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Colorado Avalanche with Interesting New Line Combinations

By Janik Beichler

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The Colorado Avalanche is struggling once again. Coach Patrick Roy has tried many different line combinations to fix the issue, but is still struggling to hit the jackpot.

Seven games into the season, the Colorado Avalanche sits at two wins, four losses and one OT-loss, which makes a total of five points. Not the start we were hoping for. One of the main contributing factors is surely the lineup, as players get shuffled around just about every game. Following Saturday’s 4:3 loss against the Columbus Blue Jackets, coach Patrick Roy has decided to try something completely new.

According to The Denver Post’s Terry Frei, the Colorado Avalanche’s practice lines looked like the following today:

Dennis Everberg — Matt Duchene — Jarome Iginla
Alex Tanguay — Carl Soderberg — Blake Comeau
Gabriel Landeskog — Nathan MacKinnon — Jack Skille
Cody McLeod — John Mitchell — Mikhail Grigorenko

So, it looks like Roy has completely left the traditional idea of having a first, second, third and fourth line behind, going with a very balanced lineup from now on.

Dennis Everberg was just called up and gets moved to the Avalanche’s top line with Matt Duchene and Jarome Iginla a game later. Why? Because nobody seems to have chemistry with Duchene. Unfortunately. Also, Everberg provides the ideal balance of offense and two-way play, the only question being if he can do that in the NHL as well.

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Alex Tanguay may no longer play on the team’s best offensive line. Instead, he got moved to Carl Soderberg’s left wing, with Blake Comeau on the other side. This might actually be a great improvement to any Soderberg line we’ve seen so far. The Swedish center can focus on offense while Tanguay and Comeau make sure the line doesn’t spend too much time in the defensive zone. Similar to what Comeau was meant to do — and did — on Duchene’s line.

The new third line — numerically, not sorted by importance — now has Jack Skille with Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog. First thought: What?! Second thought: The line had defensive struggles and Skille is one of the team’s best Corsi players while providing decent offense. Just wait and see if that helps.

On the fourth line — and this is actually a somewhat traditional fourth line — we have Cody McLeod with John Mitchell and Mikhail Grigorenko. Another line that combines offensive and defensive skill, with grinder McLeod, two-way center Mitchell and sniper Grigorenko.

Will these changes help? Who knows. We’ll have more information on that after tomorrow’s game against the Florida Panthers.

On a side note, Nate Guenin stays in the lineup as Tyson Barrie returns from his suspension. Brandon Gormley out

What do you think about the Colorado Avalanche’s new line combos? Let us know in the comments!

Next: Is Roy the Only Coach Opposed to Advanced Stats?

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