Avalanche 2013/2014
Posted 4:14 AM ET | Comments 4
With the rookie camp looming and Patrick Roy having all but announced his starting line up, it's time to take a look at things Colorado may be looking into doing.
With a major glut at the Center position, we have Ryan O'Reilly moved to the wing, of which I am not necessarily a fan of this move, however it may be for a reason. Paul Stastny being kept as the 2nd line Center as his usual post now that Duchene has solidly taken over top line duties, and Mackinnon taking 3rd line duty (for how long one has to wonder). I have this gut feeling that O'Reilly will be the odd man out come trade deadline.
Why you ask? Because he's not a team player. Holding out last season showed the Management Brass what he's all about, and that isn't the team, it's money. I would put good odds on Stastny getting an extension at a discount after being horrifically overpaid in his last contract cutting back to around a 4.5mil/season 5 year deal and sending O'Reilly packing and possibly a pick (1st rounder?) and another asset in seeking top pairing blue line help as soon as that 1 year anniversary comes up of the contract signing - post offer sheet.
Why again? Colorado wants a winning culture and a team culture. O'Reilly has proven he's not about that. What else? Did anyone watch the presser where Kroenke and Sakic introduced Roy? Who was there? Landeskog, Giguere and Stastny were. Stastny is a team player. Management will notice little things like that and if he is willing to take a fair pay cut, that makes Ryan O'verpaid expendable. Eventually, Mackinnon will take over the 2nd line C and possibly the 1st line someday. To think about Duchene and Mackinnon as your top 1C and 2C and young ones at that, Colorado is deep down the middle at Center. Best to fill the most glaring need by moving an overpaid asset who has gobs of value.
Next up, how do those lines look?
L1
O'Reilly - Duchene - Parenteau
L2
Tanguay? Landeskog? McGinn? - Stastny - Downie?
L3
Tanguay? Landeskog? McGinn? - Mackinnon - Downie?
L4
McLeod? Bordeleau - John Mitchell - Colorado has run out of Left Wingers...
Colorado has a LOT of Centers in the Roster:
O'Reilly, Stastny, Duchene, Mackinnon, Malone, Olver... as listed on roster. That's a few too many.
and on "Defense" we have:
D1
Eric Johnson - Jan Hejda
D2
Ryan Wilson - Andre Benoit
D3
Stefan Elliot - Cory Sarich
Press Box Cheerleader
Matt Hunwick
Goaltending:
Jiggy/Varlacantstopanythingotherthaninshootouts
With Allaire in the fold, I could see Varlabrainfart starting for awhile, but Giguere will have a resurgence potentially making Varlanothersoftgoalgetsin trade bait or backup material pending how he takes to Allaire's coaching style.
The Offense is 'sort of' there. The Defense? Elliot has size and speed, if EJ can get himself put back together again and playing well, Hejda has always been pretty decent, Wilson has shown flashes of 2nd pairing. Sarich and Benoit are big questions. One can only hope Bigras has a monster camp or Duncan Siemens. Or the mention above of trading the expendable Center for something to get some help on D. There is also a massive lack of Left Wingers on the Roster. Hopefully Roy and Sakic get that figured out.
Then we also have to look at Roy bringing in a new system, and how quickly players adjust to that. If Colorado can move a few pieces around to get some better defense and Roy's system takes, I could see Colorado getting within a stones throw of the playoffs, but this project and cleaning up after Sacco's mess will take some time. A year or two away from thinking about playoffs in my opinion. The upside however is, between Mackinnon and Duchene and Landeskog, there will be plenty of highlight reel moments to watch, and even better yet, Roy's post game press conferences.
The future looks pretty bright in Colorado, as soon as they fix the Defense, get a few more Left Wingers, and figure out the Goaltending Situation. There's plenty of talent and Roy has never had a losing season in his coaching career to date. Let's all hope he rights the ship sooner than later.
Hugs and Kisses,
Mister C.
With a major glut at the Center position, we have Ryan O'Reilly moved to the wing, of which I am not necessarily a fan of this move, however it may be for a reason. Paul Stastny being kept as the 2nd line Center as his usual post now that Duchene has solidly taken over top line duties, and Mackinnon taking 3rd line duty (for how long one has to wonder). I have this gut feeling that O'Reilly will be the odd man out come trade deadline.
Why you ask? Because he's not a team player. Holding out last season showed the Management Brass what he's all about, and that isn't the team, it's money. I would put good odds on Stastny getting an extension at a discount after being horrifically overpaid in his last contract cutting back to around a 4.5mil/season 5 year deal and sending O'Reilly packing and possibly a pick (1st rounder?) and another asset in seeking top pairing blue line help as soon as that 1 year anniversary comes up of the contract signing - post offer sheet.
Why again? Colorado wants a winning culture and a team culture. O'Reilly has proven he's not about that. What else? Did anyone watch the presser where Kroenke and Sakic introduced Roy? Who was there? Landeskog, Giguere and Stastny were. Stastny is a team player. Management will notice little things like that and if he is willing to take a fair pay cut, that makes Ryan O'verpaid expendable. Eventually, Mackinnon will take over the 2nd line C and possibly the 1st line someday. To think about Duchene and Mackinnon as your top 1C and 2C and young ones at that, Colorado is deep down the middle at Center. Best to fill the most glaring need by moving an overpaid asset who has gobs of value.
Next up, how do those lines look?
L1
O'Reilly - Duchene - Parenteau
L2
Tanguay? Landeskog? McGinn? - Stastny - Downie?
L3
Tanguay? Landeskog? McGinn? - Mackinnon - Downie?
L4
McLeod? Bordeleau - John Mitchell - Colorado has run out of Left Wingers...
Colorado has a LOT of Centers in the Roster:
O'Reilly, Stastny, Duchene, Mackinnon, Malone, Olver... as listed on roster. That's a few too many.
and on "Defense" we have:
D1
Eric Johnson - Jan Hejda
D2
Ryan Wilson - Andre Benoit
D3
Stefan Elliot - Cory Sarich
Press Box Cheerleader
Matt Hunwick
Goaltending:
Jiggy/Varlacantstopanythingotherthaninshootouts
With Allaire in the fold, I could see Varlabrainfart starting for awhile, but Giguere will have a resurgence potentially making Varlanothersoftgoalgetsin trade bait or backup material pending how he takes to Allaire's coaching style.
The Offense is 'sort of' there. The Defense? Elliot has size and speed, if EJ can get himself put back together again and playing well, Hejda has always been pretty decent, Wilson has shown flashes of 2nd pairing. Sarich and Benoit are big questions. One can only hope Bigras has a monster camp or Duncan Siemens. Or the mention above of trading the expendable Center for something to get some help on D. There is also a massive lack of Left Wingers on the Roster. Hopefully Roy and Sakic get that figured out.
Then we also have to look at Roy bringing in a new system, and how quickly players adjust to that. If Colorado can move a few pieces around to get some better defense and Roy's system takes, I could see Colorado getting within a stones throw of the playoffs, but this project and cleaning up after Sacco's mess will take some time. A year or two away from thinking about playoffs in my opinion. The upside however is, between Mackinnon and Duchene and Landeskog, there will be plenty of highlight reel moments to watch, and even better yet, Roy's post game press conferences.
The future looks pretty bright in Colorado, as soon as they fix the Defense, get a few more Left Wingers, and figure out the Goaltending Situation. There's plenty of talent and Roy has never had a losing season in his coaching career to date. Let's all hope he rights the ship sooner than later.
Hugs and Kisses,
Mister C.
landeskog should fill top line left wing, but I agree oreilly would fit in a lot better at 3c with mackinnon and mcginn. good options upfront. trading oreilly and 1st for a top pairing d would be smart, just awful back there. I can also see Tyson barrie make his way into the lineup.
Not sure why everyone is so down on the D.. we made the playoffs not that long ago.. and the team is better up front, on D, and everywhere else you can think of compared to that mess.
when you compare your D, without bias, to the rest of the league or division it looks bad
Am I the only one that thinks that Varly is actually a really good goalie who has been victim to a really bad defensive system?