GDT: Avs vs Jets 6PM MST: We're better on the road right?

[Tommy Shelby]

Super penalty killer Matt Calvert has really helped us out, too. Elite defensive forward.

Still has twice as many points as Comes though

 

[Avs71]

How anyone can defend Grubauer is beyond me. He is tied for the third worst single season save percentage of Avs goalies going back all the way to 05-06 (more than 15 games played). Shares that honour with Budaj, and has only Theodore and Raycroft behind him (barely).

Second worst GAA in that time too.

I don’t care what he did in Washington last year, he has been one of the worst Avs goalies since the 04/05 lockout.

 

[Avs425]

If someone has told you Landy would be 3 goals back from the league lead after half the season is past what would you tell them?

"Hey, It's puff, puff, PASS!"

 

[Bender]

Cole was great up until game #17 by my count. He then went on a stretch of utterly abysmal hockey that should have seen him benched, slightly recovered, and is now back to sucking again. He's exactly as advertised. A #4/5 guy who all too often clearly belongs on the bottom pairing because he gets exposed with too many minutes. Right now he's just a Patrick Nemeth playing 20 minutes a night. Can't wait to pay this guy $4.25 million for a further two seasons after this instead of a real top four defender.

Overall, a really ugly night for Sakic's big offseason. His 1B goaltender acquisition was poor, his big UFA splash on defense sucked, PK specialist Matt Calvert has done **** to improve the PK, and the forward "depth" on the team was abysmal -- the fourth line let the Jets kick the front door down, steal their wallets, rob the joint, and mug them.

I'll also keep saying it: We need a defensive pair we can rely on. EJ isn't good enough to carry a pairing right now (will he ever be again?), Girard is really struggling in his own end, Cole was brilliant at the start of the year and was fulfilling that role but has been very poor (and frequently a liability) since, Nemeth is Nemeth, and Barrie -- who I think is our best D -- isn't good enough to go out there and play ~23 minutes of mistake free hockey against the opposition's best players because that simply is not his game and shouldn't have to be. It's bloody ugly without a reliable, big-minute pairing right now to settle things down when the team needs it. This team needs a Ryan McDonaugh trade to fall into their laps in the worst way.

On the Jet's side of things...give me Adam Lowry. What a fantastic player.

As far as Ian Cole goes, he's exactly what I thought he was and the pendulum might swing back the way to where he's playing great hockey before the end of the season but the expectations should never have been that he's a Top-4 guy. That's why it's so disappointing that Bednar handled Zadorov the way he did...seems incredibly short-sighted but I guess he plays the guys who are going. It sucks that Z had to be reduced to a bottom pairing guy to start the year.

Speaking of Zadorov, for all those who keep claiming "oh he's not a Top-4 and his advanced stats say he's not so great"...how f***ing badly does this team miss him right now?? Just look at the teams piss-poor record without him. He's a solid puck-mover and a very good defensive player who keeps others team players honest...hell, I think they're scared of him. I rewatched a couple of games from our Nashville playoff series and man, we need that guy healthy and back on track in the worst way!

Long term, in theory our defense should look like this :

Zadorov - Makar
Girard - E.Johnson
Cole - Timmins
Graves/Meloche

You might have to roll different combinations to get to that point but I believe that this is what the plan should be. I've always believed that Barrie was going to end up being moved out for some help at forward. I don't think Sakic will hesitate to put in Timmins or Makar (if he signs) regardless of the expansion draft. We will likely be making a trade with Seattle in 2021 to get them to take the player we want them to take anyways.

As far as Grubauer goes, I think people's expectations that Sakic signed that guy to be the heir apparent might be overblown. They wanted an upgrade over Bernier and found a reasonably priced option for that instead of gambling that Bernier would be able to stay healthy. Grubauer hasn't been great but he seems to play better when he's a backup. What he's being paid ($3.33M per) is the going rate for a good backup.

Our biggest problem right now is still Jared Bednar. He's deathly afraid to make any changes to at least try and get better balanced scoring. If we do make the playoffs, we're 1 and done again because it's too easy to defend. You HAVE to have more than 1 scheme and more than 1 configuration of players who have chemistry with one another to win. Otherwise not only is it fairly easy to focus and shutdown ONE line, it's predictable and easy to plan against.

I remember being extremely critical of Tony Granato (so many years ago) because he had one of the greatest playmakers of all time in Forsberg and one of the greatest goal-scorers of all time in Selanne and they never played on the same line together. As far as I remember, It was even TRIED! With Bednar, it's kind of the same thing but to a lesser degree. He's pigeonholed Soderberg as that #3C with defensive wingers and he hasn't tried him at #2 with any combination of Jost, Compher, Kerfoot or Andrighetto for a whole game let alone 3-4 games to see what might develop. To me, that's not great coaching. You have to at least try especially when you know that Jost could be solid defensively as that #3C after what he showed in those first 10 games to start the year.

I remember Quenneville being criticized for his changing his lines too much while he coached the Avs. He then goes on to win 3 Stanley Cups in Chicago. Food for thought.

 

[UncleRisto]

If someone has told you Landy would be 3 goals back from the league lead after half the season is past what would you tell them?

"This again, huh @Sea Eagles?"

 

[Grigowski]

Yeah they are. The Avs are one line. Some random middle pair d man and ahl goaltending, Dallas is a better team.

Not, they aren´t. They are similar to us. No goaltending, middle pair D´s and Benn-Radulov-Seguin. Take a look at the stats.

They just manage to win games against bottom dwellers or games in OT. Things our team isn´t capable of. Thats it.

Beside the Jets and Nashville we experience a weaker Central Division than expected. And though Mac, Rants and Landy are having a exceptional season, we shit our beds since that ass-whooping in Tampa. Secondary scoring isn´t present and our D is suddenly error-prone....

 

[Lonewolfe2015]

Secondary scoring isn´t present and our D is suddenly error-prone....

I wouldn't hit the secondary scoring too much. They've been adequate.

It's team defense, penalty killing and most notably goaltending sinking this ship. Rantanen out of position last night is the perfect example of mediocre team defense. Not to mention all the crappy breakouts, giveaways in the offensive zone and standing around the wingers have done.

 

[Foppberg]

I wouldn't hit the secondary scoring too much. They've been adequate.

It's team defense, penalty killing and most notably goaltending sinking this ship. Rantanen out of position last night is the perfect example of mediocre team defense. Not to mention all the crappy breakouts, giveaways in the offensive zone and standing around the wingers have done.

? We have zero legit secondary scoring threats.

 

[Lonewolfe2015]

? We have zero legit secondary scoring threats.

24 goals in the last 8 games. It hasn't been the main issue in my opinion.

 

[Foppberg]

24 goals in the last 8 games. It hasn't been the main issue in my opinion.

Maybe for now, but we have nobody outside of the top line that you can point to and say 'he's our guy'

Is it JTC? Or Kerfoot? Soda? We need legitimate secondary scoring.

 

[Lonewolfe2015]

Maybe for now, but we have nobody outside of the top line that you can point to and say 'he's our guy'

Is it JTC? Or Kerfoot? Soda? We need legitimate secondary scoring.

Sure do. You won't hear me argue that, been saying #2C is our biggest need since the summer. But at the moment during this skid secondary scoring isn't the biggest issue. We're getting sufficient goal support.

 

[henchman21]

24 goals in the last 8 games. It hasn't been the main issue in my opinion.

Let's break that down then... 11 from the top line or 45.8%. 3 from the defense. Barrie's goal was with the top line. One of Graves had a Rantanen assist on it. One of Compher's goals was a tip on the powerplay with the top unit. At least 14 of the 24 goals have major contributions from members of the top line. That is about 58%. Going beyond that though, being a one line team means the top line is doing a lot of heavy lifting. A second line is not only supposed to give a consistent offensive push, but they are supposed to help swing the play in the Avs' favor and play good defense. A big part of the team defense issue going on right now is that there isn't a reliable 2nd line that can be out there for 15 minutes a night.

That said... last night is on Gru... terrible showing for him at a time where he needs to step up.

 

[shadow1]

Super penalty killer Matt Calvert has really helped us out, too. Elite defensive forward.

Not a lot he can do when his goaltender has an .818 SV% on the PK.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

Let's break that down then... 11 from the top line or 45.8%. 3 from the defense. Barrie's goal was with the top line. One of Graves had a Rantanen assist on it. One of Compher's goals was a tip on the powerplay with the top unit. At least 14 of the 24 goals have major contributions from members of the top line. That is about 58%. Going beyond that though, being a one line team means the top line is doing a lot of heavy lifting. A second line is not only supposed to give a consistent offensive push, but they are supposed to help swing the play in the Avs' favor and play good defense. A big part of the team defense issue going on right now is that there isn't a reliable 2nd line that can be out there for 15 minutes a night.

That said... last night is on Gru... terrible showing for him at a time where he needs to step up.

There's going to be legitimate concern that we are go to grind that top line into dust at this point. They are playing a crap ton of minutes and opposing teams know that if you shut them down there's a 90+% chance the Avs are going to lose.

 

[henchman21]

There's going to be legitimate concern that we are go to grind that top line into dust at this point. They are playing a crap ton of minutes and opposing teams know that if you shut them down there's a 90+% chance the Avs are going to lose.

You really don't even have to shut them down... just don't let them get more than 2 goals. At that point you have about a 50/50 of winning 3-2, or if you score 4 a 80% chance of winning. Even if the Avs make the playoffs, I can't see the top line having enough gas a the end of the season.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

You really don't even have to shut them down... just don't let them get more than 2 goals. At that point you have about a 50/50 of winning 3-2, or if you score 4 a 80% chance of winning. Even if the Avs make the playoffs, I can't see the top line having enough gas a the end of the season.

Agreed. At this point with how abysmal the Avs goaltending has become, and the lack of actual defense from our D we are an easy team to beat. There's a lot this team needs to work on if we want to be a consistent contender.

 

[the_fan]

At this point it's very doubtful that Sakic will make trades this year at the trade deadline to fix the secondary scoring problem because he'll look at the standings and see where Ottawa is and and think there will be a good chance he drafts Hughes or Kakko so why give up assets for potential rental trade to save this season.

I'd say just ride out the season, whatever happens, happens, maybe they'll get both Hughes and Kakko, who knows. This team may need more than that though, goaltending, better coaching, Makar should help the D. It isn't just one issue with this team IMO

 

[kl35ha]

Secondary scoring is definitely not our problem the last 12 games or so. Being down 2-4 goals early in 90% of those games and having to play catch up....so yeah our goalies are trash and defense play like horse**** is the main problem right now. Not to mention the pk and pp during this stretch...

We are missing Z presence in a big way! We’re lucky that the teams behind us are also playing mediocre hockey too. Probably won’t even be in a playoffs spot at the end of this month.

Bednar = Vance Joseph?! Might as well be is just as bad in decisions making and being out coach...

 

[5280]

It's all adjustments. We came out firing on all cylinders, the league adjusted. Now it's time for us to adjust back. Pretty simple.

 

[CobraAcesS]

I'm not sure we've had a heat map against that looked like this all damn season. That is insane especially considering who we were playing..

 

[dahrougem2]

Here's the problem with trading Tyson Barrie for "forward help": the dude was on pace for 68 points last season, and is on pace for 67 points this season.

If you're trading Tyson Barrie, are you sure you're going to be getting that same type of production from the returning player? He scores more than any forward not named MacKinnon, Rantanen, or Landeskog.

You want help up front, try to move Erik Johnson first and see if a team will bite.

 

[Foppa2118]

That game was lost by Bednar. Keeping a goalie in who clearly couldn't stop anything was puzzling to say it nicely. Sakic needs to get rid of both Grubauer and Bednar. Quickly.

Varly's coming off a lower body problem and was expected to start tomorrow. Bednar probably just didn't want to put him in cold, potentially risk re-injury, and over work him in a semi back to back in his first game back.

 

[5280]

Here's the problem with trading Tyson Barrie for "forward help": the dude was on pace for 68 points last season, and is on pace for 67 points this season.

If you're trading Tyson Barrie, are you sure you're going to be getting that same type of production from the returning player? He scores more than any forward not named MacKinnon, Rantanen, or Landeskog.

You want help up front, try to move Erik Johnson first and see if a team will bite.

I don’t see a team biting on his (EJ’s) contract, though, tbh

 

[klozge]

Varly's coming off a lower body problem and was expected to start tomorrow. Bednar probably just didn't want to put him in cold, potentially risk re-injury, and over work him in a semi back to back in his first game back.

Could have put him in after the first or second intermission then. Plenty of time to warm up. Bednar basically told the team he had given up on the game by keeping Grubauer in.

 

[Foppa2118]

Could have put him in after the first or second intermission then. Plenty of time to warm up. Bednar basically told the team he had given up on the game by keeping Grubauer in.

But they'd still be risking overworking him his first games back. 4-5 periods of hockey in two days is too much for Varly coming off a lower body injury.