GDT: R1G1 - Aves @ Jetes

[GeoRox89]

I'm calling it from now the Avs will go into next season with Alex Nedeljkovic and Justus Annunen as their goaltenders.

Is Ned a UFA? If not then Lindgren after the Caps are swept is a similar possibility especially since they’re stuck with cotton eye Joe

 

[henchman21]

I don’t think there any chance Georgiev starts game 2. How can you back to him? This has been happening for so long. Pucks just go through him. Jared must see this.

The Avs have made it a point on the PR side to quell any controversy rumors. They didn't grab a backup at the deadline. They didn't start Annunen against any good team (Edmonton doesn't count since they were resting guys). They didn't try to play him for 3-4-5 games in a row. They did nothing to try to see if Annunen was even an option. Only pure desperation will have Annunen start, and I think we are at least a bad game (maybe two) away from that.

 

[NorthernAvsFan]

I am usually very pessimistic but one thing the Avs might have going for them and it has nothing to do with them is the mojo of the Jets.

That is now 9 straight wins dating back to the regular season. Unless they are about to go on an Oilers-like 16 straight run, they should be primed for some losses. It's just the eb and flow of hockey. The bad play by Winnipeg creeped up last night.

After a night to sleep on it, it looked clear in game 1 when the Avs are skating the Jets have no answer. Their defensemen are very good at clearing bodies in front but Dillon, Samberg, Stanley, and even Pionk all looked slow. Very slow.

Have to hope this continues.

Yep, agree here. They looked outpaced.

One thing to remember too… Colton and Wood were specifically targeted last offseason because of how soft the Avs 3rd line was, they brought them in specifically for the playoffs.

Lehkonen, Nichushkin, Colton, Wood, Duhaime, Trenin… these are guys who excel in playoff hockey. Winning battles, winning races. The intensity has ramped up for the guys who thrive off that.

The path is very difficult. Winnipeg deserves to be favoured up 1-0, but we have a good series here.

 

[ABasin]

Halleluja to the only real fan here.

Expect for the Eagle obviously.


Is it time to upgrade? Fivegiev?

I think we should switch to geometry.

Pentgiev, Hexgiev, Octgiev has a much better ring to it, don't you think?

 

[the_fan]

He was not fine last year... if you just look at the box score, you could be fooled into thinking that. He gave up a lot of soft goals in that series, and when it was as tight as it was, it was the difference. This isn't even hindsight, I was bitching about it then. He wasn't an utter trainwreck like this season, but he was giving up soft goals and in a series that went to 7 games where one or two of them make a huge difference... he's a major reason for the loss.

Annunen might be fine, but a big reason the Avs haven't gone to him is coaches are risk averse. The risk of moving to a rookie backup is just too much... where the risk of moving to Jake Allen, wouldn't be nearly as high.

Ok we get Allen and sit Georgiev, is Allen and Annunen tandem gonna take the Avs all the way to a cup win? I really don’t see that happening so you gotta look at the bigger picture. Just ride Annunen rest of this playoffs and see what happens then get a new starter in the offseason

 

[Pokecheque]

Avs don’t need a top flight goaltender. They just need one who makes enough saves. Kuemper was the guy in 2022, Georgiev was not that guy in 2023, and he won’t be in 2024.

 

[NorthernAvsFan]

The Avs have made it a point on the PR side to quell any controversy rumors. They didn't grab a backup at the deadline. They didn't start Annunen against any good team (Edmonton doesn't count since they were resting guys). They didn't try to play him for 3-4-5 games in a row. They did nothing to try to see if Annunen was even an option. Only pure desperation will have Annunen start, and I think we are at least a bad game (maybe two) away from that.

I think they hoped that Georgiev’s game would rebound. Bednar handling him with kid gloves was an effort to protect his fragile state.

JB should know at this point that his confidence is gone to the point where it can’t be fixed this year.

I suspect Georgiev consistently outperforms Annunen in practice and that’s why his leash has been so long. But, really the only thing that matters is how you play when the lights are on. Bednar should put his full support behind Annunen. Tell the locker room that he’s the guy and rally around him.

Move Georgiev to 3G, and hope for the best.

 

[henchman21]

Ok we get Allen and sit Georgiev, is Allen and Annunen tandem gonna take the Avs all the way to a cup win? I really don’t see that happening so you gotta look at the bigger picture. Just ride Annunen rest of this playoffs and see what happens then get a new starter in the offseason

It probably doesn't, but it most certainly gives a better chance than today most certainly. Having all 3 of George, Allen and Annunen gives you 3 shots to take. Instead of looking down the barrel of George starting and knowing it is a matter of time before he has a bad game (statistically over 50% of the time). You could at least be trying Allen or Annunen in game 2 and knowing you still have a plan C if it goes haywire.

Part of the problem is the bigger picture... Avs don't have cap space to spend on goalies and the window is finite. Overall CMac has been aggressive and done a good job of getting this team together. He just didn't get the goalie position across the finish line. Wasting another prime year where this team has the star power and depth to win a Cup after his moves on piss poor goaltending is going to hurt. There is only so much time left and each missed opportunity is one that can't be recovered.

 

[the_fan]

It probably doesn't, but it most certainly gives a better chance than today most certainly. Having all 3 of George, Allen and Annunen gives you 3 shots to take. Instead of looking down the barrel of George starting and knowing it is a matter of time before he has a bad game (statistically over 50% of the time). You could at least be trying Allen or Annunen in game 2 and knowing you still have a plan C if it goes haywire.

Part of the problem is the bigger picture... Avs don't have cap space to spend on goalies and the window is finite. Overall CMac has been aggressive and done a good job of getting this team together. He just didn't get the goalie position across the finish line. Wasting another prime year where this team has the star power and depth to win a Cup after his moves on piss poor goaltending is going to hurt. There is only so much time left and each missed opportunity is one that can't be recovered.

Allen has one more year on his contract, if we got him this year and then what? Keep him for another year? Or trade him? Trade Georgiev and go with Allen Annunen tandem?

Annunen has proven at least to be a capable back up, so we don’t need another back up next year. We gonna need a starter

 

[henchman21]

Avs don’t need a top flight goaltender. They just need one who makes enough saves. Kuemper was the guy in 2022, Georgiev was not that guy in 2023, and he won’t be in 2024.

Yeah they just need average for the most part. Maybe a game here or there where the goalie bails them out, but overall if the Avs were getting decent goaltending, they'd have a very good shot.

I think they hoped that Georgiev’s game would rebound. Bednar handling him with kid gloves was an effort to protect his fragile state.

JB should know at this point that his confidence is gone to the point where it can’t be fixed this year.

I suspect Georgiev consistently outperforms Annunen in practice and that’s why his leash has been so long. But, really the only thing that matters is how you play when the lights are on. Bednar should put his full support behind Annunen. Tell the locker room that he’s the guy and rally around him.

Move Georgiev to 3G, and hope for the best.

I'm sure they all know... really impossible not to know that George is broken. They've just gone so far out on this limb that they can't really go back easily. This is why people clamored over giving Annunen a run... it should have at least been seen if he is an option.

I think the Avs also know that Annunen is rather weak and once the book is out he's going to get exposed. They likely believe it is fixable, but Annunen is slow out there and leaves a lot of the top of the net open. It might take a game or two for a team to line that up, but certainly in a series a team would work to expose his weaknesses. He's probably not ready for that and they likely want to shield him away from it.

 

[ABasin]

It probably doesn't, but it most certainly gives a better chance than today most certainly. Having all 3 of George, Allen and Annunen gives you 3 shots to take. Instead of looking down the barrel of George starting and knowing it is a matter of time before he has a bad game (statistically over 50% of the time). You could at least be trying Allen or Annunen in game 2 and knowing you still have a plan C if it goes haywire.

Part of the problem is the bigger picture... Avs don't have cap space to spend on goalies and the window is finite. Overall CMac has been aggressive and done a good job of getting this team together. He just didn't get the goalie position across the finish line. Wasting another prime year where this team has the star power and depth to win a Cup after his moves on piss poor goaltending is going to hurt. There is only so much time left and each missed opportunity is one that can't be recovered.

Yeah, I was thinking about this also. The Avs are going to likely have to move a meaningful signed roster player just to get Mittelstadt under contract.

If they significantly up the ante on the cost of their goaltending, it may cost another meaningful signed roster player.

Dang, they may actually have to trade Ra.........

.........er........

.......uh, I meant to say.........

........they may have to shake up this roster a bit to stay Cup competitive.

 

[henchman21]

Allen has one more year on his contract, if we got him this year and then what? Keep him for another year? Or trade him? Trade Georgiev and go with Allen Annunen tandem?

Annunen has proven at least to be a capable back up, so we don’t need another back up next year. We gonna need a starter

You probably keep him, but you simply just figure it out in the summer.

I wouldn't say he's proven. He's had a good run in the 2nd half, but there is very little tape or scouting dedicated to him. When that comes around, his play at that point will determine if he is capable or not.

 

[the_fan]

Avs don’t need a top flight goaltender. They just need one who makes enough saves. Kuemper was the guy in 2022, Georgiev was not that guy in 2023, and he won’t be in 2024.

We really don’t need a high end starter, but we also can’t just go with back ups. We do need a starting goalie even if it’s not a high end one. We need someone consistent. Even the better of back up goalies aren’t consistent enough.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

Avs don’t need a top flight goaltender. They just need one who makes enough saves. Kuemper was the guy in 2022, Georgiev was not that guy in 2023, and he won’t be in 2024.

Our team was trash Vs Seattle though

 

[the_fan]

Our team was trash Vs Seattle though

Yeah, Georgiev wasn’t perfect but he wasn’t the reason we lost that series. We just couldn’t score

 

[SirLoinOfCloth]

I don't blame George for the Seattle series. That team was completely doomed. We didn't deserve to win that, and with all the injuries we suffered we were never going on a deep run. George may not have been good, but the whole team was horrendous, and so maybe that masked some of his badness.

 

[the_fan]

We were fine defensively vs Seattle, we just had zero depth scoring. Nate and Mikko did all the scoring. ERod produced some offense, but beyond that there was nothing

 

[henchman21]

The team last year wasn't going anywhere and with the lack of depth, they just didn't have it in the tank. That doesn't mean George didn't play a part in that series. The Avs lost 3 1 goal games in that series and the other loss was only by 2. The soft goals he gave up played a large role in how the series played out. Now they were not advancing much further regardless... but this soft goal issue was present then too. It has clearly gotten much worse now.

 

[Freudian]

I'd be very surprised if Georgiev doesn't start game 2. If he crashes and burns there, then it's 60/40 Annunen starts game 3.

If Frankie was the backup, then it's different.

 

[the_fan]

The team last year wasn't going anywhere and with the lack of depth, they just didn't have it in the tank. That doesn't mean George didn't play a part in that series. The Avs lost 3 1 goal games in that series and the other loss was only by 2. The soft goals he gave up played a large role in how the series played out. Now they were not advancing much further regardless... but this soft goal issue was present then too. It has clearly gotten much worse now.

Every goalie gives up soft goals. Georgiev is giving up way too many this year and that’s the problem. Hellebuyck gave up softies in this game too

 

[henchman21]

Every goalie gives up soft goals. Georgiev is giving up way too much this year and that’s the problem. Hellebuyck gave up softies in this game too

I don't disagree with that... they all do. The best ones just limit them. My point about George in the Seattle series is that it was there too. In 3 of the 4 losses he gave up at least one soft goal. Two of those losses ended up being by one goal. This problem existed last year for George, it was just more contained. He had a Feb-March stretch last year where he was terrible. He also was terrible in that December. He wasn't as bad as he currently is in the Seattle series, but he was a major factor in why that series went the way it did. This was bubbling to the surface a bit last year but was covered up by some hot stretches of play. This year the hot stretches have been much less and the soft goals have jumped.

If you go back to his time in New York, the reason he couldn't hold down the starting job was this penchant for having soft goals and having more than his fair share of weak games.

 

[the_fan]

I don't disagree with that... they all do. The best ones just limit them. My point about George in the Seattle series is that it was there too. In 3 of the 4 losses he gave up at least one soft goal. Two of those losses ended up being by one goal. This problem existed last year for George, it was just more contained. He had a Feb-March stretch last year where he was terrible. He also was terrible in that December. He wasn't as bad as he currently is in the Seattle series, but he was a major factor in why that series went the way it did. This was bubbling to the surface a bit last year but was covered up by some hot stretches of play. This year the hot stretches have been much less and the soft goals have jumped.

If you go back to his time in New York, the reason he couldn't hold down the starting job was this penchant for having soft goals and having more than his fair share of weak games.

I don’t disagree, but if we had last year’s Georgiev, this team would beat the Jets in this round and that’s my whole point. Regardless of hot and cold stretches, Georgiev was way better last year overall

 

[henchman21]

I don’t disagree, but if we had last year’s Georgiev, this team would beat the Jets in this round and that’s my whole point. Regardless of hot and cold stretches, Georgiev was way better last year overall

He was certainly better, just saying he wasn't that good and this problem was bubbling under the surface. There were reasons to be cautious about goaltending for the Avs even before Frank retired and certainly after. This is a problem that should have been addressed.

I think it is too early to say a winner either way in this series. The Avs controlled the play in this game and should have won, but there is a long ways to go.

 

[the_fan]

He was certainly better, just saying he wasn't that good and this problem was bubbling under the surface.

I think it is too early to say a winner either way in this series. The Avs controlled the play in this game and should have won, but there is a long ways to go.

I really don’t think we can win this round with Georgiev unless we suddenly start playing perfect defense without any mistakes. Even if he starts game 2, plays better and Avs win, do you see Georgiev being consistent throughout the series? I can see him being little better in game 2 than unraveling again in game 3. His confidence and consistency is none existent right now. The only chance we have winning this round is going with Annunen

 

[henchman21]

I really don’t think we can win this round with Georgiev unless we suddenly start playing perfect defense without any mistakes. Even if he starts game 2, plays better and Avs win, do you see Georgiev being consistent throughout the series? I can see him being little better in game 2 than unraveling again in game 3. His confidence and consistency is none existent right now. The only chance we have winning this round is going with Annunen

For a series, I can see George finding enough. Even this year we have seen stretches for 2-3 games in a row where he's played great. It just doesn't hold. If he can get those 2-3 games now and then get another one at the end... the Avs can probably find a way. Now I think it is very unlikely you can get through 4 series with this erratic play... but one, even two is possible to find just the right games.