Colorado Avalanche Debuting Wonky New Line Combination vs Chicago

The Colorado Avalanche are set to start some unusual line combinations when they face their Central Division rival Chicago Blackhawks tonight.

The Colorado Avalanche are hosting the Chicago Blackhawks tonight. Yes, it’s another must-win for the Avs.

Colorado is coming in cold. They’re 3-6-1 in their last 10 games. They just lost three in a row — and for the most part to teams they should have beaten. One of those teams was tonight’s foe, the Blackhawks.

Meanwhile, Chicago is coming in… well, not exactly hot. Lukewarm. They’re 5-4-1 in their last 10. They just beat the (hated) Minnesota Wild 5-2. The Blackhawks are still last in the Central Division, but this is a team that has some life in it yet.

Meanwhile, in Avs Nation, something is afoot, and that’s not a clever way of bringing up Alexander Kerfoot. He’s one of the few players on the Avs’ roster who didn’t get a promotion or demotion.

Let’s talk about the wonky line changes coach Jared Bednar has implemented.

MacKinnon Line

Nathan MacKinnon will have a new linemate. As has happened before, captain Gabriel Landeskog is moving off that line. He will be replaced by Matthew Nieto.

You read that right. Everyone’s favorite Long Beach native, perennial third-liner, Matt Nieto joins Nathan “All Star Captain” MacKinnon.

Jared Bednar’s rationale:

“I like the way [Nieto] skates. He plays the right way, his details are good, heads to the right areas of the ice. I think when he plays with top-end players, he tends to make some plays and I think he has some finish there. I like the speed and pace that he plays at, and he heads to the right areas of the ice.”

Our contributor, Callie Agnew’s, reaction is a little different. Essentially, it boils down to “It should have been J.T. Compher.” (More on her actual reaction in a moment because she makes some good points.)

My reaction: What the puck is Bednar smoking? I know it’s legal here in Colorado, but you’re not supposed to make big decisions after smoking it.

I’m all for rewarding players, but do so in an appropriate fashion. You don’t give a kid who has been performing well in driving school keys to a Lamborghini. You start him off with a nice Hyandai, maybe that sporty one if he’s precocious. In other words, you slot Nieto into the second line and move up, oh, Compher or Kerfoot. Even Carl Soderberg. Not the Cali kid the Avs picked up on waivers.

Even Nieto himself seemed a little taken aback:

“I’m not the most skilled guy, but I think I have the ability to make plays and I can think the game at a high pace, so I’m just going to try and make the most of it.”

(No offense — you know I love me some Nieto.)

Second Line

Our captain lands here with Kerfoot and Compher. I guess you don’t want to call it a demotion. Top six is top six, and as Gabriel Landeskog himself pointed out, “It rarely happens that a line stays together for 82 games.”

And the last few games, the top line hasn’t been working out.

Now, as I mentioned above, there’s an argument to be made for moving Compher up to that top line instead, not least because he got the game-winning goal in Florida when temporarily moved there.

Callie goes more in-depth:

She goes on to point out that Compher is the only player not on the top line consistently producing, besides Tyson Barrie. (And Barrie is about to have a post written about him if he doesn’t get back on the scoring wagon — my words, not Callie’s). What’s more, Compher has the second-best faceoff percentage of Avs centers after Kerfoot.

She then finishes off with a bit of frustration that I, too, am feeling:

Coaches love their journeymen. Bednar especially favors Gabriel Bourque, Patrik Nemeth and, as we see, Matt Nieto.

Soderberg Line

Matt Calvert and Carl Soderberg get to stay together. Now that their linemate is on the lofty top line, they get to play with a rookie. Sheldon Dries.

Why change out three lines and not muck up the fourth, too, in this case the checking line?

Moving on.

Fourth Line

Sven Andrighetto, Tyson Jost and Gabriel Bourque comprise the fourth line.

Have you ever seen that gif of Patrick Roy screaming, ah, “PUCK!” that someone photoshopped so that it looks like his head explodes into a demon face? Here it is. Anyway, that was my reaction when I saw Jost demoted again and Bednar rationalizing it thus:

“He looks like he’s thinking too much, and not freeing himself up to go play. He’s not playing at the pace that I think he can. I know his heart is in the right place, and we’re still trying to give him opportunities… I’d like to see him simplify his game, play more of a straight-line game, get a little more physical and hopefully things will go his way.”

And here’s where I go off on my rant.

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When I was a teacher, my sister, a more veteran teacher, said something very hurtful. I complained that most of my students didn’t study and failed a test. She said, “If they failed, it’s your failure as a teacher.”

Very hurtful because it’s very true. Tyson Jost is a high-end talent the Colorado Avalanche committed to. If he’s overthinking the game but with his heart in the right place, then “coach” Bednar owes him more than “liking to see” him change up his game.

Jost is still very much in the developmental phase of his career. And if he’s failing, the failure is very much Bednar’s too.

Since Bednar is taking his salad spinner approach to linemaking anyway, why not put Jost on a line with a proper veteran, Carl Soderberg? Maybe big Carl can take him under his big wing.

The only thing that saves this line in my eyes is the reunification with Andrighetto. Their speed matches each other’s. I wouldn’t have minded a Jost-Soderberg-Andrighetto third line.

Words of Wisdom

While my head, like Patrick Roy’s, was exploding with a demon expletive, J.D. Killian of The Hockey Writers took a more… reasoned approach to the line shakeup:

Nieto does play lights-out all the time. It doesn’t result in any more production than Jost, who also plays lights-out all the time, but maybe it’s the kick in the pants the top liners need:

“Hey, perform better. Upper management isn’t going to call you, ah, ‘pucking horse, ah, feathers’ like the Dallas Stars CEO did his stars. We’re just going to stick a perennial third-liner we picked up on waivers onto your line until you get your head in the right place.”

I really have no beef with the other three lines beyond what I said above about the Jost situation. Landeskog and Compher on a line together could be fun, and Kerfoot could benefit. And I already said I like Andrighetto with Jost.

Anyway, here are the details on when you can see these… interesting new lines.

How to Enjoy the Game

Game time: December 29, 7:00 pm MT
TV Networks: Alt , NBCSCH  (Hawks’ feed)
Radio: Altitude Radio (FM 92.5)

After tonight, the Colorado Avalanche have just one more game in 2018, their New Years’ Eve traditional game. They host the LA Kings. In fact, that game is the second of a four-game home stand that really needs to see the Avalanche pick up some points.

Dare I say… there are some must-win games for the team?