It seems to me we need to upgrade our medical and training staff. We never seem to have any clue what the timetable is on our players. Why did we come into this season thinking Frankie was good to go, for example?
To his credit, Bednar has said before that it doesn’t benefit them to be more detailed with medical updates, so they aren’t. I don’t like it either but there ya have it.
To his credit, Bednar has said before that it doesn’t benefit them to be more detailed with medical updates, so they aren’t. I don’t like it either but there ya have it.
Seriously, paint a bullseye on it for the goons on the other team.To his credit, Bednar has said before that it doesn’t benefit them to be more detailed with medical updates, so they aren’t. I don’t like it either but there ya have it.
Seriously, paint a bullseye on it for the goons on the other team.
Ulf Samuelsson joked when he left the Penguins he knew exactly where Mario's back was injured.Ken Hitchcock blasted that notion full of holes.
I agree that they've done a great job with high picks overall. Newhook looks like another successful pick, though Kaut could yet go either way.Can we take a moment to appreciate Sakic + our scouting department for nailing our high picks? Even though it's a huge luxury to pick top 10 in 4 out of the 6 recent drafts, they have pretty much nailed each pick.
2015 - Rantanen (alternatives at the time were Meier, Crouse, Barzal IIRC).
2016 - Jost (didn't develop as expected and people will point to McAvoy, but this draft was garbage)
2017 - Makar (alternatives were Glass, Mittelstadt IIRC)
2019 - Byram (alternatives were Turcotte, Cozens, Zegras IIRC)
We could've easily ended up with a vastly different team. I think Rantanen and Jost were pretty consensus, but Makar was seen as a gamble and Byram/Turcotte was close to a coin toss.
I agree that they've done a great job with high picks overall. Newhook looks like another successful pick, though Kaut could yet go either way.
Top picks aside, I'd like to see them have success with picks outside the top 20 before lavishing the scouting department with too much praise. The picks below are all our picks between the late 1st and 3rd rounds, and if Colorado are going to have any chance of extending their cup window beyond the Mackinnon raise they'll need a few of these picks to be hits.
2015 - Greer, Meloche, Beaudin
2016 - Morrison, Anderson
2017 - Timmins
2018 - Annunen, Ranta
2019 - Helleson, Stienburg, Beaucage
2020 - Barron, Foudy
The 2015 and 2016 classes above are already complete write-offs. There are some signs that the drafting has been better since 2017 though, given that Timmins is playing at the NHL level now (or at least learning to); Annunen had a great WJC and 1st pro season (less so since); Ranta is 2nd in NCAA goalscoring; Helleson was Team USA's shutdown rock and has had a great start at BC; Beaucage is 3rd in goals in the QMJHL; Barron is having a better D+1 season that his injury-riddled draft year; and Foudy is looking lively in the AHL already. Until some of these guys actually do fully graduate to the NHL level though the doubts about the Avs scouting and development will persist.
Can we take a moment to appreciate Sakic + our scouting department for nailing our high picks? Even though it's a huge luxury to pick top 10 in 4 out of the 6 recent drafts, they have pretty much nailed each pick.
2015 - Rantanen (alternatives at the time were Meier, Crouse, Barzal IIRC).
2016 - Jost (didn't develop as expected and people will point to McAvoy, but this draft was garbage)
2017 - Makar (alternatives were Glass, Mittelstadt IIRC)
2019 - Byram (alternatives were Turcotte, Cozens, Zegras IIRC)
We could've easily ended up with a vastly different team. I think Rantanen and Jost were pretty consensus, but Makar was seen as a gamble and Byram/Turcotte was close to a coin toss.
Can we take a moment to appreciate Sakic + our scouting department for nailing our high picks? Even though it's a huge luxury to pick top 10 in 4 out of the 6 recent drafts, they have pretty much nailed each pick.
2015 - Rantanen (alternatives at the time were Meier, Crouse, Barzal IIRC).
2016 - Jost (didn't develop as expected and people will point to McAvoy, but this draft was garbage)
2017 - Makar (alternatives were Glass, Mittelstadt IIRC)
2019 - Byram (alternatives were Turcotte, Cozens, Zegras IIRC)
We could've easily ended up with a vastly different team. I think Rantanen and Jost were pretty consensus, but Makar was seen as a gamble and Byram/Turcotte was close to a coin toss.
Good to see that organisational nepotism is still as strong as ever!Think the Avs added a couple guys to the staff this year. I don't recall seeing their names.
David Wood - Hockey Analyst
Mitch Sakic - Assistant Video Scout (Joe's son)
Good to see that organisational nepotism is still as strong as ever!
Sakic's two big moves in the offseason prior to this season have both been successes thus far. Saad is pacing for 32 goals and 53 points, and Toews has been 1st pairing quality and is pacing for 47 points.Yeah, definitely not giving him a 5 for this season.
The one glaring shortcoming that I do think Sakic made a mistake with is not addressing the 3G position when he had the chance in the offseason and again when decent goalies were available on waivers.
Long term, continuing to bet on Compher and Jost as the 2C and 3C of this team was a mistake. Obviously giving Compher that extension is quite possibly Sakic’s biggest blunder post-2017. I get why he did it, but this is one instance where he didn’t side with analytics and that was the wrong call in this case.
Short term, I get that there’s a flat cap and I don’t for a moment begrudge the two moves Joe did make, but there were three main concerns that were exposed following that Dallas series, and unfortunately he addressed none of them. He did not get a viable third goalie option, he did not get a third line center, and he did not fire Ray Bennett. I’m willing to bet he regrets his inaction on the first two, and he most certainly will on the third soon enough.
We can make all the excuses we want for him (and I did as well) but the difference between a good and a great GM is finding a way no matter what the circumstances. Sure hope he’s got an ace up his sleeve this year because this season feels like it’s hanging by a thread.
The goalie situation needs to get fixed asap and is a blot on Sakic (should have picked up Nedeljkovic on waivers...), but other than that it's hard to be too critical.Anyone else wanna give him a 4 or 5? Going to cost this team a chance at a cup this year with the massive hole at 3C and goaltending situation (obviously the latter much more important).
I'm not sure I would say it is a blot or blight on Sakic's tenure yet. The Avs are still holding strong despite Grubs having to pick up the majority of the load. This might be just in fact what Grubs needs to solidify his starting role in the NHL. He's standing out and rising the ranks.The goalie situation needs to get fixed asap and is a blot on Sakic (should have picked up Nedeljkovic on waivers...), but other than that it's hard to be too critical.
The team has weathered a tonne of injuries and a two-week break that disrupted their season when they were finally on a roll, and are currently just 3 points off the division lead. They're 1st in the league in xG and xGA, and are flat out dominant in the league-wide Corsi stats (10 of the top 20 are Avs, including 7 of the top 8).
Given the cap situation 3C was always going to be something they addressed at the deadline, so the jury is still out on that. At the start of the season the deadline capspace was projected to be over $8m leaving a tonne of flexibility to add a good player or two, but the injuries have put a spanner in the works. Unless Johnson is ruled out until the end of the regular season Sakic is going to have to get creative in how he addresses the 3C spot, as it might be a case of money-in, money-out.