Avalanche Energized By Depth At Camp

There are many buzzwords surrounding the Colorado Avalanche's training camp, but few have been discussed more than "depth."
The Avalanche didn't make many changes to its roster this past offseason, however the club was still able to strengthen its squad with key additions. Colorado made significant trades for forward Brandon Saad and defenseman Devon Toews, but the organization also acquired defensemen Kyle Burroughs and Dennis Gilbert and signed several free agents.
"Every year we get some key guys and now we got Saad and Toews at the backend. It brings again more depth to our team and that's what you need," Mikko Rantanen said. "There's going to be, let's hope not, but obviously with every team there are going to be some injuries during the season, and especially in the playoffs you need a really deep group to win the cup."

On the first few days of on-ice work, Rantanen has skated with Nathan MacKinnon and Andre Burakovsky. Saad has been unfit to practice the past two days, but head coach Jared Bednar said before camp began that he would like Saad to skate on a trio with Gabriel Landeskog and Nazem Kadri when the puck drops. On the blue line, Toews has practiced on a defensive duo with Calder Trophy-winner Cale Makar.

"I think it's a very, very good thing that we have the depth that we have," said two-time Stanley Cup champion Ian Cole. "Anytime that you can as a team create advantageous matchups where you're third line can run another third line or a fourth line or a second line, and obviously we have all the faith in the world in our first line. Looking down from Line 1 to Line 4 from D-pair 1 to D-pair 3, you need to be able to win your matchups.
"I think that we have a team where we can win those matchups, and also when guys get hurt have guys step in that can win those matchups. It's about doing that over and over and over again for 56 games this year, plus playoffs and then we could have a successful year."
Colorado was reminded of the importance of having a deep roster in Round 2 of the 2020 playoffs when seven Avalanche players were sidelined with injuries in the best-of-seven series against the Dallas Stars. Because some guys were out of the lineup, it left the door open for prospects to get into game action at the toughest time of the year.
One of the players that took advantage of the opportunity was forward Logan O'Connor.
After recording two goals in 16 contests in the 2019-20 regular season, O'Connor slotted in for five postseason outings in the set against the Stars and registered an assist. He made his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut in Game 3 when Colorado was down 2-0 in the series and helped push the matchup to a decisive seventh game.
"I think the biggest thing is just being able to play with confidence. I think I had gotten enough experience to where I was at the point that I knew what gave me success in the NHL, and before I was a little hesitant in making mistakes, I was always afraid to make mistakes," O'Connor said of what he learned in the series against Dallas. "I was sometimes unsure of myself and in playoffs I saw it as I have nothing to lose type thing. We were down in the series, everyone needed to be rejuvenated a little bit, and I figured I might as well go out and play what I feel is my best game and just continue to take risks. Gaining more confidence throughout the playoffs was crucial in helping my development, having that experience is going to be huge down the road I think."

The reason the Colorado front office set out to continue to bolster its roster this past offseason is the hope that a deep team will translate to a deep playoff run, and the Avs say they believe that they have the personnel required to do that.
"I think we are very excited about our group. Everyone I think individually thought this, but we had a pretty good meeting at the beginning of the year, and it is quite clear that for us, our goal is to win a Stanley Cup," said Cole. "Anything short of that is a disappointment. I think that to do that you need to have a deep team, a team that can contribute all four lines, all three D-pairs, both goalies and eventually the extra guys as well because like we saw last year there will be injuries. It's a season that we are excited about and a season that we are ready to get going."

UPDATE ON UNFIT-TO-PRACTICE PLAYERS

The same five players--forwards Gabriel Landeskog and Brandon Saad, defenseman Erik Johnson, goaltender Philipp Grubauer and AHL contract defenseman Keaton Middleton--that were not on the ice on Monday remained unfit-to-practice and also did not skate on Tuesday.
Bednar noted that the timeframe for each guy is different and that the players are meeting different protocols. The Colorado bench boss also said that he is confident that most, if not all, of the guys will return before the season opens on Jan. 13 against the St. Louis Blues, and he is "not overly worried" about when the players will be able to return to the ice.
"It's not ideal, it's also not the end of the world. I guess with Saad out he is the one guy that we approach him a little bit different," said Bednar. "Grubi, Landeskog, Johnson, those guys are in tune with the way we play, and they've been doing it for years. So Saad, what we'll do is we'll send him some of the meetings, have some discussions with him and make sure that he's getting the information that he needs from our meetings and knows what he's missing out on, and then we will get those guys back up to speed as quick as possible.
"We don't like starting without guys and guys missing things, especially when we are trying to get going and get on the same page for the start of the season, but with some of the experience of some of those guys that are out I know we can get them up to speed quickly. Hopefully we'll have them all back here and ready to go before we start."

The other update that Bednar had on Tuesday was that forward Mike Vecchione took a puck to the face halfway through the second practice and left the ice to get stitched up. Colorado signed Vecchione as a free agent this offseason. He spent the 2019-20 season with the American Hockey League's San Antonio Rampage, recording 36 points (21 goals, 15 assists) in 61 games, leading the club in goals and finishing second in points.

WATCHING THE YOUNG GUNS GOING FOR GOLD

The Avs have four players competing for the gold medal on Tuesday night at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship in Edmonton, Alberta. Forward Alex Newhook and defensemen Justin Barron and Bowen Byram are competing for Team Canada, and defenseman Drew Helleson is playing for the United States.
Byram, who won gold with his country at the 2020 World Juniors and is serving as a co-captain for Canada, is on Colorado's 40-man camp roster and is expected to travel to Denver at the conclusion of the tournament.
One member of the Avalanche that is rooting for Team USA is defenseman Ian Cole, who played for the United States at the 2008 and 2009 World Juniors. However, he is quick to acknowledge the talent on Canada's roster.
"Obviously want Team USA, USA all the way, let's go baby! Hate Canada; I'm also am very impressed with Canada," said Cole. "It's going to be a tough game, but that's the beauty of a one-and-done situation at World Juniors. A seven-game series, the better team usually wins, but one-and-done, anything can happen. Great goaltending, a couple good bounces, a couple advantageous goals, who knows what can happen. I am holding out hope, wishing the boys all the best for Team USA."

QUOTE OF THE DAY

ONE TIMERS

Mikko Rantanen on his offseason training:
"It was a good break, it was pretty long. Obviously it was kind of tough, you didn't know when we were going to start… So that was kind of tough, but it was good. I was healthy and training hard for this season and feeling good."
Ian Cole on the vibe in the locker room:
"I think everybody is very, very excited. I think everyone is thrilled to be back. We have had some good meetings. We've had some, soul searching might be a little bit strong, but I think we've thought back to how that season ended last year, and I think that left a very, very sour taste in our mouth. There can be a lot of excuses made about injuries, or how we almost came back, or how we lost in Game 7 in overtime. I think you can say that all of those are all positives, but I think what it comes down to is that we lost and we weren't able to advance and really winning is what matters in this business. We lost and it left a very sour taste in our mouth, and there are many different points in that series last year where we could have won or taken control of that series and we didn't. We consider that a missed opportunity and something that really stings still to this day, six months later or whatever. So, I think very, very hungry would be a very apt way to describe it."
Logan O'Connor on the aspects of his game he is focusing on at camp:
"I think I can sort of be a little more patient with the puck at times. My game is all built around speed, but when I get in the offensive zone I feel I can take an extra half second here and there to assess the ice and see what options I have. Players now are so good at making plays that I need to step up to that level as well and then just continue to use my speed, that's obviously the biggest facet of my game. I pride myself on turning pucks over, being hard to play against, and I think that can put defensemen on their heels and that's a part of my game that I need to continue to grow because if that's not going my whole game tends to take a step back. I need to really hit the core of my game there and continue to do that throughout camp and this whole year."
O'Connor on what he took from the playoff bubble into his offseason training:
"After the bubble, I felt like I really excelled in my own personal game. Obviously wasn't the result we wanted as a team, but I have just been itching to get things started. After the bubble training camp, if you want to call it that, this will be my fourth training camp so learning curve of getting out there with the MacKinnons and Rantanens, that's passed. Those days are over. I just want to continue working on the things I have harped on throughout the last couple of years building strength, getting a little more corner weight so I can knock guys off the puck better, be a little stronger to play against in the tough guys--which a bottom-six guy is dependent on--and working on tight plays with my hands, I need to catch those up too my feet sometimes. Those are all things that I want to work on. It was a long offseason coming from the bubble, but I have been itching to get back here as fast as I can. I think everyone is really excited to get things going and finally have a plan in place."
Jared Bednar on what he has seen from the Group 2 players:
"I have really liked that group. I think that there are some guys that I wasn't familiar with that have come in and done a real nice job in that group. (Kyle) Burroughs on defense has looked real good, I think (Jacob) MacDonald has looked good again. He had a real good camp getting ready to go into the bubble and just because of our numbers he didn't make it in the bubble with us, but he had a real strong year in the American League and again has had a real good camp… I am just kind of watching some of the new guys, and Kiefer Sherwood has impressed me. Big, strong guy that can skate, physical game to him. Unfortunately, some of the guys you would like to see in exhibition games and watch them compete against somebody else."