The PK aspect of this looms large in my mind, especially come playoff time. There is only so much utility for bottom six wingers who don’t kill penalties, especially ones who don’t score. If Ivan and Kovalenko aren’t getting reps on the kill now, it seems very unlikely that they will once the roster is more whole (please let it get more whole.) Ostensibly the Avs have enough defensively capable guys to run out there shorthanded: Val, Lehky, LOC, and Kivi. Kelly or Ross, in a pinch. Could Kovalenko or Ivan be more effective than any of those guys? Debatable, I would say. None of them are natural faceoff takers. The Avs don’t have many of those guys in general. I think Wagner leads the team in faceoff %, but I would bet that the majority of those wins are coming against depth centers from the other teams, not their PP1 guy. Next is Mikko, who should probably never touch the ice 4v5.

I don’t see anywhere that has this stat, but anecdotally it feels like the Avs are pretty good at defending zone entries while shorthanded. Less effective when defending in zone against a set up PP unit. Seems to me like having a solid faceoff guy in your bottom six would allow the team to lean into their strengths and away from their weaknesses, in that regard. Where can they find such a player? One that fits the cap sheet and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg? I’ve no idea.

I don’t mean to naysay the promise shown by Kovalenko, Ivan, and Prishchepov. It’s encouraging, especially given the context of the Avs track record in development. Getting serviceable players is a boon. I just wonder how much any of them can elevate the Avs’ potential in the short term.