Colorado Avalanche Mailbag: Grigorenko over Rendulic, Varlamov's puck play, and more

Welcome readers to our latest weekly instalment of Avs Mailbag! Casey here taking your questions, and as usual we had some great ones. If you’ve got burning questions for the BSN Avs staff, you can tweet at @BSNAvalanche with #AvsMailbag or email questions to BSNAvalanche@gmail.com. Our compete level is super and we promise to answer with a high level of Tries Real Hard/60.

How much of an effect does Semyon Varlamov not playing the puck have on the defense being able to get the puck out of the zone? I usually don’t notice [how little he does it] too much until we play Pickard or Berra. – @Judeman5000

If you’re an NHL team relying on your goaltender to move the puck out of the defensive zone, you have bigger problems than your goaltender not playing the puck.

For a less sarcastic answer, yes I do think Varlamov plays the puck less than your average NHL goalie and the so-called “Varly cover” is a move that certainly frustrates fans from time to time. However, goaltenders such as the San Jose Sharks’ Alex Stalock who are known to play the puck often come with their own set of risks. One of the reasons you’ll see few goaltenders move the puck as actively as Stalock is because one wrong move can sabotage the breakout and get the play heading right back in your direction.

If you’re curious about a goaltender’s mentality on playing the puck, this InGoal Magazine interview with Carey Price is illuminating and talks about some of the preparations a goalie must make if they’re going to adopt frequent puckhandling into their style.

Not playing the puck terribly often seems to be the style of play Varlamov is most comfortable with and it would be a detriment to the team as a whole to disrupt his style for the sake of forcibly establishing a role for him in the breakout. The team should be able to do it without him. Plenty of other teams do.

Should we be worried that Roy will break up the 92/29/40 line in order to resuscitate Duchene’s line’s offense? – @jqander

Alex Tanguay had some incredibly rough moments during the Avs’ last game and as per the team’s practice blog, it looks like Jack Skille is getting his shot with Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon. Interestingly enough, it was Dennis Everberg who was slotted in with Duchene and Iginla.

Given that Tanguay was struggling recently on that line, it doesn’t worry me, no. I am unsure Skille is the answer but damn if I’m not pulling for him and hoping he’s somehow successful. BSN’s AJ Haefele caught up with Skille about his promotion, and while it’s a bit of a surprising experiment, it’s impossible to cheer against the guy.

As far as that line being broken up to resuscitate Duchene’s line, it looks like Roy has other ideas.

Have there been any noticeable differences in the defensive system Farrish runs vs what Tourigny ran? – @tigervixxxen

This is an awesome question, but given how early we are into the season and that I personally can’t attend practices, I don’t have a huge amount of data to work with.

But you know what this means! I’ll be passing this hot potato of a question off to the whole team for a Roundtable discussion, maybe after another week or two of games. Even though we’re nearing the end of October, the Avs have only played seven games and that doesn’t give me a whole pile of footage to work with. I’m sure our staff who attend practices have noticed the differences, though.

Stay tuned!

Who would you rather see in the lineup: Mikhail Grigorenko or Borna Rendulić? – @ColoradoZebo

While there are some aspects of his game that need a lot of polish, I love what Rendulić can potentially bring to the lineup. That being said, I also think he’s fine in San Antonio right now. Why? Because the Avalanche know all the same things I do. Rendulić is a known quantity and has spent more time in the Avs’ system than Grigorenko has.

I can’t make any definitive judgements about Grigorenko’s play until he gets some more minutes under his belt. So for that reason alone I’m happy with him remaining on the fourth line, now with Cody McLeod and John Mitchell.

Often times when it comes to recalling prospects, teams seem to stick with a “better the devil you know” mindset but I much prefer the option of taking Grigs out for a spin and seeing how he fares. Once the team has a firm grasp on where he stands, it’s a question to revisit. Ditto for my eyeballs.

As always, our thanks to those of you who submitted questions! Keep ’em coming! The next couple weeks will be much more active for the team, which will hopefully give us all sorts of discussion fodder.