How to revamp Colorado?

[GirardIsStupid]

I think it's safe to say they're getting eliminated in a few days after playing like a scared Barcelona team. What does the organization have to do to become a contender again?

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[Mbraunm]

Not over yet

 

[Baaaaaaaaaaaaah]

Definitely not over. But if they falter this year, I think Newhook and Byram will be the pieces to push them over the edge or give them a few more shots.

 

[Hockeyholic]

Kadri is definitely gone. I always said they needed a more effective and reliable #2 C.

They need more depth on defense.

Might be time to see if there's any upgrades in net available. But that isn't a pressing need.

 

[wayninja]

It's over. Fire sakic. Burn down ball arena. Arrest anyone wearing avs gear as enemy combatants.

Sell the team to China. That's the only way to win.

 

[LokiDog]

Kadri robbing them of center depth kind of sucked. He needs to be replaced. Byram being full time next year should be a boost. He can take Graves spot. Need an upgrade on Nemeth.

 

[AvsCOL]

Not over yet technically, but Kadri has to go. Completely hung his team out to dry.

 

[MessierII]

Not over but their big minute D are undersized. A team with big forwards who can skate and forecheck gives them troubles. Also gives them troubles on the rush and out front. Their core D men don’t have the strength and reach to get and maintain strong body position.

 

[Hisch13r]

You don't other than do something with Kadri

 

[Sanchise90]

If they lose to Vegas, I know this will sound unpopular, but they're basically the 2nd round version of the Leafs at that point...

 

[Hisch13r]

If they lose to Vegas, I know this will sound unpopular, but they're basically the 2nd round version of the Leafs at that point...

Because it's a lazy take. They were the 8th seed in 2019. Last season they went to game 7 OT and they lost because of Grubauer going down. This year they're only playing the Knights in the 2nd round because of the playoff format and in a normal year this is a WCF matchup.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

You're never going to win anything with MacKinnon as your 1C or Makar as your 1D. The only way Colorado is ever going to get over the hump is if one or both of those guys are dealt to the Pens.

 

[Future GOAT]

Hire Gallant.

 

[mac nylander]

package makar, girard and mack for marner.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

Not over but their big minute D are undersized. A team with big forwards who can skate and forecheck gives them troubles. Also gives them troubles on the rush and out front. Their core D men don’t have the strength and reach to get and maintain strong body position.

A big part of this is how bad the forwards are at recognizing they need to help. The Avs transition relies so heavily on their top-3 dmen that the forwards basically sit around as if they need to conserve energy for a fast break. It’s basically the rec league hockey version of “I’m not backchecking, if you get tired just let them score”.

Their two biggest defensemen are also their two most likely to get dummied in their own zone. It’s a systems issue, it wouldn’t matter if they had 6 Hedmans back there as they’d be exhausted from basically fending off 5 on 2 situations as your forwards just casually skate around.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

If they lose to Vegas, I know this will sound unpopular, but they're basically the 2nd round version of the Leafs at that point...

It shouldn’t be an unpopular opinion, they 100% are.

 

[wayninja]

Outsource to India. Replace Bednar with my son's google scratch AI which is a clear upgrade. Advise Sakic to get another Nemeth quality d man at the trade deadline.

Guaranteed success.

 

[lowol]

Smarter players would be a good start. For all the talk about Vegas' physicality I am mostly seeing them being outsmarted. More Saads+Toews, less Burakovskys+Kadris and arguably less Landeskogs (gasp) since that's the replaceable big name...

 

[Puckstop40]

They need to retool a bit and find at least two more players that would be better suited for playoff hockey.

 

[Sanchise90]

Because it's a lazy take. They were the 8th seed in 2019. Last season they went to game 7 OT and they lost because of Grubauer going down. This year they're only playing the Knights in the 2nd round because of the playoff format and in a normal year this is a WCF matchup.

I'm not even a Leafs fan, but that hasn't stopped people from dumping all over them even before this most recent playoff exit. Only this year, I would have said the Leafs were definitive favourites and you can point to similar issues they've had the past few years as to why they couldn't get it done. I could say "Oh, this year, they lost because Tavares and Muzzin weren't available in Game 7" or "They had to play Boston two years in a row because of playoff format". At the end of the day, no one cares about the excuses, it just matters they didn't get it done.

I'd argue the Avs are even worse than the Leafs because the Avs are way more talented. The Avs potentially have:
- 3 defenseman who might finish in the top 10 in Norris Voting
- 2 guys who might finish in the top 10 in Hart Voting
- Two guys in the top 10 in NHL Scoring
- A goalie who is a Vezina finalist

If they lose to Vegas, how can I not say that is a choke when they started with a 2-0 lead and are way more talented than any team in the playoffs, barring maybe a healthy Tampa team?

RE the previous series, I would have been pissed off if I was an Avs fan about those too. I am a Stars fan, the Avs should have smoked us that series on paper. We looked awful in the round robin games, we were Jekyll and Hyde in the Calgary series and we were playing the entire playoffs without our Vezina calibre goalie and our best forward basically playing with one working leg. Forget how they lost in the end, the Avs shouldn't have even let the Stars jump out to a 3-1 lead in the first place.

If the Avs lose this series, this is two years running where they are the most talented team in the NHL and can't get out of the 2nd round and three years overall...

 

[kilowatt]

I'll happily trade the entire Kings franchise for the entire Colorado franchise if you wanna shake it up a bit

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Trade Makar for a two-way defenseman like Heiskanen.

 

[majormajor]

A big part of this is how bad the forwards are at recognizing they need to help. The Avs transition relies so heavily on their top-3 dmen that the forwards basically sit around as if they need to conserve energy for a fast break. It’s basically the rec league hockey version of “I’m not backchecking, if you get tired just let them score”.

Their two biggest defensemen are also their two most likely to get dummied in their own zone. It’s a systems issue, it wouldn’t matter if they had 6 Hedmans back there as they’d be exhausted from basically fending off 5 on 2 situations as your forwards just casually skate around.

Yes we saw that on goals against #2 and #3 in this game.

They're not a careful team, even when they're leading. Some of that is player's not being sharp enough (e.g. Graves), but part of it is also tactical. Like the D should absolutely not be jumping up on to 4 v 3s when you're protecting a lead in the third period. Is Bednar telling them to do that? Or are they just dumb? The typical 2 v 1 against that follows a 4 v 3 is more dangerous than the 4 v 3.

 

[Asinine]

Despite the additions the team hasn't changed at all since last year.

It's a team built for the regular season. A slightly better Leafs. Yeah it's fun to watch but it gets countered quite easily in the playoffs by heavier teams that put constant pressure on the puck.

This team gets stomped out in the playoffs. Teams that win the cup need players that can do the dirty work, and grind out dirty goals. I've been saying this about this team for years. Tampa figured it out last year. Washington finally figured it out after all those years their high octane offense won them regular season accolades.

Bednar's system isn't going to win a cup and the depth players Sakic brought in to play that system need to go.

 

[majormajor]

Kadri robbing them of center depth kind of sucked. He needs to be replaced. Byram being full time next year should be a boost. He can take Graves spot. Need an upgrade on Nemeth.

I'll say specifically that I don't think Byram being full time next year would be a boost. Regular season, I bet he'd be great. Playoffs? Unlikely to make them better.

They're not short on great puckmovers. They need guys who can play careful D and are big and strong enough to stop the cycle.

Oddly enough, Bergevin's slow old D-men like Chiarot and Edmundson would do the trick. He looked dumb with them in the regular season but they're great in the playoffs. Who is like that, that Sakic can acquire?