This season

There are two tales of Tyson Jost in the 2018-2019 NHL season. The pre and post Colorado Eagles Jost, a period between January 18 and February 9 in which Jost took his demotion in stride.

In his time with the Colorado Eagles Jost saw eight games tallying five points (4g, 1a), enough to get Jost his mojo back and the confidence in his game. Injuries to Avalanche players brought Jost back to their lineup.

It’s not that the statistics are different for Jost from the beginning and end of the season but the way he played and carried himself was. He had a confidence on the ice that he had lost before his stint with the Eagles.

Jost found chemistry with different players throughout the season, notably at times with Gabe Landeskog and J.T. Compher, which would prove fruitful in the postseason. However, Jost was still inconsistent with his play and his production.

Jost played in five more games in his second season with the Avalanche then his rookie season, in that time he produced four more points. In his second season Jost had 26 points (11g, 15a), an improvement from his rookie season when Jost had 22 points (12g, 10a).

Jost stepped his game up in the playoffs; in 12 games he scored four points (3g, 1a). All four points came Games 5-7 of the San Jose series.

Next season

With the different look of the Colorado Avalanche this season  it seems Jost will be on the second line as a winger. Jost is likely to start the preseason with Nazem Kadri on the second line.

This season is absolutely vital for Jost. He needs to keep his confidence up and prove the faith the organization continues to have in him is not misguided. They continue believing Jost will take the next step and they’re going to find out to what extent Jost has grown as an NHL player this year.

Is he the 20-point forward stuck in the bottom six that we’ve seen the last two years or does he take a meaningful leap in production and prove himself the secondary contributor the Avs continue to believe he his? How he answers that question will play a huge role in both how his future is evaluated and how the Avalanche progress in the standings.

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