Avalanche expectations are high for a number of reasons, including taking out Western top seed Calgary in the first round of the playoffs last year and taking San Jose to seven games in the second round.
A lot more depth on the forward lines is another reason for optimism with the additions of
Nazem Kadri, Andre Burakovsky, Joonas Donskoi and
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, which should more than offset the losses of
Alexander Kerfoot and
Carl Soderberg.
“This is probably the deepest forward group that we’ve had since I’ve been here,” said fourth-year coach
Jared Bednar, listing
Nathan MacKinnon, Kadri,
J.T. Compher and Bellemare as the top four centers.
Barring injuries or surprises, and assuming
Mikko Rantanen reaches an agreement on a new contract, the lines could look like this:
Gabriel Landeskog -– Nathan MacKinnon –- Mikko Rantanen
Tyson Jost -- Nazem Kadri -- Andre Burakovsky
Colin Wilson -– J.T. Compher -- Joonas Donskoi
Matt Nieto -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare –- Matt Calvert
“We went out and got some really good pieces,”
Gabriel Landeskog said. “Whether it's free-agent signings or through a big trade ... I definitely think that we got better over the offseason -- 100 percent. I really like the changes that we made.
“I'm excited about having a guy like Kadri here, Belly -- a centerman who can play third or fourth line and kill penalties, be out there in big minutes. Donskoi, Burakovsky, guys that have a lot of potential, a lot of upside to their game. A fresh start here, we're super-excited to have them.”
So where does that leave guys like
Sheldon Dries, A.J. Greer, Vladislav Kamenev and
Logan O’Connor, all of whom have had some NHL experience with Colorado?
There’s also late free-agent signee
Valeri Nichushkin, the No. 10 pick of the Dallas Stars in 2013 whose career has gone off the rails. He’s arrived from Russia and doesn’t look like he’s in great shape.
“They’ve got something to prove,” Bednar said. “I guess my view on it is, our team should be getting harder and harder to make with some of the additions we’ve made and the way we see our lineup.”
But Bednar emphasized that players still need to earn their playing time.
“We start talking about raising the bar and expectations, so that means the guys who perform get the minutes,” he said. “I think we have a lot of flexibility in our lineup where we have fourth-line guys, however you want to characterize them, who can push the lines in front of them. When you’re slated in to play a certain role, you’re there because we feel as a coaching staff and as a management staff that’s where you’re best suited, but you have to get the job done or someone else is going to get that opportunity. That goes throughout our lineup.
“In order to stay there and keep getting those minutes you have to perform. You don’t want to have too short of a leash; you’ve got to give guys room to play and be creative and develop chemistry. There’s also a point of the season where the expectations are set and you need the players to perform at that level. If they don’t, you have to give another guy an opportunity there, and that could be for a couple of shifts or a period or it could be for a game and then they earn more.”
Bednar plans to give players on the bubble every opportunity to show what they can do in the preseason. Game 1 is Tuesday against Vegas at the Pepsi Center.
“The battles in training camp and where those guys exactly lie, they’re going to be guys that get a lot of opportunities through exhibitions as well,” Bednar said. “Similar to a guy like (first-round pick defenseman)
Bo Byram, I want to see what they can do, and the only way to see that is to get them on the ice and play them in different situations with different guys and see if they can carve out a spot in our lineup.
“For anyone in this training camp my belief is if they play well enough and they can carve out a spot, then (general manager)
Joe (Sakic) will find a way to make room for them. We have to be in a position where your play does the talking. It can’t be based on future projections because we want to win now.”
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