Will the Avs finally make the playoffs?

[Bubba Thudd]

We shouldn't be putting it all on Varly.
We should be scoring more.
Too many close games where we couldn't buy a goal.

 

[agentblack]

I think very few goalies with the exception of the King have like consistently good to great seasons.
Seems like a lot of them go up and down from year to year

That being said it feels like we are due for a good Varly year.

 

[Tweaky]

Average Varly is a .917 sv% goalie. That puts him roughly mid pack of the starters (going by last year). Last year, Varly was a bit below his average, and placed 25/34 of those with 2000+ minutes. The year before, he was better than his average, placing 12/34. Combined, he was damn near dead on his average, and (big surprise) 17/35 of those with 4000+ minutes.

Varly is an average goalie. At his best, he is a top goalie. 13/14 had him 2nd behind Rask (and probably should have gotten the Vezina given the D in front of him). The year before that, he was 30/31 with 1250+ minutes...so crap would be sugar coating it. He is hugely variable, and overall average.

I like to think that coaching from Allaire has raised his average, but the trend lately is downward, so I am concerned. Not even considering his injury history.

I am hoping he has a bounce back year. But if he continues to decline, I am cautiously optimistic that Picks can step in and be solid. Ideally, Varly has a great season, and Picks looks even better in his backup role...enough that we can trade Varly to Vegas for a guarantee that they pick the worst guy we expose (plus).

 

[kulenova seka]

Dont think so. Maybe they will be close, but no post season. Just too many good teams in the West.

 

[twostroke27]

My heart says they can, but my head says they wont. I honestly wouldn't be surprised with either result. I'd be ecstatic if they make the playoffs, but if they don't, as long as we see progress from everyone most games, I'm happy.

 

[Spender]

As long as they play mostly solid hockey, and put in an honest effort on a nightly basis, I'm happy with that. Central is so strong it's hard to say what it takes to make it this season, but I hope they're in the race at least.

 

[AvsWraith]

I'm guessing not, because of the amount of talent in the West right now, our division especially. However, they might surprise us.

Either way, I'm hoping to not be as mad as I was last year when they missed, as my expectations are not that high.

I mainly hope that our guys really buy into Bednar's system, so they can finally start to progress towards something greater.

 

[Jarey Curry]

Call me crazy but I am totally expecting playoff hockey in Denver this year.

 

[agentblack]

Call me crazy but I am totally expecting playoff hockey in Denver this year.

Dude your tots crazed

 

[Bender]

Yes, they will. Comfortably as well.

I agree...I think the Avs will be the surprise of the NHL once again this year especially since no one is picking them to be any good at all.

Reasons why:
- new coach team boost
- implementation of better systems focused on supporting one another and playing with speed (better break-outs and zone entries)
- removing Farrish from the equation (no more stupid shot blocking!!)
- weakest links replaced -> Holden and/or Guenin will no longer be playing in the top-4 / 20+ minutes per night <- that is huge
- certain teams are not as good as last year - I expect a step back from St-Louis and Minnesota

I think we'll play the good teams tough and win our share of games and actually beat the teams we should be beating, which will be a nice change.

While I think we make the playoffs, this will still be a 'learning' year and I don't expect much noise at all, we just don't have the roster for that. Starting in 2017-18 though with Jost + cap space (Alzner?)...look out!

 

[member 116861]

Yes.

I think the talk about our lack of depth is hyperbole.

 

[Spleenless Wonder21]

New Avs coach's 1st season = playoff lock, of course! View attachment 92125

In seriousness, I expect Colorado to at best be in the wildcard race once again.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Yes.

I think the talk about our lack of depth is hyperbole.

Have you seen the line combos lately? Not sure how you can even argue that's hyperbole. I know you like scrubs and all but that's not an ideal situation.

 

[dahrougem2]

Have you seen the line combos lately? Not sure how you can even argue that's hyperbole. I know you like scrubs and all but that's not an ideal situation.

It would happen to any team in the league if 4 regular players were out with injuries.

I don't think we have a lack of depth on this team.

Take Cody Eakin, Radek Faksa, Ales Hemsky, and Jiri Hudler off of Dallas this Saturday and their lineup starts to look real, real thin.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

Everything needs to go perfect If we want to make playoffs. I think we don't have enough depth upfront to make it and not strong enough defense. This is not the year, BUT after this season I think our team might be finally ready to take thE next step!

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

Average Varly is a .917 sv% goalie. That puts him roughly mid pack of the starters (going by last year). Last year, Varly was a bit below his average, and placed 25/34 of those with 2000+ minutes. The year before, he was better than his average, placing 12/34. Combined, he was damn near dead on his average, and (big surprise) 17/35 of those with 4000+ minutes.

Varly is an average goalie. At his best, he is a top goalie. 13/14 had him 2nd behind Rask (and probably should have gotten the Vezina given the D in front of him). The year before that, he was 30/31 with 1250+ minutes...so crap would be sugar coating it. He is hugely variable, and overall average.

I like to think that coaching from Allaire has raised his average, but the trend lately is downward, so I am concerned. Not even considering his injury history.

I am hoping he has a bounce back year. But if he continues to decline, I am cautiously optimistic that Picks can step in and be solid. Ideally, Varly has a great season, and Picks looks even better in his backup role...enough that we can trade Varly to Vegas for a guarantee that they pick the worst guy we expose (plus).

You can't just look at goaltenders saving percentage and see who is good and who is not. Before last season I think Varly was top 10 goaltender in league, last season was drop off for him but I think he can get back on that top 10 level..

 

[member 116861]

Have you seen the line combos lately? Not sure how you can even argue that's hyperbole. I know you like scrubs and all but that's not an ideal situation.

I don't really care for any of the scrubs currently on the team other than Gabriel Bourque. Also as dahrougem2 was saying, we have injuries. We have 9 top 9 forwards with 3 first liners. Only thing I wish we had was another 2nd liner but with Colborne and maybe Grigorenko, I'm not sure we need that. I wish we had a prime Stephane Yelle to play on the third line so it is more defensively minded.

 

[The Kingslayer]

I can't believe a team so talented like the Avs can't seem to make the playoffs!

I dont expect us to make the playoffs so when we do it will feeel that much better.

 

[GeniusSuperior]

I agree with what my interpretation of what Brick was saying. Yes, the depth on this team is a bit questionable, but not as bad as some people seem to think.

I would like to see us pick up another NHL level bottom 6 guy. It doesn't have to be right away, and we can probably get by without. But in an ideal world....

 

[Freudian]

 

[dahrougem2]

Gotta love Lambert

 

[The Kingslayer]

Lambert is such a goof

 

[shadow1]

Club was 9th last year, which included a brilliant 1-8-0 finish to the season.

So maybe?

 

[tigervixxxen]

It would happen to any team in the league if 4 regular players were out with injuries.

I don't think we have a lack of depth on this team.

Take Cody Eakin, Radek Faksa, Ales Hemsky, and Jiri Hudler off of Dallas this Saturday and their lineup starts to look real, real thin.

And 3 of 4 of those guys were back in the lineup for practice yesterday too and it still looked horrid. I'm sure everyone's lineup is passable with zero injuries, which almost never is the case. They signed a lot of guys to plug in, there's options at least but it's still a stretch to fill out a proper top 6 and a good 3rd line. It's not an easy thing and most teams have some hole but it's still probably the biggest thing that will hold this team back.

 

[shadow1]

Dallas will regress (injuries/goaltending). Minny will shutout Colorado 6 times but will suck. Chicago is as thin as they've been in years. On paper, no one in the division improved greatly.

The above, in my opinion, is more than enough justification to say it's feasible the Avs sqeak out 5+ more wins than last year, which puts them in the playoffs.

(That said, I didn't check last year's record against said teams)