I’ve spent the last few days jumping around different kinds of season preview articles. I covered Jack Drury and Mackenzie Blackwood so far this week and will have more coming soon.
But I came across a fun segment on the Puck Soup Podcast (I’m a longtime fan of their work) and it quickly turned into a story idea.
The guys on the show were answering three questions for each team written by staff writers at NHL.com. When they got to the Avs, I found myself answering the questions and pausing the show to collect my thoughts for each one. Then I thought, hey, why not write them down and share on CHN. It’ll likely spark some fun discussions.
So here we are.
I do want to credit NHL.com for the idea. I found the article and will link it here. I took the three questions from the story but I didn’t read the responses from the writer. I’d like to share my own thoughts without being compromised by their opinion on the matter.
Enjoy.
1. Is Gabriel Landeskog all the way back?
If we’re asking if Gabe Landeskog is back to being the guy that, in 2021-22, scored 30 goals and 59 points in just 51 games and was the best version of No. 92 that we’ve ever seen? Then no, he’s not back. And that’s fine.
With regard to his health, I do believe he’s all the way back.
I’ve always been more positive about his return. I’m not going to pretend I knew it would happen, but I always felt that if he made his way back, he’d look like his old self and will probably have an idea of how to work through the knee issues.
The five-game playoff stint wasn’t a big sample size, but it was enough to make me feel like, physically, he’s back. And this theory is proving (so far) to be true.
But I can’t shake the fact that he’s going to be 33 in two months. I don’t think he’s “all the way back” because that would mean he’s back to being at the top of his game, at the peak of his prime. I often wonder if we were robbed of a 100-point Landeskog season in 2022-23 or 2023-24 when Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen were setting team records for goals, assists, and points. But that’s in the past. And we’ll unfortunately never know.
I don’t think the Avalanche are penciling in Landeskog to be the guy he was four seasons ago. But I also still do think he can score 30 goals and give you at or near 60 points in a full season.
Like I said, I’m generally pretty optimistic about Landeskog. Even if some might feel like he won’t produce at that rate, or play more than 50 or 51 games.
2. How big of an impact can Brent Burns have?
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. I am very, very intrigued by the Brent Burns signing.
I wrote this morning about Zach Parise’s election to the USA Hockey Hall of Fame and how his career ended in Colorado as a shell of what he once was. Burns is nowhere near the same player he was five, six, or seven years ago in San Jose. But he’s still quite effective. And he’s going to give you more than Parise did at 40 years old.
How big of an impact can he have? That depends on two things. First, what’s his role in Jared Bednar’s system? Will he be a top-four guy? Or is he going to hover around 15 minutes on the third pair? And second, will he be accepting of his role?
This is still the guy that, at this age, was playing on the top pair in Carolina and quarterbacking that team’s power play.
I see a scenario where Burns is consistently getting top four minutes and playing more than 20 minutes per game on occasion. I see him being the quarterback of the second power-play unit, with a new PP coach in Dave Hakstol that might allow the second unit to spread its wings with more than just 15 or 20 seconds of ice time. I see this scenario leading to a respectable 20–29 points, a steady force on the penalty kill, and perhaps some PP productivity while playing in 82 games as he so often does.
This is the most likely scenario in my eyes. Even at his age.
But there’s also a scenario where his body starts to break down. Where he’s not as effective as the team had hoped, and he’s a third pair guy that struggles with ice time and injuries. And someone that rarely gets power-play minutes because the Avalanche continue to ride the entire top unit for nearly all two minutes of each opportunity.
If anything, Burns should give you an excuse to switch out Makar more often than not when the top unit isn’t producing much. Even if it means replacing four guys and leaving MacKinnon out there for the full two minutes.
3. Is the goaltending good enough?
Yes. Absolutely. Next question.
No but seriously. The public perception of the Avalanche’s goaltending has been severely underrated in recent memory. And I feel like it’s largely because Philipp Grubauer was named a Vezina Trophy finalist in 2021 before leaving for Seattle and watching his career crumble.
When Darcy Kuemper came in the following season, he didn’t ever get the respect he deserved in the regular season. I understand people questioning his value in the postseason when he was a sub .900 starter and a Stanley Cup champion. But he was also dealing with an eye injury.
But the respect wasn’t even there in the regular season. Throughout the year, people kept comparing him to Grubauer. And it was kind of weird.
The Kuemper in Arizona before his arrival, and the one that just finished as a Vezina finalist with the L.A. Kings this past year, both were given a lot more respect than the one that led the Avs throughout the regular season and playoffs in 2021-22. It’s the same guy.
All that’s to say, I’m curious why Blackwood and backup Scott Wedgewood are still being questioned. Can Blackwood take a step back this year? Of course. But that’s true for probably 25 of the league’s starting goalies.
When it comes to sure bet No. 1 net minders, Blackwood is comfortably in the top half of the league. He’s not Andrei Vasilevskiy, Igor Shesterkin, or Connor Hellebuyck. But he’s good enough to be the guy for a team with MacKinnon and Makar.
He’s good enough to be what Kuemper was. And perhaps better.
As for Wedgewood? He was a great backup in Dallas and had a sparkling 13-4-1 record with a .917 save percentage and a 1.99 goals against average for the Avalanche.
So yes, I do believe the goaltending is good enough.
(Yes, I purposely decided to gloss over the Alexandar Georgiev experience. Heh.)
