a player when you lost and it’s not fun as a GM when you lose," he said. "But I have to look at the big picture, and the big picture is we have a lot of good young players and some young players coming in and we’re looking to the future ... it's pretty bright. We’ll have some options.…
Sakic also threw his support behind first-year coach Jared Bednar, who was hired after Patrick Roy abruptly quit in August.
“I like what he’s doing,… he said of Bednar. “The entire coaching staff, they’re trying to find ways and working hard in practice."
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Left wing Matt Nieto made a solid first impression in his Avalanche debut after being claimed on waivers Thursday from San Jose.
Playing on a line with Carl Soderberg and Jarome Iginla, Nieto had four shots in 17:29 of ice time, helped kill three penalties and was awarded a first-period penalty shot (Greiss made a glove save) when he drew a Calvin de Haan hooking penalty while on a breakaway.
Nieto wasn't on the ice when Johnny Boychuk scored a power-play goal in the second period in a 5-on-3 situation with Fedor Tyutin (hooking) and Nikita Zadorov (cross-checking) in the box.
"Skating, making plays, he's got his head up all the time," Bednar said. "We gave him the Cliff Notes version of the structure. There's a lot of similarities, I think, between the way we play and San Jose, especially on the penalty kill. I thought he was really good there.
"I just thought for the most part he did everything right, and he made some plays, both on the offensive side of the puck and the defensive side. I like his speed and his energy, it just helps push the pace of that line or whatever line he's playing on and of our team. It's contagious. When you see a guy playing like that, other guys want to follow suit."
Said Nieto: "I thought I brought pretty good energy, and I think I got rewarded for it. I knew I'd make a couple mistakes out there just adjusting to systems and whatnot, but for the most part it was a smooth transition, and it's definitely something to build off of."