GDT: Game 3: Avs @ Bruins | Monday, October 9th, 11:00am MT

[Cousin Eddie]

My issue with removing Ghetto from that line is that he never ends up back there and we're stuck with an overpaid top 6 or bust forward that can't fit into our lineup. Ghetto was better today and that line was magical late last year. You need to give them a little more time together before it's broken up. Plus it's not like we can put it all on Sven. Mackinnon has been pretty bad and Mikko isn't a whole lot better.

 

[The Kingslayer]

Based on play and for the purposes of trading him I think Soderberg has played himself onto that third line with Compher and Landeskog. The only guy I would consider switching spots with Jost is Ghetto and well he scored today so thats not likely to happen. Whats left? Playing him on the third line with Como and Wilson? Not sure thats gonna help the kid any.

 

[chet1926]

It's a gong show down there. I also don't see a replacement would be an upgrade on Jost. It would be easier if he had a plum spot like Kerfoot has had from day 1 and they've all had their up and down moments. I think he's just going to have to work through it. If anything going to the WJC might help but that's likely not going to happen from the NHL.

Exactly this. People need to cool their jets with the Jost isn't ready BS. He'll probably be fine if he continues with Compher and Landy. But he's had to suffer through training camp and the first two games playing with Soderberg, Comeau and Nieto. I don't know many young guys that are going to succeed with that. Whereas Kerfoot has been gifted a cushy spot on Duchene's wing since day 1.

 

[Pokecheque]

My issue with removing Ghetto from that line is that he never ends up back there and we're stuck with an overpaid top 6 or bust forward that can't fit into our lineup. Ghetto was better today and that line was magical late last year. You need to give them a little more time together before it's broken up. Plus it's not like we can put it all on Sven. Mackinnon has been pretty bad and Mikko isn't a whole lot better.

Well, I mean, right now the 4th line is something like $11 million right? So I'm not too worried about Sven's cap hit--it's pretty minimal. I agree though that he's one of those players that's top-six or nothing. I do think he's totally moveable, unlike some of the other boat-anchor contracts on the books.

I don't know what to say about MacKinnon at this point. I feel like in trying to be a great player he's forgetting to be a good player. I also think the move to RW should happen sooner rather than later.

But yeah, overall it's three games in...still a long ways to go I suppose.

 

[CobraAcesS]

My issue with removing Ghetto from that line is that he never ends up back there and we're stuck with an overpaid top 6 or bust forward that can't fit into our lineup. Ghetto was better today and that line was magical late last year. You need to give them a little more time together before it's broken up. Plus it's not like we can put it all on Sven. Mackinnon has been pretty bad and Mikko isn't a whole lot better.

I'd be worried more about Ghetto playing on a different line if we didn't have as many as five skilled centers for him to potentially play with. It's not like he'd be playing on your average bottom six line. Hell it might even help him get going to play with a different center against easier competition right now.

Well, I mean, right now the 4th line is something like $11 million right? So I'm not too worried about Sven's cap hit--it's pretty minimal. I agree though that he's one of those players that's top-six or nothing. I do think he's totally moveable, unlike some of the other boat-anchor contracts on the books.

I don't know what to say about MacKinnon at this point. I feel like in trying to be a great player he's forgetting to be a good player. I also think the move to RW should happen sooner rather than later.

But yeah, overall it's three games in...still a long ways to go I suppose.

As far as MacK goes, who do you put at C on the top line?

 

[Pokecheque]

As far as MacK goes, who do you put at C on the top line?

Well, before the season started I suggested Mikko. Mind you, I'm not crazy about that idea either, I'd rather he stay at wing, but given the circumstances I think it should be considered.

 

[Pokecheque]

Wait, did I read correctly Teriyaki had the least TOI of any Avs forwards today?

 

[CobraAcesS]

Well, before the season started I suggested Mikko. Mind you, I'm not crazy about that idea either, I'd rather he stay at wing, but given the circumstances I think it should be considered.

I would like that tried as well, but I don't think it's realistic. Even if it became something that they were able to do to get either of them going by switching it up. Similar to how Duchene and ROR would switch up C and wing at times but stay together. Although I think that was zone start based, even that would be worth a try.

 

[Avs71]

I know it would blow up all the forward lines if it happened, but I wouldn’t mind seeing Kerfoot with MacKinnon at some point. That speed and passing ability of Kerfoot could gel really nice with MacKinnon and Rantanen.

If the Blender was really coming out:

Kerfoot-MacKinnon-Rantanen
Ghetto-Duchene-Yakupov
Landeskog-Soderberg/Jost-Compher
Wilson-Jost/Compher-Comeau

At the end of the day, there is a lot of skill on this team with a lot of similar styled players. Could make endless combinations. Good problem to have.

 

[Freudian]

When it comes t NHL/AHL and where players should play, we have to remember that Avs are very healthy at both levels at the moment. When injuries start to hit the team, the extra depth will come in handy and all problems will solve themselves.

 

[cgf]

My issue with removing Ghetto from that line is that he never ends up back there and we're stuck with an overpaid top 6 or bust forward that can't fit into our lineup. Ghetto was better today and that line was magical late last year. You need to give them a little more time together before it's broken up. Plus it's not like we can put it all on Sven. Mackinnon has been pretty bad and Mikko isn't a whole lot better.

I get that but if a Jost decision needs to happen asap, it would probably wouldn't be for long...or I'd be down to see how MacK n Mikko did with Wilson on their line as Ghetto & Jost were joined by Nieto on the 4th line.

 

[S E P H]

That was a solid win, but this is like Flames at the Duck Pond; always instant win for Anaheim.

- Nemeth, Bigras, and Lindholm were rock solid tonight, especially Nemeth considering he played like 8 minutes more than Lindholm and 6 more minutes than Bigras. Bigras is a funny player because whenever he plays defence, it looks like he has most anxiety in the world, but it somehow works.

- Zadorov was awesome, as I said before he has really matured. His passing in particular has been right on point majority of the season thus far and has been making all the right decisions with the puck. Night and day difference compared to last year. I would like to get him some powerplay time, but understandable that Avs want to play four forwards.

- I don't really have any complaints about Jost. He's going to have games like the Devils where he makes mistakes, but he's looked pretty good to me. Should he be a sophomore in North Dakota considering our AHL situation, yes, but nothing we can do about it now. I just hope that Avs send Greer down to the AHL and develop more of their skill. I have zero problems if they send Beaudin, Boikov, and/or Nantel down to the ECHL this year. It's not like any of them would get top 6 minutes even if we weren't sharing with the Blues.

- I actually didn't like Rantanen's game tonight, I mean he was still solid in the corners and won more battles than he lost. However, his puck skills were all over the place tonight and kept bobbling or fanning.

- Duchene's line was awesome, loved Yakupov's fingers when he scored the third goal. How can you hate this guy? As Freudian said, he looks so ****ing awkward similar to Timmins and Bigras, but it works. Additionally, I thought Kerfoot was the Avs most consistent forward tonight after Ghetto.

- Landeskog's line was great defencively, and Gabriel looked more involved than any other game of the season. He's been bad offencively, but just because he isn't scoring doesn't mean he's useless out there compared to other players. He's still the best defensive forward Avs have.

- I hate Comeau so ****ing much, but the fourth line was solid. Wilson in particular had a really solid game.

- Home games will be a big test considering how bad the Avs were last season. I am fully expecting to lose next game, since Boston might need to have one of those "bounce-back" wins. However, thus far, I have seen positive results compared to last season. Again I don't think when Avs lost against New Jersey, they looked like a last year's club. We're probably going to have those horrible-awful games, but I personally haven't seen them.

 

[member 116861]

Bigras is a funny player because whenever he plays defence, it looks like he has most anxiety in the world, but it somehow works.

Haha, yes!

 

[The Kingslayer]

Bigras is a funny player because whenever he plays defence, it looks like he has most anxiety in the world, but it somehow works.

Yes. Hes like a jitterbug. He plays like the forecheckers are on fire and hes trying to get away. Bigras is such a smooth skater once he gets going.

 

[Freudian]

Last time Bigras was in the NHL, I thought he ate too many big hits. Taking a hit to make a play is sometimes a good thing but too many of them and you are going to shorten your career.

He looks to move himself or the puck quicker this time around.

 

[Foppberg]

I see what they meant when he had the best skating rating at the draft, ahead of MacKinnon. Doesn't have MacKinnon's top end speed but he's so agile and moves around with ease.

 

[EdAVSfan]

I hope they can put together at least few of this games in a row where they just play a solid 60 minute game, because right now i'm still skeptical and worried that next game they might come out and look like the lackluster Avalanche team.

It's incredible to read through your posts.

It's near impossible for you to only say something positive.

It's fascinating, actually.

 

[Foppberg]

He's the Anti-SE

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Wait, did I read correctly Teriyaki had the least TOI of any Avs forwards today?

Yes, but not a lot separated many guys in terms of TOI really.

Mack/Rant/Sven/Landy were on the ice for the full 2 minute PP. And Yak doesn't kill penalties so he only saw 5 on 5 ice time. The distribution of 5 on 5 ice was almost split 100% evenly between the 4 lines. 12 minutes or so each and the rest of the time was either PP(2 Mins) or PK(10 I think) Minutes.


On another note, Landy and Compher both had 5(!) minutes of PK time tonight. Avs relied heavily on them for the PK and it worked. That's really good to see that JT is already looking capable of the very difficult defensive minutes in the NHL. No doubt in my mind at this point he'll be at least a quality 3C in the NHL for us. Question that's left unanswered is what kind of an offensive game will develop for him. 2 Points in 3 games so far, solid start.

 

[dahrougem2]

I don't get why people want to be so quick to jump the gun on moving Andrighetto off of the top line. He had clear chemistry with MacKinnon and Rantanen at the end of last season, had chemistry with them in pre-season, and the three of them have combined for 6 points through the first 3 games. Why break them up?

I thought today was their best game of the three. Leave the line alone. We all complain about the Bednar blender, so him leaving that line alone is best case scenario IMO.

If they could just send Jost down to the AHL and play Soderberg in between Landeskog and Compher, I think this team would be that much better.

 

[Balthazar]

The problem with Jost is, last summer in a typical Avalanche fashion, they kind of sold to the fans (and probably to Jost himself) that he'd play with the AVS this year.

 

[The Kingslayer]

I don't get why people want to be so quick to jump the gun on moving Andrighetto off of the top line. He had clear chemistry with MacKinnon and Rantanen at the end of last season, had chemistry with them in pre-season, and the three of them have combined for 6 points through the first 3 games. Why break them up?

I thought today was their best game of the three. Leave the line alone. We all complain about the Bednar blender, so him leaving that line alone is best case scenario IMO.

If they could just send Jost down to the AHL and play Soderberg in between Landeskog and Compher, I think this team would be that much more better.

People want to give Jost a legit push. I said at the start it wouldnt hurt Jost to play in the AHL. I dont know why hes some special case when guys like Rantanen, Bigras and Compher had to play in the AHL and they are better for it today. Having said that if he didnt ring one off the post today we are talking about a two game point streak for Jost lol.

 

[Balthazar]

You laugh you lose...

Yak and Sven discussing the empty net goal.

 

[Chileiceman]

That was a solid win, but this is like Flames at the Duck Pond; always instant win for Anaheim.

You jinxed the Ducks!

I watched the game on delay since I was busy eating turkey during the game.

Cna't recall a game where the defencemen were this solid. Their work between games on PK'ing seems to have paid off. Patrik Nemeth is looking to be another savvy waiver wire pick up, even though I was scratching my head at the time. Hoefully it's not a one-off and they can keep it up. Our forward corps is average to decent and we have decent to good goaltending. If the D can hold up, then...maybe we are not terrible after all.

I'd keep the lines as is for now, with the exception of scratching Comeau and playing Nieto again. I'm so tired of Comeau just blindly flinging the puck around. He's like me playing ball hockey, struggling to stickhandle with my head up. He's not MA Cliche level bad, or even Joe Colborne level bad, but he's bad. Nieto deserved to be scratched after taking 3 penalties in the opener, but I'd give him another shot. Nieto-Soda-Wilson would be an excellent 4th line, with Soda and Wilson being able to move up the line-up if Bednar feels like shaking up the lines during a game. Soderberg looks like the Soda of 2 years ago.

I think Jost deserves another few games with Landy and Compher before people start wishing him in the AHL. He did not stand out today, but he battled and was not a liability. Obviously more is expected from him than that, but the offence will come.

 

[Tweaky]

Jost's contract cannot slide. He signed the contract this calendar year, and he was 19yo on 15 Sep this year. That means his ELC signing age is 19. A 19ELC can only have one year slide....which was last year.