Denver Post sports writer Corey Masisak opens up the Avs Mailbag periodically throughout the season. Pose an Avalanche- or NHL-related question for the Avs Mailbag.
At this point, what do you see as the priorities for the front office going into the trade deadline? Safe to say 2C/forward is priority No. 1?
— @MileHighlyCertain
Outside of 2C position, where do you see this team trying to add at or before the deadline?
— Nathan, Lamar
The first priority is likely to see what this team looks like once Samuel Girard and Artturi Lehkonen return to the lineup. A healthy Girard, not to mention a continuation of the positive early returns on Sam Malinski and Caleb Jones, could make the Avs feel really good about this defense corps and not just the top half of it.
A healthy Lehkonen could be the key to finding some balance up front. Getting him and either Valeri Nichushkin or Mikko Rantanen together with Ryan Johansen could fix what ails the club’s second-line problems.
Johansen, Lehkonen and Nichushkin have played only 38:30 together at 5-on-5, per Natural Stat Trick, but the underlying numbers were very strong. If that line worked, then coach Jared Bednar could keep Nathan MacKinnon and Rantanen together with someone else (right now, it’d likely be Jonathan Drouin). Toss in what has been a successful third line of Ross Colton between Miles Wood and Logan O’Connor, and the Avs could be in business.
Now, if Lehkonen coming back doesn’t solve the second-line issue, then adding someone who can would be the next priority. Given Johansen’s diminished ice time, finding someone else to be the No. 2 center seems like a relatively obvious move.
That said, the financial complications, not to mention what could be a relatively light trade market for guys who would clearly be the No. 2C in Colorado, could complicate things. If Calgary’s Elias Lindholm is the top center available, will the Avs even be able to both make his salary fit and outbid what could be several other suitors?
Colorado can get to a little more than $3 million in space once Lehkonen is back, but that could also mean going back to carrying only 20 or 21 players, at least until the playoffs start. To make a play for someone who costs more than that, there’s going to have to significant money going out in the trade.
Will a rebuilding team be willing to take Johansen back, given he’s got another year left? How would Avs players, many of whom have made it clear they love what Johansen has brought to the team off the ice, react to that?
Colorado also has a pretty shallow prospects pool and is already missing two of its top three draft picks in 2024. This should absolutely be a push-the-chips-in type of season, but it’s going to be tricky for general manager Chris MacFarland even if he is motivated to make a big move.
As for where the Avs could look for additions beyond a No. 2 center, any type of top-nine forward might help alleviate some of the depth concerns. Maybe it’s someone who could be a little better in the No. 3 center slot, which would allow the Avs to move Ross Colton to the wing. Or it could just be another wing who just simply makes the lineup deeper.
Before the season, an obvious need was a depth defenseman. Jones and especially Malinski might have alleviated some of those concerns already, but if the Avs decide to not make a big move for a forward, a more subtle play for a veteran on the blue line could also be helpful if this team is going to play into May or even June.
What are your thoughts on Devon Toews’ comments after the Blackhawks game, and what do you think the team needs to focus on moving forward in regards to consistent play?
— @witchtutor1
Toews’ critique of his teammates is one of the most fascinating postgame interviews I’ve seen from an NHL player. Obviously he was frustrated, and maybe there were some of heat-of-the-moment word choices that he’d soften if given a do-over, but Toews didn’t back away from the criticism two days later, and his coach agreed with him.
Beyond how harsh the comments were, they were also very (and maybe intentionally) vague. There were also different segments of it where you could interpret one section to be potentially referencing Player X or Y, but then other parts could be talking about someone else.
I think Toews’ main point that he wanted to make was about players straying from the team’s structure. Structure and system are two of the most-used words in hockey lingo, and they too are actually pretty vague. “We’re not playing the system correctly” can mean several different things.
It could mean a forward not being in the right place to receive an outlet pass from a defenseman who is under duress. It could mean not managing the puck correctly in the neutral zone or the offensive zone, which in turn leaves a teammate hung out to dry after a turnover.
As Jack Johnson noted, there isn’t a magic fix for this. But it’s also not necessarily a crisis with irreparable flaws.
It’s probably safe to assume that Toews was talking about some of the new players who are still trying to get comfortable with how the Avalanche like to play. Colorado has had nights where nine of the 18 skaters were not in the organization at this time last season. That’s a lot, for any team — even the really good ones.
It’s probably going to take a little more patience from the veterans, and maybe a little more focus on the details from some of the new guys. That win against Arizona before the holiday break might have been a tipping point in the right direction.
Bednar and a couple of the guys who have been here definitely made comments after the game that would make an outsider believe that the message has been conveyed and that complete, dominant effort is what it looks like when everyone is on the same page.
If he became available from the Buffalo Sabres, would the Avs trade for Erik Johnson?
— Ed from Auburn, N.Y.
The Avs could create enough room with their particular set of cap circumstances to add a player at or very close to Johnson’s $3.25 million and make it all work, even after Lehkonen’s pending return. The question is whether they’d want to spend basically all of the flexibility they have on Johnson.
Not likely, is the simplest answer. Johnson could be a nice depth addition for a contender who can absorb that amount of space, but he’s a third-pairing defender on a good team these days and maybe not even be the sixth-best option on the current Colorado depth chart.
If he were making something close to the minimum, it might make sense. But the Avs will probably find better options to maximize what little flexibility they have.
Any word on when Samuel Girard will return?
— @Mighty_Taco1
Girard has been cleared to return to practice by the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program. He has not, as of Tuesday and contrary to other reports, been cleared to return to game action. He’s still receiving care from the program, and when he might be given the green light for games is still to be determined.
The Avalanche has also made him off-limits to the media to this point, which is similar to the policy for when players are injured. It is unlikely that he will return during the two-game road trip in Arizona or St. Louis, but anything beyond that is just pure speculation.
There is a lot of talk about how the system in Calgary is the reason Jonathan Huberdeau is struggling so much there as opposed to Florida. Could you see a player like Huberdeau excelling here with a fresh start (obviously significant salary considerations to figure out)?
— @VMCColorado
Huberdeau had a terrible season last year, but his porous relationship with coach Darryl Sutter became a huge storyline. This season … Sutter is gone, and Huberdeau’s production has not returned. He’s on pace to have an even worse year.
Dropping from 115 points and a fifth-place finish in the Hart Trophy voting to a 36-point pace in two seasons is one of the steepest dives off a cliff the NHL has seen from a player in a long time. If you remain a true believer in Huberdeau, maybe the best explanation would be he just didn’t work with Sutter and something else is bothering him this year.
There’s zero chance the Avs would be interested in Huberdeau … while his current contract remains a valid one. This is the first season of an eight-year deal that costs $10.5 million against the salary cap. Even at $5.25 million, which would mean Calgary retains more money than any team ever has by a significant amount, he’s not a good fit for a cap-strapped team like Colorado.
Now, if the Flames were to buy him out at some point in the future, then maybe he becomes an intriguing reclamation project on a low-cost, short-term deal similar to Jonathan Drouin joining the club this past offseason. Huberdeau and Drouin do have the same agent, and it does seem like the latter is pretty happy with how this relationship has gone so far.
When is Jared Bednar going to cut his hair again? Because once he did that in 2022, we were untouchable and ended up winning the Cup.
— @HolytheGoalie
Maybe this, and not Toews going off on his teammates, is what the Avs really need. I will ask him about this at some point in the near future. My guess is he’d probably like to wait until closer to the playoffs, if chopping off his locks has the type of power Holy is suggesting here.
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