Line Combos: 2019-2020 Colorado Avalanche

[dahrougem2]

Don't know if there was a thread for this yet, but if not, might as well start up the predictions. I think for next season, we'll see:

Landeskog - MacKinnon - Rantanen
Burakovsky - Kadri - Compher
Wilson - Jost - Donskoi
Calvert - Bellemare - Nieto
Bourque

Zadorov - Johnson
Girard - Makar
Cole - Connauton
Barberio

Grubuaer
Francouz


There's an outside possibility for Bowen Byram to crack the team, wherein he'd likely slot in on the 3rd pairing with Ian Cole. Also an outside shot for one of Connor Timmins or Nicholas Meloche to crack the club on the right side of that 3rd pair. However, I think that only one of the three mentioned defensemen makes this team next season, and my money is on it being Byram. I think that Timmins, after missing an entire season, could use the AHL time and I think Meloche is going to be a kid that simply needs to dominate the AHL before coming up.

Up front, I really don't see any kids challenging. Maybe A.J. Greer challenges for the 13th forward position but other than that, I don't see anything. There's a glut of forwards on this team, and no real push from the minors. Martin Kaut badly needs more AHL time, another full season I believe. Alex Newhook going to NCAA so he's not an option. Shane Bowers is making the jump from the NCAA, he's going to need AHL time, and Vladislav Kamenev is the biggest mystery box having played less than 30 NHL games since 2014.

The scary, scary part about next season is if both Johnson and Cole aren't ready for the regular season start, our defence could be:

Girard-Makar
Zadorov-Connauton
Barberio-Rosen/Graves/Timmins/Meloche/Byram.

That's terrifying to think of.

Click to read more...

 

[RoyIsALegend]

Sakic said that Johnson might be ready to start the season and that Jost will likely play on Kadri’s wing.

———

Landeskog - MacKinnon - Rantanen
Jost - Kadri - Burakovsky
Wilson - Compher - Donskoi
Nieto - Bellemare - Calvert
Kamenev/Greer/PTO

Zadorov - Makar
Girard - Johnson
Connauton - Barberio
Graves/Byram(9 games to start season)
(Cole)

Grubauer
Francouz

 

[RoyIsALegend]

FWIW, I would roll:

Burakovsky - MacKinnon - Rantanen
Landeskog - Kadri - Compher
Wilson - Jost - Donskoi
Nieto - Bellemare - Calvert

I like the shutdown 2nd line, having Jost at center, Compher NOT at center, and giving Burakovsky a chance to score lots of goals.

 

[dahrougem2]

I really think that Joe and Bednar are not properly utilizing Tyson Jost if they think he's going to slot in on Kadri's wing. IMO, he's got to be the 3C for this team. He just can't play wing nearly as well as he does centre.

 

[McMetal]

Landeskog - MacKinnon - Rantanen (Can't break this line up, and less of a need to now)
Jost - Kadri - Burakovsky (I think Bura will be off this line soon, but no doubt he gets this opportunity to start)
Wilson - Compher - Donskoi (Good scoring third line, likely to play easy sheltered minutes between the Kadri and Bellemare lines)
Nieto - Bellemare - Calvert (Nieto and Calvert where they belong, makes for a great 4th line)

Girard - Makar (Great combo in the playoffs, likely to get better)
Zadorov - Johnson (Shutdown pair, I bet EJ is healthy to start the season)
Connauton - Timmins (I think they give Timmins a shot here, they're real high on him)

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

I really think spreading the wealth will be beneficial for the team. MacK and Rants are amazing together, but they also differ to the other player when they could just take charge instead.

I think:

Landeskog-MacKinnon-Burakovsky
Jost-Kadri-Rantanen
Wilson-Compher-Donskoi
Nieto-Bellamere-Calvert

Makes for a really nice balance. There’s plenty of speed on the 1st line, the 2nd is slower, but also more complete in terms of two-way ability.

The alternative of course would be for Landy and Rants to switch. A more offensively focused first line with a more two-way second line.

 

[CobraAcesS]

Since I put this in the other thread I'll just quote myself.

CF Gm thing is back up. I came out with 6.3M in cap space. Mikko @ 9M, Z at 4M, JTC at 3M.

Went with a more offensive minded third since our #2 line can actually do their jobs defensively, and our 4th line should be really effective defensively as well. Donskoi is my bet to replace some defensive ability on the top line. He can make plays, and has speed as well.

Oh, Bura is a 2 yr deal just slightly below his QO. I don't really like that idea, but I'm expecting it. Cole is also IR not LTIR so his salary is in there.

Graves likes to push the play, and Cotton can cover down defensively. So baring a rookie forcing his way in I went with them.

23

Cap $81,500,000

Cap hit $75,149,761

$0

Bonuses $3,532,500

Cap space $6,350,239

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Roster

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
Donskoi, Joonas $3,900,000 RW UFA - 4	MacKinnon, Nathan $6,300,000 C, RW UFA - 4	Rantanen, Mikko $9,000,000 RW
Landeskog, Gabriel $5,571,429 LW M-NTC UFA - 2	Kadri, Nazem $4,500,000 C M-NTC UFA - 3	Compher, J.T. $3,000,000 RW
Wilson, Colin $2,600,000 C, LW UFA - 1	Jost, Tyson $885,833 C, LW, RW RFA - 1	Burakovsky, André $2,800,000 LW
Nieto, Matt $1,975,000 LW, RW UFA - 1	Bellemare, Pierre-Édouard $1,800,000 LW, C UFA - 2	Calvert, Matt $2,850,000 LW, RW UFA - 2
Greer, AJ $850,000 LW	Kamenev, Vladislav $950,000 C

[TBODY] [/TBODY]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Left Defense	Right Defense	Goaltender
Girard, Samuel $728,333 D RFA - 1	Johnson, Erik $6,000,000 D M-NTC NMC UFA - 4	Grubauer, Philipp $3,333,333 G UFA - 2
Zadorov, Nikita $4,000,000 D	Makar, Cale $880,833 D RFA - 2	Francouz, Pavel $950,000 G UFA - 1
Graves, Ryan $950,000 D	Connauton, Kevin $1,375,000 D UFA - 1
Barberio, Mark $1,450,000 D UFA - 1

[TBODY] [/TBODY]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[Tommy Shelby]

Landy-MacK-Rants
Burky-Kads-Donny
Willy-Jost-JTC
Calvert-PEB-Nieto
Kam

Girard-EJ
Z-Makar
Byram-Conn
Rosen

Gru
Frank

Is my guess on what opening night might look like. There will be at LEAST one, probably 2 injuries during the preseason though.

 

[CobraAcesS]

FWIW, I would roll:

Burakovsky - MacKinnon - Rantanen
Landeskog - Kadri - Compher
Wilson - Jost - Donskoi
Nieto - Bellemare - Calvert

I like the shutdown 2nd line, having Jost at center, Compher NOT at center, and giving Burakovsky a chance to score lots of goals.

I'm sure Bura will get his chance there, but I'm not sold on him playing that level of competition and not hurting that line when hes not scoring. Kind of like someone else we knew.

I said this a while back, but I could see Bura there at home, and Donskoi there on the road when that line gets hard matched. Donskoi actually has way more experience playing with skilled line-mates (Hertle & Kane), and can pass the puck.

Oh.. and I seen multiple caps fans say Bura is better at RW.

 

[CharlesPuck]

We are a better team now then 2 weeks ago.

These lineups are looking great. Let’s go October.

 

[CobraAcesS]

We are a better team now then 2 weeks ago.

These lineups are looking great. Let’s go October.

Yeah these are actually fun to make now lol. Plenty of good options. I think Joe is out to lunch on Jost at wing due to Jost's defensive ability. I think he flourishes in the 3C role.

 

[S E P H]

I wouldn't mind breaking up the 1st line just to see how it will go...

NHL
Gabe Landeskog - Nathan MacKinnon - Andre Burakovsky
Tyson Jost - Nazem Kadri - Mikko Rantanen
Matt Nieto - JT Compher - Joonas Donskoi
Matt Calvert - PE Bellemare - Colin Wilson

Sam Girard - Cale Makar
Ian Cole - Erik Johnson
Nikita Zadorov - Mark Barberio
Kevin Connauton

AHL
AJ Greer - Jayson Megna - Logan O'Connor
Ty Lewis - Shane Bowers - Martin Kaut
Travis Barron - Igor Shvyryov - Nick Henry
xxx xxx - Josh Dickinson - xxx xxx

Dan Renouf - Mark Alt
Jacob MacDonald - Nicolas Meloche
Sergei Boikov - Conor Timmins
Anton Lindholm

​

I decided to leave out Byram and Rosen because they seem like the biggest wildcards of making the team. AHL is just a shot in the dark (and probably missing a guy or two) since we're kind of shallow in some positions, where I also left out Dries, but I would really want him back for the AHL club. As I said in the Donskoi thread, I would prefer him in the top 6 over Bura, but I won't biased and say he deserves a chance to be in a good position with a new club. We can't make him go straight to the same ways as Caps treated him until he forces us too. I think Pratt will use the defenders in specialised roles as he did in the seasons before. EJ and Cole get the defensive zone draws while Girard and Makar get the ones in the offence zone. That's a good team IMHO, Sakic hasn't been 100% error free, but I personally think we're a more structured team and in the end that will make us better. I really want and hope that Greer gets a fair chance at training camp, he's a darkhorse to make the parent club for me.

 

[CobraAcesS]

I wouldn't mind breaking up the 1st line just to see how it will go...

NHL
Gabe Landeskog - Nathan MacKinnon - Andre Burakovsky
Tyson Jost - Nazem Kadri - Mikko Rantanen
Matt Nieto - JT Compher - Joonas Donskoi
Matt Calvert - PE Bellemare - Colin Wilson

Sam Girard - Cale Makar
Ian Cole - Erik Johnson
Nikita Zadorov - Mark Barberio
Kevin Connauton

AHL
AJ Greer - Jayson Megna - Logan O'Connor
Ty Lewis - Shane Bowers - Martin Kaut
Travis Barron - Igor Shvyryov - Nick Henry
xxx xxx - Josh Dickinson - xxx xxx

Dan Renouf - Mark Alt
Jacob MacDonald - Nicolas Meloche
Sergei Boikov - Conor Timmins
Anton Lindholm

​

I decided to leave out Byram and Rosen because they seem like the biggest wildcards of making the team. AHL is just a shot in the dark (and probably missing a guy or two) since we're kind of shallow in some positions, where I also left out Dries, but I would really want him back for the AHL club. As I said in the Donskoi thread, I would prefer him in the top 6 over Bura, but I won't biased and say he deserves a chance to be in a good position with a new club. We can't make him go straight to the same ways as Caps treated him until he forces us too. I think Pratt will use the defenders in specialised roles as he did in the seasons before. EJ and Cole get the defensive zone draws while Girard and Makar get the ones in the offence zone. That's a good team IMHO, Sakic hasn't been 100% error free, but I personally think we're a more structured team and in the end that will make us better. I really want and hope that Greer gets a fair chance at training camp, he's a darkhorse to make the parent club for me.

I went without Cole since it's December, and the start of the season is super important. I have a hard time seeing Bura beat out Donskoi even in camp. Donskoi has experience playing with top six line-mates on a contending team. Bura was bottom six the whole way on a contender with spot duty on top six lines.

I give you guys props for actually sticking Bura up there though lol. Hope I'm wrong on the guy.

I could actually see Timmins winning a spot since hes right handed, and his competition isn't exactly thick to start, but ultimately chose not to do it.

 

[S E P H]

I give you guys props for actually sticking Bura up there though lol. Hope I'm wrong on the guy.

The lad is talented, as others said last week I am hoping for some Duchene/Fleischmann chemistry with MacKinnon/Bura. Nathan will have to do the heavy lifting, but he's used to it by now and welcomes that challenge (likewise with Landeskog).

 

[CobraAcesS]

The lad is talented, as others said last week I am hoping for some Duchene/Fleischmann chemistry with MacKinnon/Bura. Nathan will have to do the heavy lifting, but he's used to it by now and welcomes that challenge (likewise with Landeskog).

I just don't know if you are going to get 90 point players and stretches where they pace for 100+ points out of MacK & Mikko with them apart. I think it is more beneficial to replace some defensive ability on that line while not actually down grading a metric ton in play-making.

Landeskog has a role and a lot to give even if he isn't a PPG player. Him and Kadri would be a damn nightmare against top lines. It may also be unpopular, but unless that line really plays a ton together I think last year was a career year in production for Landy.

I'm sure both will be tried to some extent as the season goes on with the Bednar blender though.

My top six is; MacK, Mikko, Landy, Kadri, Donskoi, Jost/Compher personally.

 

[Wintersun]

I guess my problem is that I wouldn't put Burakovsky in the top 6 of this team now, and I don't know if that's still Sakic's plan. I want someone who can work and get pucks for MacKinnon and Rantanen, so I don't think Bura is the guy I want on that top line right now. I think a guy like Compher could be a fit. If not, I would not mind trying Jost there too.

Compher - MacKinnon - Rantanen
Landeskog - Kadri - Donskoi
Wilson - Jost - Burakovsky
Calvert - Bellemarre - Nieto

Girard - Makar
Byram - EJ
Zadorov - Cole
Connauton

Grubauer
Francouz



I think it's a balanced line-up. A little weak defensively but with a lot of upside still. Landeskog line takes tough matchups defensively, top line gets offensive opportunities as much as possible.

 

[NOTENOUGHJTCGOALS]

Who gets protected from Seattle now?

 

[Khokhlach86]

Where Timins in all your rosters? ))

 

[Avsboy]

Byram has nothing left to learn in the W.

 

[Wintersun]

Where Timins in all your rosters? ))

I don't think he starts the year there but who knows.

Who gets protected from Seattle now?

I'd go :

MacKinnon
Rantanen
Landeskog
Kadri
Jost
Compher
Donskoi

Girard
Makar
X

Gruby

 

[CobraAcesS]

I guess my problem is that I wouldn't put Burakovsky in the top 6 of this team now, and I don't know if that's still Sakic's plan. I want someone who can work and get pucks for MacKinnon and Rantanen, so I don't think Bura is the guy I want on that top line right now. I think a guy like Compher could be a fit. If not, I would not mind trying Jost there too.

Compher - MacKinnon - Rantanen
Landeskog - Kadri - Donskoi
Wilson - Jost - Burakovsky
Calvert - Bellemarre - Nieto

Girard - Makar
Byram - EJ
Zadorov - Cole
Connauton

Grubauer
Francouz



I think it's a balanced line-up. A little weak defensively but with a lot of upside still. Landeskog line takes tough matchups defensively, top line gets offensive opportunities as much as possible.

Is that like Byram out of camp, or Byram all year? Can't tell since Cole is there.

I guess I'm over trying Jost/JTC on the top line, but Jost may take another step and change that. He could definitely replace the defense on the 1st line. Just not sure he'd replace the for-check and cycle game Compher/Donskoi could.

 

[Foppa Frossa]

I think Timmins starts in the AHL and Barberio is on the bottom pair for the Avs. Would've liked it if Nemeth was around, but thems the breaks.

How do we feel about Graves vs Connauton?

 

[Wintersun]

Is that like Byram out of camp, or Byram all year? Can't tell since Cole is there.

I guess I'm over trying Jost/JTC on the top line, but Jost may take another step and change that. He could definitely replace the defense on the 1st line. Just not sure he'd replace the for-check and cycle game Compher/Donskoi could.

Yeah I don't know. If we're going to split the top line, well have to try all of Jost, Compher, Burakovsky and Donskoi on that top line in my opinion to really know who fits best.

 

[CobraAcesS]

Yeah I don't know. If we're going to split the top line, well have to try all of Jost, Compher, Burakovsky and Donskoi on that top line in my opinion to really know who fits best.

That is a fair point, and even whoever wins it out of camp will probably lose it at some point.

I have an absolute chub regarding the idea of Landy & Kadri together. Not that Kadri & Mikko would be bad.

 

[Foppa Frossa]

Cale and EJ our only RD at this point?