The Colorado Avalanche may soon have a very good roster problem on their hands.
Once Zachary L'Heureux and Logan O'Connor return, Jared Bednar should finally have enough healthy forwards to roll four legitimate lines. That would be a significant improvement for an Avalanche team that has been forced to get creative with its deployment early in the season.
Most notably, it would eliminate the need to keep moving Nic Roy between center and wing on two different lines.
Roy is perfectly capable of playing either position. But constantly moving a player around is not exactly the recipe for establishing consistent line chemistry.
Getting L'Heureux and O'Connor back should allow Colorado to put players in more permanent roles.
Bednar could actually roll with four consistent lines for an entire game. Instead of having to adjust his combinations based on availability, the Avalanche coach could establish a healthier rotation.
Given the Avalanche’s contender status, that kind of consistency can become extremely valuable.
The Avalanche have made 11F-7D work, but O'Connor changes the equation
To this point, the Avalanche's 11-forward, seven-defenseman setup has worked reasonably well.
There is an obvious benefit to carrying the extra defenseman. Injuries happen, and having another blueliner available gives Bednar some flexibility. It also allows Colorado to manage the workload of its defense corps without necessarily overextending anyone.
But there is another side to that equation.
If the seventh defenseman is only playing around 10 minutes per night, the Avalanche may be getting more value from putting another forward into the lineup.
That becomes particularly true when that forward is O'Connor.
O'Connor is not simply another body who can fill a fourth-line role. His penalty-killing ability gives Colorado something it cannot get from an extra defenseman sitting on the bench for most of the night.
The Avalanche already have the NHL’s best blueline. That’s why rolling with seven defensemen isn’t really the best path forward, unless it’s rooted in a load management strategy. For example, instead of having Cale Makar play upwards of 25 minutes a night, that ice time comes down to about 20 to 22 minutes, while someone like Noah Juulsen takes on some of the rougher matchups.
But in the grander scheme of things, having 12 forwards is a much better overall setup, especially with O’Connor in the lineup.
O'Connor can potentially contribute in multiple situations.
He can provide energy at five-on-five, kill penalties and give Bednar another trustworthy option late in games when protecting a lead. Those minutes are more meaningful than simply having another defenseman available for a limited role.
And once L'Heureux returns as well, Colorado can finally start thinking about what its forward group is supposed to look like over the long term.
That may mean giving up the flexibility of carrying seven defensemen.
But the Avalanche should welcome that decision.
The goal is not to find a lineup that works on paper. It is to find the lineup that gives Colorado the best chance to win four playoff rounds.
A consistent four-line rotation, with O'Connor bringing his penalty-killing ability back into the mix, could be considerably more valuable than an extra defenseman who barely sees the ice.
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