Where Necas and Drury fit into Colorado Avalanche lineup
The Avalanche needed to get a top-six winger in return for Rantanen. Otherwise, it would have defeated the purpose of making a deal. The Avs accomplished that objective by getting Necas. Necas likely slots in on the top line with Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin.
In Carolina, Necas had been playing with Sebastian Aho. Now, no offense to Mr. Aho, but he’s no Nathan MacKinnon. Avs fans, you should be over the moon at the thought of Necas playing alongside one of the league’s best playmakers in Nathan MacKinnon. That combination could lead Necas to explode, easily beating all career highs once in Colorado.
Daily Faceoff projects Necas on the top line. However, the Avs may try putting Necas with Casey Mittelstadt on the second line while moving Artturi Lehkonen on the top line. Lehkonen played well with MacKinnon earlier this season. So, it’s an option.
As for Drury, Daily Faceoff projects him as the fourth-line center. I think he’s better than that. In my estimation, Drury should be on the third line. Moving Parker Kelly down to the checking line makes more sense.
Let me be clear about something: Drury is the key piece in this entire trade. Sure, getting Necas is exciting. And yes, dumping Rantanen’s contract negotiation on Rantanen is a major benefit. But the fact is that the Avs made out like bandits because they got a replacement for Rantanen and addressed the hole at center in their bottom six.
So now, Drury allows Kelly to play on the fourth line while Drury likely joins Joel Kiviranta and Logan O’Connor on the third line. That line would be one to give opponents nightmares.
All in all, Saturday afternoon’s game against the Bruins could be a bit of a dud. They have struggled all year. As such, the newcomers to the Colorado Avalanche could make their debuts on Sunday.
Hopefully, Necas and Drury make it in time for Saturday afternoon’s game.