Confirmed with Link: Jared Bednar new Avs coach

[bohlmeister]

Not that it matters, but I'd be surprised if Iginla is stripped of an A.

If i were a guessing man EJ and Duchene would rotate a home and away letter.

They should strip Iggy. He was heartless last season.

 

[dahrougem2]

Iginla and McLeod will have A's until their contracts run out and they're no longer on this team. Until then, it's pointless to discuss who has a letter on their jersey. After all his years of service and wearing a letter, McLeod isn't going to get stripped of an A. And Iginla, at his age and with the career he's had, isn't going to get stripped of an A by Bednar either.

 

[AvalancheFan19]

They should strip Iggy. He was heartless last season.

Rookie NHL coach stripping beloved, honourable, HOFer Jarome Iginla of his A? I can see the headlines now.

Warranted? Probably. Good idea? No.

 

[Pokecheque]

I think you'll see a bit of revitalization from Iggy this year. Call it a hunch.

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

I think you'll see a bit of revitalization from Iggy this year. Call it a hunch.

Maybe Iggy will be Jiggy 2013/14 2.0
If Iggy can get hot for the first half of the season to allow Rantanen time to adjust or another young player just like Jiggy (sort of) helped out Varly then I'm all for it.

 

[JLo217]

I think you'll see a bit of revitalization from Iggy this year. Call it a hunch.

I could see this. I'm totally just taking this from interviews, or things he's said, but it really came off to me that he wasn't a big Roy fan.

 

[chet1926]

I personally think Iginla will be better this year than last, but I still think he'll be pretty poor 5v5.

He is just getting to that point where he can't keep up with the pace. He still has an all world shot and that's why he is a useful PP guy, but after that his skill set has diminished too much to be an effective 5v5 player.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

I personally think Iginla will be better this year than last, but I still think he'll be pretty poor 5v5.

He is just getting to that point where he can't keep up with the pace. He still has an all world shot and that's why he is a useful PP guy, but after that his skill set has diminished too much to be an effective 5v5 player.

Iggy needs to be put with not Nate or Dutch. Those guys are too fast and that just highlights Iggy's lack of foot speed these days.

 

[henchman21]

Iggy needs to be put with not Nate or Dutch. Those guys are too fast and that just highlights Iggy's lack of foot speed these days.

Pairing Iggy with Grigo or Soda makes at least 2/3rds that line very slow. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. There really just isn't an ideal sport for Iggy in the top 9.

 

[Tweaky]

Dammit. I had an nice long essay written about leadership and who should get the A, but I forgot to change tabs to double check on what EJ has won, and hence lost it all.

Cliff's notes version: Skill != Leadership, even though high skill players tend to get tagged with letters a lot growing up. EJ has won stuff in the past (U18 Gold*2, silvers and bronzes elsewhen). Love of team is not necessarily good for leading said team, but Duchene getting the A for TC WC2016 is a good sign. Iggy and McLeod should be given right of first refusal out of respect, but if it comes to that, I expect they will pass the torches....and that will be huge indicators of good leadership by them. I agree somewhat that guys that will be around should get the letters, but that should be secondary to choosing good leaders.

One bit I will rewrite, though. Concerning the best players being leaders. It is akin to the military choosing it leaders based on who is the best fighter. It does not happen that way. The Gunny Highway BS of the leader being the toughest SOB in the platoon and challenging everyone to a scrap to prove it is just that. BS, brought to you by Hollywood. The best leaders is the one that gets the most out of her/his troops while doing the most for their benefit. The one that can get the troops to follow them, and exceed their supposed limitations, to be more than they thought they could be. And the same could be said for hockey teams. The captain (or alternate) does not need to be the best skater, or shooter, or even hitter. He needs to be the one that can get everyone else to be better than they are. What that entails for each particular leader is gong to be different. Methods will vary. Leading by being the best player on the team is not the only way.

But really, the captain or alternates need to be the ones that the refs will listen to, as that is their only real job. Everything about being a locker room leader, leader on the ice, etc. is just fluff. A leader can do that regardless of a letter on his chest. Helps if the coach will listen too, if the players have concerns that the C or As can bring to his attention.

 

[Bubba Thudd]

I thought that was one of the biggest parts of wearing a letter -- being one of the guys that goes to the coach to represent the players.

 

[Bender]

Jeez this discussion...

You guys are ALL wrong!!!

Rene Bourque should be the FIRST DOUBLE CAPTAIN in NHL history!!!

[MOD]

 

[StayAtHomeAv]

Dammit. I had an nice long essay written about leadership and who should get the A, but I forgot to change tabs to double check on what EJ has won, and hence lost it all.

Cliff's notes version: Skill != Leadership, even though high skill players tend to get tagged with letters a lot growing up. EJ has won stuff in the past (U18 Gold*2, silvers and bronzes elsewhen). Love of team is not necessarily good for leading said team, but Duchene getting the A for TC WC2016 is a good sign. Iggy and McLeod should be given right of first refusal out of respect, but if it comes to that, I expect they will pass the torches....and that will be huge indicators of good leadership by them. I agree somewhat that guys that will be around should get the letters, but that should be secondary to choosing good leaders.

One bit I will rewrite, though. Concerning the best players being leaders. It is akin to the military choosing it leaders based on who is the best fighter. It does not happen that way. The Gunny Highway BS of the leader being the toughest SOB in the platoon and challenging everyone to a scrap to prove it is just that. BS, brought to you by Hollywood. The best leaders is the one that gets the most out of her/his troops while doing the most for their benefit. The one that can get the troops to follow them, and exceed their supposed limitations, to be more than they thought they could be. And the same could be said for hockey teams. The captain (or alternate) does not need to be the best skater, or shooter, or even hitter. He needs to be the one that can get everyone else to be better than they are. What that entails for each particular leader is gong to be different. Methods will vary. Leading by being the best player on the team is not the only way.

But really, the captain or alternates need to be the ones that the refs will listen to, as that is their only real job. Everything about being a locker room leader, leader on the ice, etc. is just fluff. A leader can do that regardless of a letter on his chest. Helps if the coach will listen too, if the players have concerns that the C or As can bring to his attention.

Great post.

 

[Nalens Oga]

So if Bednar is the real deal and we have a decent-good season, do you guys think that we need to go for it in 2017-18? Basing this on the fact that NHLers are hitting their prime closer to 25 rather than 30 now (or getting too banged up and breaking down at 30).

It's hit me suddenly but Duchene, Barrie, and Landeskog are in probably their prime judging by age and EJ definetely is or he might even be past it if he can't repeat the 2014-15 season along with Varlamov. MacKinnon should be at his peak and Rantanen/Grigorenko/Zadorov/Bigras definite NHLers by then. Tyson Jost is a bit of an X-Factor but that kid might be 2-4 years away so I dunno if that's worth waiting on.

With the cap space clearing up, maybe that season if things go well here is the one where we spend aggressively in FA and trade some of our picks (or even prospects). I was advocating to actually tank and continue rebuilding earlier this summer but now with Roy gone, they have to take advantage of Bednar if he's a good coach and have more of a sense of urgency instead of that mindset that Duchene/Landeskog/Barrie/EJ/Varlamov are still young, they're veterans by today's standard.

 

[InjuredChoker]

i don't usually like the idea of going for it for one season. no matter how good you are, odds are against you.

but i don't mind using money for a player who is 1st line forward/pairing dman and has market value or below it for the first 5 years or so but then likely is overpaid or worse for the final years.

avs window to win should open soon if it ever does with this core. i even advocated this with okposo.

too bad the UFA market looks awful with forwards. some good defenseman might make it there though. i don't mind spending 7M or so for 6-7 years on brent burns.

 

[tigervixxxen]

So if Bednar is the real deal and we have a decent-good season, do you guys think that we need to go for it in 2017-18? Basing this on the fact that NHLers are hitting their prime closer to 25 rather than 30 now (or getting too banged up and breaking down at 30).

It's hit me suddenly but Duchene, Barrie, and Landeskog are in probably their prime judging by age and EJ definetely is or he might even be past it if he can't repeat the 2014-15 season along with Varlamov. MacKinnon should be at his peak and Rantanen/Grigorenko/Zadorov/Bigras definite NHLers by then. Tyson Jost is a bit of an X-Factor but that kid might be 2-4 years away so I dunno if that's worth waiting on.

With the cap space clearing up, maybe that season if things go well here is the one where we spend aggressively in FA and trade some of our picks (or even prospects). I was advocating to actually tank and continue rebuilding earlier this summer but now with Roy gone, they have to take advantage of Bednar if he's a good coach and have more of a sense of urgency instead of that mindset that Duchene/Landeskog/Barrie/EJ/Varlamov are still young, they're veterans by today's standard.

Definitely not. Let's see how this year goes and even if it goes well we have to see if it's sustainable and not a miracle year. What they need is to build a proper foundation and moving assets hastily is only going to undermine that. Ive said forever the "core" age is not Duchene/Varly/EJ but really it's Mack and the pieces from the 2013 draft that are going to be the foundation point for this team. If they can do something with the cap space next summer then great but there's no reason to jump ahead multiple steps. It's a process and for once I hope everyone is smart enough to do it the right way.

 

[McMetal]

I would definitely like a top six winger out of FA next year. Defense would be nice too, but our top 4 is pretty set with Bigras, Barrie, EJ and Zadorov going forward. Unless one of those four takes a huge step back this year, I don't see the need to go out and spend on a top four D unless by some miracle Burns makes it to UFA, in which case we should be all in (I don't expect this though).

As for trading picks and prospects for short term gain, no and no and no. Not yet. Go ahead and spend in free agency for somebody who can help for the next few years, because we have the cap space, but we can't go raiding the cupboards yet to try for a cup.

 

[GeniusSuperior]

I know I don't like Bigras as much as most people here, but I think it is WAY too early to start penciling him in as a top 4 piece of our defense, let alone a cornerstone. He sure isn't there yet, and in my opinion, still pretty far. I'd like to see him get there though.

 

[Steerpike]

I would definitely like a top six winger out of FA next year. Defense would be nice too, but our top 4 is pretty set with Bigras, Barrie, EJ and Zadorov going forward. Unless one of those four takes a huge step back this year, I don't see the need to go out and spend on a top four D unless by some miracle Burns makes it to UFA, in which case we should be all in (I don't expect this though).

As for trading picks and prospects for short term gain, no and no and no. Not yet. Go ahead and spend in free agency for somebody who can help for the next few years, because we have the cap space, but we can't go raiding the cupboards yet to try for a cup.

Let's see them put in a solid NHL season before calling them top 4 D.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

It's tough to say.


I dont think we should just be moving out our Top prospects(Jost, Greer, Meloche, etc.) or our 1st round picks.


I would definitely like to see us utilize the 9M in cap space we'll have though. The problem is next years free agency group is looking really quite awful, especially for the Forwards. Only Oshie is of interest to me in next years group. Outside of that it's a lot of meh guys that will likely be quite overpaid.


The Defense looks a lot better, with Burns, Shattenkirk being the biggest names, but also with Kulikov, Stone, Alzner as some solid alternate Top 4 options. However, if the Avs make playoffs this year it almost definitely means Bigras and/or Zadorov take major steps this year and if they do that we probably dont have much of a need for a Dman, with Barrie, EJ, and those 2 on the back end.


So, how do we spend that 9M in cap space effectively? That's where the idea of maybe trading for a cap victim from another team comes into play.


I dont want to trade Jost and those high end prospects/picks, but if we're trading them for a guy like Kucherov or Panarin, then I would have to think long and hard about that deal.

I know I don't like Bigras as much as most people here, but I think it is WAY too early to start penciling him in as a top 4 piece of our defense, let alone a cornerstone. He sure isn't there yet, and in my opinion, still pretty far. I'd like to see him get there though.

He's a lot closer then you think he is.


He played like a solid #5/6 last year for us, and has taken noticeable steps in the right direction so far this season. It's still only pre-season, but for a guy with the skill set that he has, and the level at which he thinks the game, you've gotta have a pretty strong opinion against him not to see that he's well on his way to becoming a Top 4 guy on this team.


I would even argue he already has the skill set to be that good for us, it's just a matter of getting lots of playing time now and learning the small things that it'll take for him to consistently reach that level.

 

[McMetal]

I know I don't like Bigras as much as most people here, but I think it is WAY too early to start penciling him in as a top 4 piece of our defense, let alone a cornerstone. He sure isn't there yet, and in my opinion, still pretty far. I'd like to see him get there though.

Not this season, but next? I think it would be a huge disappointment if he doesn't become a top 4 D by opening night 2017. He's not really there yet, but given how he's progressed so far I think it's very reasonable to expect that he'll at least become a middle pair by then unless he stagnates this season.

 

[GeniusSuperior]

I am very willing to admit that I'm not the biggest Bigras fan out there. I don't think he is an NHL defenseman right now. When he played last year, he played some very easy minutes. When he got tougher match ups, he struggled a lot more.

But the kid is just that, a kid. This is only his second professional year. Say he follows Barrie's path to the bigs. He will bounce up and down between the NHL and AHL this season and potentially next. After that, if things go right, he can start to solidify his spot in the NHL sometime during the 17-18 season. I don't think we can truly rely on him to be a top-4 dman until the 18-19 season at best. It wasn't until Barrie's third or fourth pro season that he really solidified himself at this level.

I just think people are over hyped about him and maybe thinking too linearly on his development. There's a lot that can go wrong even before thinking about injury or trade possibilities. I just want to see more before believing in Bigras as a core member of our defense. Can he get there? Definitely. I just don't see it as a certain thing, and most certainly not this season.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Let the guy play the season first. Hot takes and grand conclusions from a game only two people saw should be reserved for the regular season. I've seen more than enough of him last two years to feel confident in Bigras as a player. Obviously it's not smart to pencil young guys in for anything especially given this org's track record for development.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

So preseason is done and we went undefeated at 6-0. People might say it doesn't matter because it's just preseason but IMO it really does. This team needs to learn how to win and protect leads in the process. They are doing just that right now and it feels great for the fans and the players to have the team winning again. I thought it was very important that the team goes at least 4-2 in the preseason for that reason and also to show the players the new system is working. Going 6-0 might not be the best thing though going into the regular season as it might give the team a sense of invincibility but hopefully Bednar will have them prepared against that by the time next week come.

I haven't seen any of the games unfortunately but I have listened to all of them. One thing that seems obvious to me besides the obvious change in system (thank God for that), is the way they always bounce back after a bad period. I don't think they have had two bad periods in a row. Again I know it's only preseason and it's only six games but that in itself is extremely encouraging to me. Also for the first time in three years I finally have the feeling that we have a system that will allow the team to sustain a winning record.

I'm sure there will be rough patches throughout the year. We have a very difficult schedule to start the season. If we can end Oct at .500 or better I think we'll be in pretty good shape. Here is to finally watching very good hockey.

 

[tigervixxxen]

I'm ok with how it happened yesterday. Getting that experience and confidence in coming back is great, but plenty of tape on how things weren't going as well. I agree it does matter, it's still a game that humans are trying to win. It's not like it happens in an alternate reality. If nothing else it reinforces that the systems are working.