Colorado Avalanche quarter-season awards

While the Colorado Avalanche have technically nudged past the quarter mark of their season with 22 games played, it’s still close enough that I can hand out some awards for the Avs players. Using the actual postseason trophies as a guide and adding a few others just for fun, let’s dig into the team and see who has been driving the few positives this struggling Avalanche squad has seen so far this year.

Hart Memorial Trophy (Most Valuable Player)

Nathan MacKinnon
Runner-up: Matt Duchene

In my eyes, this is a runaway. MacKinnon has been Colorado’s most prolific scoring forward from day one and while his linemates have juggled a bit because of underachievement or suspension his production and knack for tilting the ice in his direction make him the clear-cut choice. His 23 points (10 g/23 a) in 22 games leads Colorado. While plus/minus isn’t an overly useful statistic, outliers tend to be interesting and MacKinnon’s +7 on a team of mostly negatives definitely stands out. Nothing better exemplified his potential for dominance quite like his two goals in 13 seconds in Montreal.

James Norris Memorial Trophy (Best Defenseman)

Erik Johnson
Runner-up: Francois Beauchemin

This was a much tougher decision than I expected when I sat down to start doling out awards. While Beauchemin’s offensive production has been a pleasant surprise, Johnson’s eight points are decent but Johnson’s defense and ability to change games on the rush with the puck, stands out.

With Tyson Barrie‘s roller coaster of a season so far, Johnson has taken it upon himself to occasionally act like a forward with his defense-to-offense rushes where he dumps the puck in and forechecks ahead of the pack. Combine his increased offensive aggression with a solid defensive effort while regularly matched up against top competition and you have the makings for the Norris winner.

Vezina Trophy (Best Goaltender)

Reto Berra

No runner-up for this category because Calvin Pickard only played 47 minutes in relief and Semyon Varlamov has been nothing short of a disaster early on so Reto Berra wins this going away. While his recent performance indicates he didn’t suddenly morph into Dominik Hasek over the summer, Berra has still been Colorado’s far-and-away best goaltender up to this point. His play early in the recently completed seven game road trip was a major factor in them walking away with as many wins as the Avalanche did.

Calder Memorial Trophy (Best Rookie)

Brandon Gormley
Runner-up: Andreas Martinsen

I might be cheating here a little bit and picking Gormley, who had 32 NHL games on his resume coming into this season, but this is my list and I get to make up the rules as I go. While he’s somehow still without a point and only has produced seven shots on goal in 14 games, Gormley’s defense on the third pair has been a minor revelation.

His play has allowed the team to consistently move away from Brad Stuart and Nate Guenin and he’s actually Colorado’s strongest fancy stats defender (discounting Zach Redmond, who only has four games played so far). The offense definitely needs to come around and he still makes some ugly plays from time to time but Gormley has absolutely been a bright spot for the Avalanche blue line so far this season thanks to ability to make strong outlet passes and his strong skating ability.

Franke J. Selke Trophy (Best Defensive Forward)

Mikhail Grigorenko

Of all the things Avalanche followers heard when Grigorenko came over from Buffalo, his strong defensive play was rarely, if ever, mentioned. Starting slowly as a healthy scratch and then getting time on the fourth line, Grigorenko’s offense was a work in progress but his defensive effort consistently stood out. Given more responsibility and time on ice as he’s now moved up as the second/third line center, Grigorenko’s excellent defensive work has continued. He’s even earned an increasingly important role as a member of the penalty kill.

Jack Adams Award (Best Coach)

Patrick Roy

Who to pick of this much-maligned coaching staff? Tim Army’s power play unit is 12th in the NHL but tends to be a boom-or-bust group where the Avs either score or don’t put any pressure on the opposing team. Dave Farrish‘s penalty kill unit has sunk to 22nd in the NHL and his defensive system has been blasted by everyone with a keyboard and an opinion since the season began but under Farrish’s watch the Avs actual shots on goal against per game have dropped from 33.2 last season to 30.0 this season. Obviously that doesn’t factor in blocked shots or missed attempts but the Avalanche goalies have had to stop fewer shots this year than last. So why Patrick Roy?

In the face of increased criticism, he’s been open to adapting things that haven’t worked and despite a terrible start to the season, his team is widely recognized to have played significantly better in November than October. If he gets so much of the blame for Colorado’s October performance, it’s only fair to give him credit for the team’s improved performance as well. His decision to put Gabriel Landeskog on a line with MacKinnon and Duchene has transformed Colorado’s top unit into a near-unstoppable monster.

Another number in Roy’s favor: 18, the number of combined games played for Patrick Bordeleau, Marc-Andre Cliche, Nate Guenin, and Brad Stuart this season. Fans were clamoring for the Avs to move on to better solutions at those spots and the results clearly show Roy is doing exactly that. Cliche and Bordeleau are in the AHL, Stuart suffered a mysterious injury and has not been seen around the rink in a while and Nate Guenin has been a healthy scratch 10 times.

Biggest Surprise

Nick Holden‘s return to relevance
Runners-up: MacKinnon’s evolution to the hockey equivalent of Galactus, Berra’s play, the healthy fourth line’s positive contributions

Lots to pick from for this group, especially for a team mired in the standings black hole that Colorado currently inhabits but I’m going with Holden’s phoenix-esque rise from his own ashes. Left for dead by many after last year’s awful performance, Holden has shown himself to be quite a capable NHL defender and in the first year of his contract extension is showing he’s quite the monetary value as well. His WOWYs ( the “with or without you” metric) from last season suggested he was heavily held back by being consistently paired with Brad Stuart.

Freed from that dungeon of nightmares and given the opportunity to play alongside Tyson Barrie, Holden has looked downright great on some nights but has mostly looked simply solid.  He’s not suddenly an all-star and is still a bit overextended in his current role but he’s proven to be the quality, reliable player the Avalanche thought they were signing in 2014 when they signed him to his extension.

Biggest Disappointment

Semyon Varlamov
Runner-up: Nikita Zadorov‘s AHL demotion

The slam dunk winner of this category, Varlamov’s .890 save percentage and 3.22 goals-against-average are a big reason why the Avalanche are so low in the standings. Had his performance been anything close to the previous two years, the Avalanche would be right in the thick of the playoff field right now and all of the trade rumors and coach-firing talk wouldn’t even exist. Colorado’s number one goaltender has let them down in a big, big way. The argument that the defense has to play better is certainly valid but Varlamov’s goals against this season have included far too many soft goals that NHL goaltenders should never give up and he’s been nothing short of terrible.

Breakout Player

Mikhail Grigorenko

When the Avalanche traded Ryan O’Reilly to Buffalo, the return was widely viewed as Nikita Zadorov and stuff. Grigorenko was a man left for dead by many and a player who appeared to be “ruined” by Buffalo’s ludicrous indecision regarding where he should be playing. Re-united with junior coach Patrick Roy and given a slow start and opportunity to earn his way up the lineup, Grigorenko has simply continued to succeed at every turn.

Playing alongside MacKinnon and Duchene during Landeskog’s suspension, Grigorenko responded with a three point performance. Dropped back down to the second/third line, he has produced three points in his last four games. Since he began averaging double-digit minutes per game, Grigorenko has scored six points in 11 games. That’s the kind of complementary production you look for and from a player so young, you can’t help but be encouraged that great things are on the horizon for Grigorenko in Denver.