Do the Avs get over the hump this year?

[JH21]

It all depends on if we stay healthy and who we face.

Skill wise we trump most teams in the league but if we go against a team like Vegas again we will be in trouble. Although they will be much easier to face without Fleury and Reaves was a pain every time we played them.

 

[nammerus]

And the house always wins...



They really wouldn't. I'd be surprised if the Avs could get the Isles past 6 games, let alone win. Florida/Colorado would be a fun track meet to watch. Stylistically, I think it is the best match-up for the Avs... toss up, I'd lean Florida.

I think the Isles should be the favorite to win the Cup this year. Top to bottom that is a great team with no holes. Forwards are great, defense is elite, goaltending is great, coaching is great, front office is elite... most complete organization in the NHL.

It is impressive to watch what Lou has done with that team since Tavares left.

 

[StLAvsFan]

Until the Avs prove otherwise, I'm still expecting them to fall apart & collapse come playoff time once they run into a big, physical team (Vegas) that starts pushing them around, and forcing them out of their run 'n gun comfort zone. The Avs are a soft team, and nothing Sakic has done this offseason has addressed that. Adding a couple of AHL level, meathead D-men doesn't change that fact.

 

[henchman21]

Tampa's scouting and development combined with their success at the NHL level ranks them as the most complete organisation ahead of NYI.

Certainly debatable… I say taking the pipeline and current team into consideration, Isles are stronger right now. Not a huge difference

 

[the_fan]

Ask me again at the end of the regular season. Depends on how healthy or injured they are

 

[SirLoinOfCloth]

My latest calculations have Avs at 100% winning the cup this year. Mack wins the Hart, Maker wins the Norris, Kuemper wins the Vezina, Bednar wins the Jack Adams, and Sakic wins the Jim Gregory.

Bank it.

Edit: Kadri wins the Conn Smythe just to f*** with you all.

 

[Eltuna]

I’m not sure if they win this year but I think most are undervaluing how likely it is that they win at some point in the next few years.

I was thinking about how crucial that 1C and 1D combo is and was comparing how Mack and Makar stack up against some of the other awesome combos of the last 15 or so years. The only combos I could really think of that were comparable and didn’t win the cup was Thornton/Burns and Richards/Pronger although both made the finals and the Flyers guys really only had the one chance together. I’m sure I’m forgetting a duo or two but nothing else is really popping into my head right now. Maybe Spezza and Chara although Chara wasn’t at his peak yet.

Tier 1: Kopitar/Doughty, Toews/Keith, Crosby/Letang, Bergeron/Chara, Zetterberg/Lidstrom, Point/Hedman

Tier 2 Backstrom/Carlson, ROR/Pietrangelo, Macdonald/Pronger

Mack and Makar fit right in here and depending on how they perform can even fit into tier 1. Obviously not a perfect system but it just seems unlikely they don’t have a run in the near future that goes at least to the finals.

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

Bottom six is weaker. Still don't have a top 4 physical D man (Johnson is always broke). Can Keumper last more than 30 games? Is Frankie still a prime NHL backup? MacKinnon tends to go quiet at the worst times. Rants and Bura too. And Kadri remains as the #2 C. Gonna really miss Saad. And now we have to play against him.

JTC still an Av. Right??

Gotta play a full 82 games this time. I think Dallas will be tough in the Central. Should be an interesting Conference battle btwn us or Dallas and Vegas.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Even if Kuemper magically stays healthy all year I want a near even 50/50 split in goal. Keep his body fresh as possible for playoffs while also limiting his case for earning more money as much as they can. Look at Grubauer. Had they played him like 6 games less this year he wouldn’t have gotten that vezina nomination over Helly/Varly/Saros. But he did and you know it added more dollars to his ask.

 

[Avs71]

If Kuemper is better than Grubauer, the Avs are over the hump.

Games 4/5/6 against Vegas: .857/.880/.773

Previous year game 1 against Dallas, before getting hurt: 3 goals on 10 shots.

Two years ago, game 6/7 against San Jose: .864/.869

He has been as much of a problem in round 2 as anyone on the Avs, and they have moved on from him. That’s why I think they could get over the hump this season. On paper they have upgraded the most important position.

 

[AnimalMother73]

If Kuemper is better than Grubauer, the Avs are over the hump.

Games 4/5/6 against Vegas: .857/.880/.773

Previous year game 1 against Dallas, before getting hurt: 3 goals on 10 shots.

Two years ago, game 6/7 against San Jose: .864/.869

He has been as much of a problem in round 2 as anyone on the Avs, and they have moved on from him. That’s why I think they could get over the hump this season. On paper they have upgraded the most important position.

Glad you pointed this out. Maybe the pundits who said it was a mistake to let him walk should take a look at this too.

 

[The Kingslayer]

If Kuemper is better than Grubauer, the Avs are over the hump.

Games 4/5/6 against Vegas: .857/.880/.773

Previous year game 1 against Dallas, before getting hurt: 3 goals on 10 shots.

Two years ago, game 6/7 against San Jose: .864/.869

He has been as much of a problem in round 2 as anyone on the Avs, and they have moved on from him. That’s why I think they could get over the hump this season. On paper they have upgraded the most important position.

f***in hell.

 

[AvsGuy]

I agree that it comes down to Kuemper - we clearly rolled the dice on him big time and he needs to deliver.

Our talent can overcome a lack of true depth, although I still think we have enough of it - but our talent can't overcome poor defensive choices and poor goaltending when it matters most

We still have 3 absolute game changers on our roster, and this year they need to show that they can in fact change playoff games

 

[larueskee]

The only concerns might be a loss of playoff experience. Grubs had a little more experience than Kuemper, and the bottom 3 defense have lost a lot of playoff experience. Even a healthy EJ has only played 28 career playoff games, Murray just 20, and Byram has no playoff experience nor does MacDonald. The top 3 can't be on the ice at all times can they?

 

[AvsGuy]

Byram has no playoff experience nor does MacDonald

Well we know who to thank for that don't we

 

[Cousin Eddie]

If Kuemper is better than Grubauer, the Avs are over the hump.

Games 4/5/6 against Vegas: .857/.880/.773

Previous year game 1 against Dallas, before getting hurt: 3 goals on 10 shots.

Two years ago, game 6/7 against San Jose: .864/.869

He has been as much of a problem in round 2 as anyone on the Avs, and they have moved on from him. That’s why I think they could get over the hump this season. On paper they have upgraded the most important position.

Christ. You can’t ignore this but I didn’t realize it was this bad until now. That’s not a small sample size of meaningful games.

 

[The Kingslayer]

Christ. You can’t ignore this but I didn’t realize it was this bad until now. That’s not a small sample size of meaningful games.

That .773 really f***in pisses me off especially thinking about the Holden goal.

 

[Bonzai12]

Maybe unrelated but does picking up Kuemper and his injury history suggest that Frankie is going to have a considerable split of games between the two this year? I can’t see them relying on Kuemper heavily given his injury history. I think it’s safe to say that if we don’t have a healthy Kuemper come playoff time we are in trouble.

 

[Spleenless Wonder21]

Maybe unrelated but does picking up Kuemper and his injury history suggest that Frankie is going to have a considerable split of games between the two this year? I can’t see them relying on Kuemper heavily given his injury history. I think it’s safe to say that if we don’t have a healthy Kuemper come playoff time we are in trouble.

If they’re relying on oft injured Pavel The Human Rebound Machine as the #2 for the season & postseason that would be classic post-Sakic the player Avs.

 

[The Abusement Park]

Maybe unrelated but does picking up Kuemper and his injury history suggest that Frankie is going to have a considerable split of games between the two this year? I can’t see them relying on Kuemper heavily given his injury history. I think it’s safe to say that if we don’t have a healthy Kuemper come playoff time we are in trouble.

At least Pavel isn't coming off a major surgery and missed a whole season.

 

[MaKarter]

Are we a better team?

Do we need to be better or do we need to just win more?

Are we worse then last year?

No, not yet we aren't.

Can we at least make the finals this year?

Yes we can.

 

[JoeSakic13]

So just over 60% of this fanbase is going into this season already expecting to fail in the end.

Such an optimistic group. I bet you assume all plates of chocolate chip cookies are secretly oatmeal raisin too.

 

[Shinjuku Calling]

2nd round exit at best imo.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Maybe unrelated but does picking up Kuemper and his injury history suggest that Frankie is going to have a considerable split of games between the two this year? I can’t see them relying on Kuemper heavily given his injury history. I think it’s safe to say that if we don’t have a healthy Kuemper come playoff time we are in trouble.

I’ve said it before but I hope they go with a close to 50% split anyway. Keep Kuemper fresh as possible for playoffs while also limiting his total body of work to use against us in contract negtotiations. If Grubauer played 5-10 less games last year he doesn’t get nominated for the Vezina and that nomination absolutely added more dollar signs from his negotiation ask.

Also I came across this post on the Coyotes board... I knew they played him a lot but didn’t know they burned him out this much....

Seriously, how dumb do you have to be to play a guy 12 straight games in a condensed schedule? Even leaving him in to get shelled in games where he obviously didn’t have his best stuff.

 

[Freudian]

I'm not saying this is going to happen, but if Francouz wins the Conn Smythe I like our chances of going all the way.