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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly covering the Colorado Avalanche season

April 21, 2016

The Colorado Avalanche provided a roller coaster ride this past season chock full of highs and lows, as outlined in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

THE GOOD

1. The Colorado Avalanche battled their way to remain relevant in post-season discussions until the last two games of the season. They also finished ninth in the conference, their second highest conference placement in the last six years. And for a few games in March, they showed flashes of brilliance.

2. Gabriel Landeskog ranks second for most career NHL points for someone aged 23 or younger having notched 246 tallies, trailing only Carolina Hurricanes wing Jeff Skinner’s 267.

3. Nick Holden set a personal record with 217 hits this season, ranked 20th in the NHL. Fellow Avalanche player Cody McLeod finished 12th in the NHL with 240 hits. If only those were goals instead….

4. Blake Comeau set a personal record of 24 assists, Matt Duchene hit the 30 goal mark for the first time in his career, Carl Soderberg passed the 50 point threshold for the first time in his NHL career, and Landeskog exceeded 50 points for the third consecutive year – second on the team in total points behind Duchene.

5. Matt Duchene and Calvin Pickard were both named to Team Canada for the upcoming World Championships while Semyon Varlamov was selected for Russia and prospect J.T. Compher was added for the United States.

6. The future looks promising for the Avalanche with the rise of some younger players. Mikko Rantanen, Nikita Zadorov, Chris Bigras, and Mikhail Grigorenko appear to fill some holes on the team without costing a fortune. And while not a quick fix, the Ryan O’Reilly trade seems to benefit the long-term future of the team.

7. The Avalanche find themselves in the midst of an interesting dilemma. They have three quality goaltenders in Varlamov, Pickard, and Reto Berra. Having a wealth of options in net offers some interesting opportunities in the off-season and could open up some spicy training camp competition in the fall if they all stay.

8. Recent draft picks bode well for the future depth of the team. Draft pick Mikko Rantanen seemed a great acquisition as he racked up a list of honors in his first year playing in North America: he tied for AHL outstanding rookie, ranked second for AHL rookie point scorers (appearing in 16 fewer contests than the point leader), the second youngest player to make the AHL All Star Classic, named to the AHL All-Rookie team, was the first San Antonio player named to the AHL’s Second All-Star team, and led his Finland squad to win the 2016 IIHF World Junior championship as the team captain.

Defenseman Chris Bigras also highlighted improvement in Colorado’s draft selection as he brought generally good possession play to their defensive structure when he was called up to the Avalanche.

9. Tyson Barrie joined a select group of defenseman who scored 12 goals or more each year for the last three years during the regular season. Others in the group included Shea Weber, Roman Josi, Erik Karlsson, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Brent Burns and Dustin Byfuglien. Note to Barrie – Josi of the Nashville Predators earned 61 points this year on a $4 million salary locked up through 2020 (12 more than Barrie). And none of those guys are a -16 either.

10. The Avalanche management improved player movement overall this past year, moving some personal favorites from the front lines and either relegating those players to lower line service (Jarome Iginla, Brad Stuart), sending them to the AHL (Nate Guenin, Patrick Bordeleau, Marc-Andre Cliché) or trading them outright (Alex Tanguay).

They also picked up some quality free agents in Francois Beauchemin, Carl Soderberg and Blake Comeau as well as making some intriguing late season additions in Mikkel Boedker, Shawn Matthias and Eric Gelinas. Now let’s see if they can sign the two or three players which can put them over the top.

THE BAD

1. The Colorado Avalanche lost eight of their final nine games during the end of season stretch when they still had an opportunity to make the playoffs. What made it worse, the Minnesota Wild seemed to find new and inventive ways to lose games and keep Colorado in the hunt. Unfortunately, the Avalanche could not capitalize on the Wild’s misfortunes. Whether the injuries took their toll or they lost heart near the end, the team seemed incapable of playing quality hockey when it mattered most. Just writing about it again made me sick.

2. Colorado ranked way too high for suspensions, losing players for a combined eight games on three rulings. The Avalanche were one of only four teams to receive three separate player suspensions this season. Who would have guessed team captain Gabriel Landeskog would have been suspended for more games than Brad Marchand? Or that neither a Minnesota Wild nor a Detroit Red Wing would have served a single game suspension?

It makes one wonder if the Department of Player Safety actually watched all the games or just a select few. How the likes of Detroit Red Wing Justin Abdelkader got away with pounding a guy who was down on the ice (see the beat down of Tampa Bay’s Mike Blunden in their April 15 playoff contest) without receiving a suspension boggles the imagination. Bad is too kind. Disgusting is more appropriate.

3. Injuries to Matt Duchene, Nathan MacKinnon and Eric Gelinas while in the crucial stretch of the playoff hunt may very well have been the death knell for the Avalanche playoff aspirations. Colorado scrambled to ice four centers and the injuries highlighted the organization still has work to do developing quality depth.

4. This may explain the problems Colorado had making the playoffs. The Avalanche ranked 24th among all NHL teams in goals allowed with 240, which averaged 2.93 goals per game, and placed 20th in goals scored, which averaged out to 2.59 tallies per contest. Statistically speaking, a team that scores more often than their opponents wins more games. Problem solved – you’re welcome!

5. Continuing on the trend of why the Avalanche missed the playoffs, only two teams allowed more shot attempts per game played – the Ottawa Senators and the Vancouver Canucks. To add to the misery, Colorado ranked 25th out of 30 for average number of shots they took per game. Just let that number sit there and stink.

THE UGLY

1. Veteran defenseman Francois Beauchemin led the NHL in blocked shots with 256, averaging 3.12 blocked shots per game. Erik Johnson finished fifth with 197 blocked and sporting an averge of 2.7 blocked shots per game. No other team has two players ranked in the top ten for blocked shots, let alone the top five. Maybe it’s time for a new defensive strategy. Meaning, something other than let’s watch the Avalanche star players get pummeled by pucks. Wasn’t the Avalanche supposed to be happening on the other end of the ice?

2. Beauchemin led the Avalanche in time on ice with an average of 25:04 minutes per game, ranked 14th in the NHL as a whole. He’s also three years older than the next oldest player in the top 19. Zdeno Chara was the only player older than Beauchemin in the top 20 for ice time (he ranked 20th) but Chara averaged a full minute less per game. The Avalanche benefited greatly from Beauchemin’s expertise and leadership but they need to consider limiting his time on ice, especially if they continue to stay with the pinball strategy masquerading as a defensive scheme.

3. Could someone please explain the line combinations on the ice late in crucial games? Why was the John Mitchell line playing in the last four minutes of games when they needed to score? What was with Bodnarchuck or Zach Redmond defending in the final two minutes of close games? At key moments near the end of the season, when the outcome of the game was on the line, did the Avalanche have their best players on the ice? It didn’t look like it. Hopefully those decisions will be reviewed in the off-season because that was an ugly way to lose.

ODD SOCKS – Some things where an explanation would be greatly appreciated.

1. Why did the Avalanche sign Andrew Bodnarchuk and waive center Chris Wagner, who has since returned to the Anaheim Ducks, where he is playing in the postseason and recently signed a two year extension?

2. Colorado brought up Rantanen to play three games at center for the fourth line after the Duchene and MacKinnon injuries. The team had a need at center yet Rantanen had spent most of his time in San Antonio playing right wing. The Avalanche also needed scoring, which Rantanen proved exceptional at in the AHL. The lingering concern revolves around whether placing him as a right wing on one of the top two lines to help with scoring would have been a better use of his talents than calling him up to be a placeholder at the center position on the fourth line.

QUESTIONS – Or, “As the Skates Burn”

1. Will the Avalanche find a good forward who can help improve scoring? And will he be a center or a wing?

2. Will Colorado be able to re-sign Tyson Barrie for a reasonable rate? And what will happen with Nathan MacKinnon’s contract?

3. Will the Avalanche make a key trade to increase offensive production and/or shore up defensive possession?

4. Who will be the team’s primary goaltender and who will win the backup position for next year?

5. Which current AHL players with expiring contracts will be re-signed? Might they be able to trade a couple San Antonio players for late round picks? Is that even a good idea? And who will have their baby?

6. How will the Avalanche fare in the draft lottery and will their first selection be in the top 10?

7. How will the potential NHL expansion impact the Avalanche in their offseason pursuits such as potential trades, the draft, and free agent signings?

8. Please, for the love of great Landy’s beard, will the team pursue a defensive strategy more suited to the skill sets of their players? Hopefully, maybe, something more effective than the past three seasons? Please? Pretty please? With sugar on top? Would starting a petition help? One can’t help but wonder if Patrick Roy would have tolerated this structure when he was a goalie.

9. Will the team sign unrestricted free agents Mikkel Boedker and Shawn Matthias? Do those two even want to play in Colorado next year? Or are they hoping for a guest shot on ‘Game of Thrones’?

10. How well will Nathan MacKinnon and Eric Gelinas recover from their late season injuries and will they be 100% by the time training camp rolls around? And what is the actual status of Brad Stuart? Is there anyway to soften the blow of his salary so the Avalanche can upgrade a couple of positions?