My Avalanche season preview is on NHL.com, along with three keys to success.
*****
Ryan O'Reilly is a center again and Calder Trophy winner Nathan MacKinnon has moved back to right wing, where they're expected to play Thursday on a line with Gabriel Landeskog when the Avalanche opens regular-season play at Minnesota.
"I'm guessing that's the plan for the start of the season, but you never know," O'Reilly said Monday. "If you look at our depth up front, there's so many combinations you can try. Hopefully this clicks right away."
Coach Patrick Roy made the switch in the third period Saturday in the Avalanche's 3-2 shootout win against Los Angeles in Las Vegas and kept the line intact Monday during a 90-minute practice that ended with 10 minutes of hard skating drills.
"Same as last year. I rotated, no big deal," said MacKinnon, who spent most of last season at right wing but this training camp was at center, his natural position. "It's fun playing with Factor (O'Reilly), he's a very good player. Hockey's hockey regardless of what position I play, so I'm not worried about it at all. I feel good. We finally got our first win in Vegas, which was good. There's not as much stress because we got a win."
The other top line had Matt Duchene centering Alex Tanguay on the left and Jarome Iginla on the right. Tanguay and Iginla were linemates when they played with the Calgary Flames.
Roy wasn't available after practice to discuss the moves. He'll address the media Tuesday regarding the upcoming season with team president Josh Kroenke and executive vice president/general manager Joe Sakic.
Left wing Jamie McGinn, who missed every preseason game because of a back injury, took part in all the drills Monday and skated on a line with Daniel Briere and Max Talbot. Marc-Andre Cliche centered the fourth line with Cody McLeod and rookie Dennis Everberg, who survived Monday's roster cuts.
The Avalanche reduced the roster to 25 players -- they'll need to get down to the NHL limit of 23 before Thursday -- by assigning forwards Andrew Agozzino and Borna Rendulic to Lake Erie in the AHL, and putting forwards Ben Street and Tomas Vincour on the injured non-roster list.
Patrick Bordeleau (back surgery) won't be available until December, John Mitchell (migraines) didn't play in any preseason games and wasn't on the ice Monday, and Jesse Winchester is recovering from a concussion he sustained a week ago.
Like MacKinnon, O'Reilly is a natural center, but he spent most of last season at left wing on a line with Duchene. He set personal bests for goals (28) and points (64) and won the Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship.
"(Center) is a position I'm most familiar with and I've been playing it the longest," O'Reilly said. "In preseason our forwards and myself didn't produce enough numbers, so hopefully this is something where we can create a little bit more, create more chances and as a result put more pucks in the net."
O'Reilly scored two of the 10 goals the Avalanche scored while posting a 1-5-2 preseason record. Duchene, Everberg, Landeskog, Talbot and Tanguay each scored once. Defensemen Tyson Barrie, Erik Johnson and Zach Redmond had the other goals.
"There were a few times I had to jump in at center last year when guys went down," O'Reilly said. "Of all the positions on the ice, it's the one I'm most comfortable with. I can trust my instincts a lot more. On the wing, even though I've played there a while and I'm comfortable there, I learned the game at center and my natural instincts come into play. When you've got Landeskog and MacKinnon, who's also a natural center, it's nice to have that comfort out there."