Colorado Avalanche Past Turnaround: Time for Reset

The Colorado Avalanche have failed to turn the season around at a crucial juncture — it’s time to hit the reset button.

The Colorado Avalanche are past their turnaround point. I posited in a previous post that the five games that ended today in Boston were a turning point for the team. I opined they needed to be at .500 hockey at bare minimum.

They are not. Of the 10 points available, Colorado earned only three. They dropped both home games — including the one against the Vancouver Canucks that dropped them out of the playoffs. They’re now four points out of a playoff berth — and just four points ahead of the basement dwellers of the Western Conference.

Colorado has lost seven straight. They’re failing in overtime. They’re failing on special teams. They’re failing at goal tending. They’re failing at even strength. They’re failing with the top line and with secondary scoring. Not every day, every game, but they’re circling the drain.

So, time to hit the reset button. And I’m going to get back on my soapbox. The Colorado Avalanche are also failing at developing their young talent. When they traded J.C. Beaudin, that was yet another non-first rounder (third round) the Avs failed to transform into an NHLer.

Right now, the Avalanche have only one regular roster player whom they drafted outside the first round and successfully developed — Tyson Barrie (third round). A.J. Greer (second round) and Anton Lindholm (fifth round) have bounced in and out of the lineup.

More distressingly, their top-10 draftee, Tyson Jost, has started being bounced, too. This isn’t a first-rounder in the Conner Bleackley mold. This is a highly touted prospect who has dominated at every level before the NHL.

They can’t afford to throw away talent like that. It bodes ill for the likes of Martin Kaut, Conor Timmins, and even Cale Makar.

So, back to the reset button. The Colorado Avalanche may make the playoffs. However, they’re not going to do any damage there, so we might as well look at it as a development tool.

Because that’s the soapbox I’m climbing back onto — it’s time to go into development mode. It’s time to let the youngsters “grow up together” by giving them the skills training, mental training, and whatever training — including “effort” or motivation.

The main core of the Avs range in age between 22 (Mikko Rantanen) to 26 (Gabriel Landeskog). Our superstar, Nathan MacKinnon, is only 23. We don’t waste their best years by focusing on development at this stage. We only waste their best years if we fail to develop, which is the step forward this team needs.

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And look at the frustration that’s starting to build in MacKinnon. Do you really think Matt Duchene is the only player who can ask for a trade?

I’m going to hop over to another soapbox. GM Joe Sakic has made it clear that he doesn’t intend to make a midseason sacrificial lamb of Jared Bednar. However, if Bednar continues to straddle the fence, thus making this neither a playoff success year nor a development year, he has to go this summer.

I like how he coached last season, but he’s floundering this year. I’ve heard all the excuses, but I’m going to go back to this: MacKinnon and Rantanen deserve better. So, too, does an incoming Timmins or Makar. So, too, does Jost.

Besides, when every aspect of the team is failing at one point or another, you can’t tell me coaching plays no part. Some tantalizingly good coaches have come available — we really don’t have to settle for the guy Joe Sakic hired last minute.

I’m not saying the Colorado Avalanche should give up on this season and tank for a high playoff pick. I’m saying play the youngsters like we’re back in the preseason. Forget Gabriel Bourque and the injured Ian Cole, Patrik Nemeth. Give Greer, Ryan Graves, Lindholm, and even Mason Geertsen a chance.

In case you’re wondering, ice time from the Bruins game:

Carl Soderberg: 19:56
Matt Calvert: 17:21
Patrik Nemeth: 19:56
AJ Greer: 6:41
Ryan Graves: 11:07
*Shake my head*

And, for the love of hockey, call up Pavel Francouz and give him a start or three. Yeah, yeah, teams don’t like to pay three NHL goalie salaries. Best I can tell, the Avs pay NHLers and their signed AHL players — and Francouz makes the same at both levels. Just play the goalie already.

Next. Avs Could Trade for a Goalie. dark

The Colorado Avalanche are a team for the future, but that future has to start now. And for a successful future, that has to look like developing the youngsters — and ensuring the coach is doing just that.

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