Colorado Avalanche Fans: What to Expect from Tyson Jost

Colorado Avalanche center Tyson Jost can make an impact for the team right away.

Greetings fellow Colorado Avalanche fans! If you haven’t noticed, I am new to Mile High Sticking. I am extremely eager to share my love of the Avs with everyone on this site.

With that super lengthy introduction you all just received, lets talk about the real reason you came here, Tyson Jost.

The Colorado Avalanche have been bad (Stop me if you’ve heard that before). When you finish with 48 points, and most teams during the lockout shortened season of 2012-2013 had more points than you did in a full season, there isn’t a whole lot of good you can take from it.

The good news is I don’t believe things are as bad as they seem. The Avalanche have more good young players than most people realize, especially in the forward group. Sure everyone knows about Duchene, Landeskog, MacKinnon, and after last season, Rantanen. Still, there are other young players that have me very hopeful.

Sven Andrighetto looked great on a line with MacKinnon and Rantanen in the limited time he had last season (although I’m finding it hard to believe anyone on that line would look bad). J.T. Compher has shown he can be a regular in the Avalanche line-up and he gives them another solid option down the middle. Hopefully, A.J. Greer will be given a longer chance to see what he can bring to an NHL line-up.

For the purposes of this piece, I want to focus on Tyson Jost.

Jost saw very limited action last season, scoring one goal in six games. The point total doesn’t worry me, as he was making the jump from college hockey to the highest level of hockey in the world. What I am more keenly interested in is how he does in his first full year with the Avalanche.

Tyson Jost has put up numbers wherever he has played. He has shown that he can be a creative goal-scorer, as his eliteprospects.com page billed him. I’m sure most Avalanche fans have already seen this clip of him scoring a beautiful goal last year at UND, but there are so many things I love about it. Let’s watch it again shall we?

First off, when he’s behind the net waiting for the puck to get to him, he sees the Omaha player close on him. Craftily, he quickly pops the stick out of the defender’s hands. He then takes the puck right out in front but instead of shooting, he uses his slick hands to create more space for himself.

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Jost then makes two defenders look silly and then roofs it. Most importantly, look at the time and score of the game. He scores that goal late in the 3rd period with the score tied 4-4. Clutch goal scoring is something all teams need, but it has seemed to be in short supply these days in Denver.

Now, I don’t want to get everyone’s hopes too high, including my own. The NHL season is a long grind, and defenders are usually at least a little better than at the collegiate level. Still, I think if given the chances and played with the right players, Jost reasonably has the potential to hit the 40-50 point mark this season.

Again, as much as I just pumped Jost’s tires, I can’t get too excited. I can’t believe him to be the savior of this team and single-handedly pull them from the bottom of the league into a playoff spot. Jost does, however, add to the forward depth Colorado has been severely lacking for years now.

It’s hard to say if he will be a top-6 or a middle-6 player this year, mostly because I don’t see this team having a definitive 1st, 2nd, or 3rd line. I expect Jost to bounce back and forth in the line-up until Bednar finds the right fit for him. I also expect Jost to get significant power play time. He’s got the puck skills and smarts to make an impact with the man advantage.

Next: All About Jost's First NHL Goal

All in all, Colorado Avalanche fans should not get their hopes too high. Jost is a great talent who has shown he can put up points, but it may not come instantaneously. I urge cautious optimism, but optimism none the less!

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