The Ugly, the Bad and the Good from the past week with the Avalanche

I was all set to write a more optimistic column about the Colorado Avalanche this week until the news of Nikita Zadorov’s injury broke Monday. It seems best to mix things up and get the worst out of the way up front, as there is no denying Zadorov was one of the few bright spots this season. His injury definitely casts some long shadows on what remains of a challenging season.

THE UGLY

1. Can there be an uglier piece of news this past week than promising defenseman Nikita Zadorov breaking his ankle in practice Monday and missing the rest of the season? His improved play helped make the team watchable the past six weeks. Beer orders will likely increase at the Pepsi Center without him as the fans misery index continues to escalate. Vodka, anyone?

2. The inability to waive Jarome Iginla and Francois Beauchemin due to their no move clauses presents some unpleasant realities. The team is limited in the number of players they can call up due to both the limited number of roster openings and the salary cap space these two occupy. Hopefully, the veterans will waive their no move clauses so the Avalanche can trade them to postseason contenders.

Both Iginla and Beauchemin deserve a chance to make another run at the Stanley Cup before they retire and the organization could call up their younger players from the San Antonio Rampage.

Giving the young guys an opportunity offers a chance to evaluate their prospective talent level and hopefully provide some insights on moves for the offseason. It’s better to know the difference between imaginary awesomeness and actual NHL ability. No one but the beer and liquor vendors want another season like this.

THE BAD

1. Colorado currently has nearly $12.8 million in annual salaries out due to injury between Erik Johnson ($6 million), Semyon Varlamov ($5.9 million) and Nikita Zadorov ($894,617). Add another $1,158,333 in buried and retained salary for Eric Gelinas and Cody McLeod respectively, and the $3,600,000 Brad Stuart buyout and that’s $17,552,950 in annual salary that’s not on the ice.

Granted, not all of those players have been out of the Avalanche lineup for the whole season, but it does mean that currently 24% of the team’s salary is not on the ice. One doesn’t need to be a rocket scientist to understand the challenges inherent there.

2. Then consider the salaries of three underperforming veterans – Jarome Iginla ($5,333,333), Francois Beauchemin ($4,500,000) and Carl Soderberg ($4,750,000) – and there’s another $14,583,337 worth of annual salary from which the team should be reaping greater benefit. That’s a total of $32,136,287 in salary this season which is either underperforming or not on the ice.

Injuries are unpredictable. Every team has them. However, the injuries added to underperforming high-end veterans creates a doubly whammy of problems. It also reveals the Avalanche still need to improve in acquiring quality depth. Without putting Varlamov on long-term injured reserve, Colorado is limited in cap space. There’s nothing but bad in those numbers.

3. While the Avalanche rank in the middle of all NHL teams for injury impact to the team, Man-Games Lost ranked Erik Johnson’s injury as third for greatest impact to a team and Semyon Varlamov’s as third among goalies. No other team has two players ranked that high for injury impact to a team. This is a list the Avalanche probably didn’t want to lead.

4. Only four teams average more penalty minutes per game than Colorado, who is averaging 10.77 per tilt. It doesn’t look like the gift baskets are working. Maybe it’s time to switch to flaming piles of pooh? What could go wrong?

THE GOOD

1. The Colorado Avalanche actually earned points in their last two games, including yet another home game, and have now acquired points in two games for the last two weeks. Be still my heart. Might they have actually exhibited some resilience?

2. Stick taps to Matt Duchene who broke his goal drought in dramatic fashion, scoring with less than a minute to go to tie the Tampa Bay Lightning. More, please!

3. The Avalanche don’t look to be recalling a player from the Rampage to fill in for Zadorov. Does this mean Erik Johnson is nearly ready to return? Rumors have it he will be wearing a regular jersey and involved in a full practice today. This could be a silver lining in the cloud cast by Zadorov’s injury.

4. Young forward Mikko Rantanen seems to be finding his groove as he has notched 7 goals and 3 assists in the last 12 games. He now ranks second on the team for goals scored (behind Matt Duchene) and third in total points (behind MacKinnon and Duchene). His emergence as a scoring force for the team offers a lot of hope for the team’s future. And his pairing with Duchene seems to be igniting both skaters. Maybe Coach Bednar knows what he is doing after all.

5. Team Captain Gabriel Landeskog played his 400th NHL game on Valentine’s Day. Congratulations! And at only 24, there looks to be many more records on his horizon.

6. A HUGE shout out to goalie Jeremy Smith who deserved a win for his stellar play in his NHL debut against the New Jersey Devils. He stopped 37 shots in 40 attempts and earned a .925 save percent. He is also the second oldest rookie goaltender to make his franchise debut for the Avalanche/Nordiques at the age of 27.

THOUGHTS TO PONDER

Amidst all the trade talk and musings on how to improve the team, maybe it’s time to consider what people don’t know. No one really knows what is going on in the locker room, aside from the players and management. The Avalanche are notoriously tight-lipped, not necessarily a bad thing if you are a player or a coach, but it means very little is known about what is happening behind closed doors.

From the outside looking in, trading Landeskog, Duchene, MacKinnon, Rantanen, Johnson, Zadorov or Pickard would be a bad move. These players look like they need more substantial supporting players, the long wished for depth. The organization seems to have made inroads, but still has room for development.

Trading pieces that are working despite the dismal season seems unwise. The team isn’t likely to get good value for the quality pieces and there’s no one in the pipeline to replace them. Right now, the best bet looks to be keeping the good value players locked into long term reasonable contracts, extending Zadorov, and calling up the young guys to fill out the roster.

Of course, all this depends on the culture in the locker room. Not being behind closed doors, it’s hard to determine who lifts up the players and who might not. Playing in the NHL is a privilege, even if they are playing on the worst team in the league.

If any of the aforementioned players, or any of the other players for that matter, has forgotten that – jettison them. Trade them. Waive them. It’s hard enough to slog through a tough season without having to fight a cancer in the locker room. It’s a luxury no quality NHL team can afford. And it might be the move to bring a spark to the team and set them up for a better season next year.

WHAT TO WATCH

1. The March 1 trade deadline looms ever closer. Get out your popcorn and a stiff drink or two to ride out the upcoming rumor mill as it begins to become more Days of our Lives and less actual hockey analysis.

2. Will the Avalanche call up a replacement player for the defense or will Erik Johnson be able to suit up in a game this week? Will Coach Bednar continue to gamble with a shortened bench or will he spin the Rampage Roulette wheel once again? Could they visit the waiver wire once again? Tune in – same bat time, same bat channel. BSN will keep you updated.

3. The Avalanche will host the LA Kings tonight and then head to Nashville to take on the Predators Thursday evening before hosting the Buffalo Sabres for a dreaded late night game Saturday. Expect to hear lots more about the O’Reilly trade as some of the media continues to show their bias. You might need more than a beer and some popcorn for that one. Maybe gummi bears? Nachos? Chocolate?