Colorado's fourth line continues to be the talk of Avalanche camp

Ahhh, yes, the time for another Tyson Jost conversation.

This seemed inevitable when Jost opened Avalanche training camp as the 13th forward and hasn’t really moved up in the lineup in the week since the team first hit the ice. He’s moved around some but has consistently hung around on what you’d consider the “fifth” line, or the top healthy scratches at forward when using the traditional 12-forward lineup.

Following today’s scrimmage, Jost had his first opportunity to speak to the media and didn’t hide from the reality of his situation.

“I’m approaching it as I always do,” Jost said. “Anytime I go on the ice I’m going to work as hard as I can and bring my A-game. That’s something that I’ve always done since I became pro since I was in bantam hockey as a little kid. I go out there every day and I compete, that’s what I want to do. Obviously I want to be in the lineup, I want to be out there with the guys, helping them win hockey games and win a Stanley Cup but I think it speaks to our depth. I’m just going out there every single practice, going to work hard and play the game. I know that I’m a skilled forward, I know that I have the jam or whatever to play in the lineup but at the end of the day I want to win hockey games, I do want to be in the lineup but whatever happens, happens. I’m just going to go out there and work as hard as I can every time.”

The acquisition of Vlad Namestnikov at the trade deadline helped shore up a forward corps that couldn’t seem to stem the tide of injuries but once the ongoing pandemic shutdown all sports, it allowed those injured players to get back to good health.

That increased depth led to Jost’s newfound position as the odd-man-out as Colorado’s fourth line of Matt Calvert, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Matt Nieto is widely viewed among the league’s best.

“I think they all have very similar styles of play,” Jost said of that line. “They’re really hard-working and they do have some skill too but they’re so good at shutting down other lines too. They suffocate other lines and they give them nothing and they end up in the offensive zone just buzzing around. All three of those guys seem to click, it’s fun to watch them just because they work so hard and when they get the puck down low in the offensive zone their cycle game is so good and their reloads are awesome, it just never gives the other team a sniff. It’s fun to watch those guys, they work hard, all the success they have is very warranted. They’re a fun line, their great guys too, they just smother teams and smother other lines. It’s huge for our team to have a line like that.”

From a firsthand view, Bellemare credits the fourth line’s ability to change games on the clear-cut system they’re being asked to play that frees them up to attack opponents.

“The only way we are allowed to be that competitive is because we are in a pretty clear system,” Bellemare said. “With each other, we understand the way each other plays. We try to get one step ahead of the game by understanding the other guys’ play, and it’s really simple when all three guys think the same way. Two guys that I’m playing with now, Calvy and Nietsy, they are some of the most skilled guys I’ve played with on the fourth line. That’s also changed the game for me this year. There’s not a shift where those guys are gonna be satisfied to just play a checking shift, they’re gonna want to create, to produce, try to create momentum so that’s maybe one of the biggest difference with some of the lines I’ve played before, we’ve been known to be just a solid checking line against the top line and be physical and everything. With Nietsy and Calvy we are creating more offense than people are expecting from us just because there is a little bit more skill with those two guys for sure.”

All of that is great…for the Avs. Not for Jost, who still finds himself trying to transition into a role where he can find more success in the bottom-six. He’s worked on both power play and penalty kill units this camp and did so again during today’s scrimmage, where he was on a line with Vlad Kamenev and Andre Burakovsky.

That transition, in Jost’s eyes, is really no transition at all.

“It’s not really a transition at all honestly,” Jost said. “That’s what I’ve been doing my whole junior hockey career and in college too I was always kind of that two-way forward. I played a ton of PK, I love it honestly. When I got the chance to play PK at the end of the year there I was so excited. I did a really good job and I was happy with myself and how I performed on the PK, I know that’s what I’m capable of so it’s fun to play on the PK, it’s fun to shutdown other team’s top powerplays. I was pumped when I got the opportunity and I thought I made the most of it. It’s fun to be out there, it’s fun to stop other teams. It wasn’t really a transition just because I was used to it, it’s kind of just a little kick down the road to college and Penticton and that’s something that I’ve done for a long time.”

No doubt there will be injuries along the way and Jost will find his way into a game. The question, as it has always been, remains the same:

How will he respond?

News and Notes

• Team Burgundy won today’s scrimmage 3-2 in a shootout with Mikko Rantanen the only shooter out of the six to actually score. You can watch the entire thing below.
• Three of the four goals scored during regulation were of the special teams variety as Calvert and Namestnikov scored short-handed goals while Nazem Kadri scored a power-play goal with a five-on-three advantage. Kevin Connauton had the only goal at even strength.
• Conor Timmins once again looked very good out there. If I was only considering this week’s play to set my depth chart, Timmins would be playing when the Avs opened their round-robin games. He’s looked as NHL-ready as you can.
• Bowen Byram, however, has looked more raw and a little further away but today was easily his best day for me. He was very aggressive offensively and looked great with the puck outside of one questionable turnover. Defensively he continued to struggle and Nathan MacKinnon almost gave him the full-blown traffic cone treatment but couldn’t get the shot off.
• On the other side, Anton Lindholm got walked on the outside multiple times, one including on the penalty kill where I was baffled how he let a player get that wide on him and beat him to the spot in front of the goaltender with the puck. Just a terrible read and porous defense.
• Namestnikov was arguably the best player of the scrimmage as he was at times dominant but consistently a threat throughout. He was flat-out flying out there.
• Shane Bowers and Cale Makar were once again not part of the on-ice action today but Bowers was seen riding one of the stationary bikes behind the glass. Because no coach presser today, there was not an option to ask about injury statuses. Of course, given the chance, all Bednar would have been allowed to say was both players were deemed “unfit to practice”
• Practice resumes tomorrow but Tuesday is now a scheduled day-off.

https://twitter.com/AJHaefele/status/1284908256549191681?s=20

https://twitter.com/AJHaefele/status/1284907101152673792?s=20

https://twitter.com/AJHaefele/status/1284904867383762945?s=20

Post-Practice Interviews

Tyson Jost

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare