Not sold on Varly having a bounce back year and not sold on Picks ever being more than a good backup.
If Varly isn't picked up by Vegas, I fear no other team wants him. We're kinda stuck with him.
Perfect time to see what Pickard can do with starter workloads, just don't play him b2b.
We have seen Pickard with starter workloads. It hasn't gone well so far. There's some sort of mental block that doesn't allow Pickard to have consecutive good games this season. He seems to only play at peak level after a long rest.
no for two reasons
1) There is no guarantee quick will not require surgery once he returns. He has been out rehabbing since day one and has not had surgery yet
2) Quick is not due back till after trade deadline.
if your the avs you dont make any move besides trading vets you dont want for picks this year. sakic is a horrible gm and you dont let him mess up more trades.
Which trades, specifically, do you think Sakic messed up? Giving a 6th for Soderberg? Trading ROR for the best package they could get before he bolted as a UFA? Giving up a 2nd for Berra?
I think Sakic has made more risky/bad UFA signings than trades. And, letting Stastny walk looks bad in retrospect, but at the time the team was competitive and Stastny was saying all the right things. It was another UFA gamble that didn't quite pay off as hoped.
Boedker, Gelinas, Berra and Stuart come to mind. I don't think Sakic is the worst GM out there, but he has made some pretty bad trades.
Stuart was bad, but we recouped everything we gave up for him in exchange for moving down 8 spots in the 2015 draft. So, not great, but not horrible. The extension was my bigger problem with that trade.
Gelinas cost a 3rd. Not sure I'd call that bad, given how unlikely it is to get a remotely serviceable NHL player with a 3rd.
Berra probably was worth a 3rd, instead of a 2nd, but Roy and Allaire thought they could make him great, and that 2nd ended up being 54th OA, which is almost a 3rd.
Boedker allowed us to get rid of Tanguay, and cost Bleakley (a compensation 2nd?) and Wood. It was an optimistic trade that looks worse because Boedker decided to go UFA. If Wood becomes a stud NHL D, it'll look even worse.
I'm not trying to say Sakic is a great GM, but his trade issues are slightly overblown.
Yes his trade issues are overblown and not very good, but also not as bad as they could be. But you want to chance it? Who is to say which moves Sakic wanted more or which Roy wanted more. They basically shared the role and I can assure you that Boedker was Roy. Berra was also Roy and the others we may never know. Regardless, that isn't why Sakic is a terrible GM. Hiring Bednar was the biggest mistake this franchise has seen.
Roy got all the blame when he left and Avs fans were more than happy to let him have it all, because they wanted him gone. But don't tell me for a second that Sakic wasn't in part responsible for why Roy left and the way he left. Sakic created that situation as much as anyone and then did the worst thing possible with Bednar.
Roy was a bad coach. Bednar is saddled with a hodge podge of a team that wasn't built with one clear vision. Remember when the team was buying into Bednar's system at the beginning of the year and the team was watchable? I remember.
I'll give Bednar and Sakic next season. If next season is another bad year, burn it all down and just get it over with. Start anew with guys like MacK, Jost, Rantanen, and Zadorov.
What I remember at the beginning of the season was a team still playing Roy's system. Basically a lack of a system. You're telling me that Bednar had time to teach his system in the limited training camp when all our best players were in the wjc? It's funny that people will argue in one breath that Roy put us in a bad situation and Bednar didn't have time to teach his system, and then when that doesn't fit the narrative it's instead that the teamed looked great to start the year and that was Bednar. Lol.
It fits the narrative and mob mentality that this forums Avs fans share. Nobody is thinking critically, Avs fans are like one mind with one narrative. Nice job forming your own opinion
I never made claims that Bednar didn't have enough time. They were playing what they were learning from Bednar's system. They relapsed into bad habits taught under Roy and that sunk them.
Roy had terrible habits as a coach that damaged this team (blowing a whistle for a line change just as they gain possession being an example). Sorry I'm not a Roy apologist. He got a lot of slack because Varly played out of his mind one season. When Varly played average and the luck came back down to earth, Roy got exposed as a poor coach.
Sorry I don't want to write off Bednar half way through his first season. Again. I'll wait until Bednar can get a team built with one purpose in mind. The team as it is is too old and slow outside of a few players to really keep up with his system.
Just because you hate Bednar and disagree with someone who has formed their own opinions doesn't mean it's a hive mind. Stop with the persecution complex ffs.
I see that Varlamov is out for the rest of the season (Link below).
There is still a lot of hockey to play, even for a team in last place.
What are the Avs' options? Do they trade for someone - perhaps with an expiring contract? Do they claim someone off waivers? Do they call someone up?
Just wondering...
Link: https://www.nhl.com/avalanche/news/semyon-varlamov-out-for-rest-of-season/c-286127434
What's wrong with Calvin Pickard being the starter? His numbers are pretty darned good when you consider how horrible Colorado is. 3.01 GAA and .906 Save Percentage is nothing to look down upon. Once Sakic and company seriously address the defense and then get the forwards playing, Colorado will be OK. They aren't that far away from being a competitive club again.