Colorado Avalanche: 3 Players Who Need to Improve After Bye-Week

The Colorado Avalanche have three players with another level to give. The team would like to see them do so for continued success.

The Colorado Avalanche held their annual mid-season slump from around mid December to mid January. I’m not a big fan of this event — and I sincerely hope it’s over — but it’s an annual tradition.

Well, the Avalanche finished their five-game home stand with three wins in a row. That was six days ago. They still have five more days until they play again.

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Ok, whose stupid idea was it to give the team a full 11 games of break? They had the three days leading into All Star Weekend, the weekend itself for those not named Nathan MacKinnon, and six days leading up to their game in Philadelphia on February 1.

Colorado went into the All Star break/bye-week hot. Who knows how they’re going to come out on the other side. Hopefully the players not named MacKinnon are keeping up with their training and not just lounging on the beach — or watching the X Games as a handful of them are.

Anyway, the Avalanche are ready to buckle down and make a real run at top of the Central Division, or at least home ice. The following three players need to improve for the team to find continued success.

Tyson Jost

Everyone’s favorite whipping boy and trade bait, Tyson Jost, leads this list. I’m not going to rant at the haters just yet. I will point out that he got a goal (later awarded to Andre Burakovsky’s skate, but it was Jost’s goal) and an assist in the last two games.

What’s more, he played with absolute fire in his last game. Everyone raved about how well he played against the Detroit Red Wings.

I’m going to guess he was told, or he imagines, that he’d be the one scratched when Joonas Donskoi returns if he didn’t have himself a game. I don’t want him scratched, so I really hope he continues to produce.

JT Compher

For some reason, Jost’s bestie and former roommate J.T. Compher, largely escapes criticism. Yet he’s not exactly having a banner year. He’s been very streaky all season.

Compher will have a good game, such as his two goals against the New York Rangers, then go 5 games barely registering a shot. And he gets some prime time on better lines than Jost, as well as more power play usage.

I’d like to see him find a little more consistency.

Erik Johnson

Boy, I was hoping this would be a banner season for Erik Johnson. I was hoping he’d be able to put up more offense. However, he has only one goal and eight assists on the season.

He’s definitely been in a more defensive role. And he’s played responsible defense. However, he has that other, scoring gear. Just because his linemate, Sam Girard, and our prized rookie, Cale Makar, are scoring doesn’t mean our big captain of the blueline can’t score, too.

Next. The Zadorov Shift. dark

The Colorado Avalanche are in a good position. Hopefully they’re able to regain their stride coming back from the All Star break and bye-week. The above players can help in that regard.

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