The Top 25 Avalanche Under 25 Series gives everyone a look at the brightest stars of the present and the future of the Avalanche organization. If you missed any of the profiles, here is where you catch up on them.
Click on any name to go to the complete breakdown of that player!
Enjoy!
#1 Nathan MacKinnon
#2 Matt Duchene
#3 Gabriel Landeskog
#4 Ryan O’Reilly
#5 Tyson Barrie
#6 Chris Bigras
#7 Calvin Pickard
#8 Joey Hishon
#9 Stefan Elliott
#10 Dennis Everberg
#11 Duncan Siemens
#12 Conner Bleackley
#13 Freddie Hamilton
#14 Andrew Agozzino
#15 Mason Geertsen
#16 Jordan Caron
#17 Spencer Martin
#18 Borna Rendulic
#19 Kyle Wood
#20 Colin Smith
#21 Mat Clark
#22 Will Butcher
#23 Cody Corbett
#24 Samuel Henley
#25 Troy Bourke
3 Comments (1 conversation)
phawksmulder
Jordan Caron #16? Come on. He’s completely ineffective. Even if you are giving him the bump cause he’s playing in the pros, you should have Rendulic above him. He could at least keep up with the pace of the game and contribute in some fashion. I’d be willing to bet most of the minor league forwards on the list could step up and contribute above the level Caron did. It wouldn’t take much.
Caron did get a bump because he was playing in the pros. Rendulic is completely unproven with just 37 games on North American ice. The majority of the players below Caron face significant uphill battles to even appear in the NHL, let alone prove they belong there.
While his showing in Colorado left…….a whole lot to be desired…..there’s still value in someone that can come in and chew up 4th line minutes without actively hurting your team. I would rather have Caron as a healthy scratch/13th forward and allow the players below him on the list develop properly than forcing one of them into that role. There’s value in that RIGHT NOW and while a year from now I expect Caron not to be on this list, this year’s list is about their value right now.
phawksmulder
I agree with most of what you are saying, just not so much with Caron. I’m somewhat even hesitant to have him eating minutes on the 4th, which is really where my criticism stems from. He plays without passion and doesn’t bring anything to the game. He’s shown over his career so far that that is pretty much what can be expected of him too. A trade and some time under an intense coach like Roy didn’t seem to even stir the leaves for this guy. We got the same story that had Boston willing to dump him. I don’t know him personally by any means but, that on-ice attitude really doesn’t seem like it will translate into the kind of work ethic that brings these type of players around. If that demeanor is the overall demeanor he approaches the game with, it’s no wonder he hasn’t seemed to improve over his career. Unless he makes a severe and immediate change I can’t see him becoming anything but a bust (some consider him that already I guess).
With Rendulic, admittedly its a small window. For him though, he showed more passion and ability to fit into the league to me in that small window than I’ve seen or heard of Caron throughout. Rendulic came in and actually seemed to help the Duchene line out of the mud it had been stuck in. Nothing mind blowing but, at least he looked like he had the right attitude for the game and could easily keep up with a high-paced line. I just have a really hard time not giving Rendulic the nudge. To me Caron’s stagnancy and his displayed attitude really limit his potential to be much more than he is right now. Rendulic looks like he can play but, also, fill more roles than just a minutes eater.
Not much for this discussion but, in regards to Rendulic, I was actually very impressed with his skating compared to what I’d been told. He seemed much more mobile than given credit for.