God I hope that doesn't happen. It's amazing how badly some people are wishing for Sakic to do the worst thing he could possibly do right now.
Agreed. The ideal time for a coaching change would have been at the all-star break and with the Avs record since December, I don't think too many people would have blamed him.
I think people that are angry that Sakic hasn't made a significant move just aren't seeing things for what they are : we just aren't good enough right now and we have too many holes. If a large majority of us can see it, why would anyone think that Sakic can't???
* Coaching has not been good enough, I think most people can see that. Ian Cole has been an abomination on most nights since early December and doesn't miss a shift (again last night - directly responsible for the 2-on-1 to get the scoring started for Vancouver with a completely MORONIC and unnecessary pinch). If Zadorov does that, he's healthy scratched for sure. You can't have that kind of double standard...players catch-on to that kind of horseshit and after a while nothing ends up working.
Bednar has 1 year left after this one. GMs don't usually keep 'lame-duck' coaches around in the last year of their deals. They are either extended or they are replaced. I'd bet on the latter happening right at the end of this season with the Avs bringing in a veteran coach to take them to the next level.
* Secondary scoring could use a significant boost. Our best options beyond the top line are all 24 and younger. That's usually not a great recipe for success. I think Bednar could have come up with different combinations that could have been successful like 6 weeks ago but now I just don't think it matters.
My anticipation is that Sakic is looking at building not just a decent 2nd line but a fantastic. So acquiring a guy like Hayes doesn't fit the bill but players like Stone or Panarin actually would, if they'd be open to signing with us.
* Goaltending hasn't won us a lot of games this year...those guys can be better than they have been but for whatever reason, they just haven't been good enough. If our own pick ends up in the Top-10, we might have a shot at the best goalie in the draft which could make the difference down the line.
* Defense hasn't been great on most nights. The first 2 months of the year, everyone seemed in-sync and played cohesively but that's all gone now. Hell, after the first 2 weeks of the season I remember thinking that Girard was gonna put up 30-40 points if he kept his play up - he's gone so far away from that player it's ridiculous and it's mostly just a confidence thing but I do wonder what they are saying to him when he gets back to the bench after a tough shift. (anyone catch Pratt barking at Girard but he wasn't even looking at him yesterday?)
I think in time Makar and Timmins will do wonders for us but I also think that an overhaul of the coaching staff will provide the guys we do have in place with some new life.
All in all, I think being a seller and having 2 high picks in this years draft would be amazing for this team, since we can't win with our holes or this coaching staff anyways.
As I mentioned before, I would hope that with some of the players that we jettison that we would not only target draft picks but up and coming players (like a kid like Connor Ingram - just an example).
