Bednar wants to see that same kind of offensive production from the center, who enters the game with four points on the season--three of which came in a hat trick on opening night.
"[The new] guys were brought in for a reason. They've scored in other places. [Colborne's] a guy that had 19 goals last year; we need him to start producing again," Bednar said. "He had a good night the first night, but he's kind of been cold ever since."
At 6-foot-5 and 221 pounds, Colborne is a big presence on the ice and admits that he does some of his best work low in the offensive zone and in front of opposing netminders.
He'll be expected to do much of the same with his new linemates. With Colborne possibly gaining more attention from the Kings in the slot, it could result in MacKinnon and Landeskog having more room to make plays elsewhere.
Colborne said the coaching staff wants him to just the play the game that he knows he can play.
"Be strong on pucks, get some pucks to those guys and let them do their thing," Colborne said. "Get to the net and open up some space and go and score some goals. Hopefully we get some chemistry going right from the start, and it's the start of a good thing."
The Avalanche has scored just seven goals over its last six games, and moving Colborne to the top trio is just one of a few minor tweaks Bednar will make to his lineup in an effort to generate more offense.
Rookie Mikko Rantanen is expected to play with Rene Bourque and Carl Soderberg in a top-six group, and Mikhail Grigorenko should center a combo with Cody McLeod and Andreas Martinsen. Jarome Iginla and John Mitchell will play with Blake Comeau, who will make his return to the ice after missing four games with a nagging groin injury.
"We need some production throughout our lineup. It can't just be our top guys," Bednar said. "We need to find some secondary scoring--some primary scoring really at this point. We've had combinations together. We've tried to leave them together for four or five games, six games; we see some things we like and then we don't and we split them up again. We have to find something that works. We just can't leave it the way it is."
On defense, Patrick Wiercioch will reenter the fold after sitting out two contests as a healthy scratch. He'll be paired with Tyson Barrie, who he played with earlier in the season.
Wiercioch will also be back on the left side, a spot he's excited to return to and thinks will help create more offense for the team.
"It's a little more familiar I guess on that side. It gives you a little different option in the offensive zone to shoot pucks with different angles. Obviously, [Barrie's] a skilled player, a guy that can handle the puck. Give it to him early and let him skate with it."