Avs Focus On Pace During Camp

Training camps are designed to help players get back into game shape and recreate some chemistry with their teammates.

Through the first two days of its Phase 3 camp, the Colorado Avalanche has already shown signs of picking up where it left off. Avs practices all season have featured both a high pace and a high tempo, and that hasn't changed since the team returned to the ice on Monday from its long layoff.

"I am impressed with our guys after two days of skating. We have gone to small groups. We have had 15 skaters in each group plus the goalies and we have run for 50 to 55 minutes with both groups for two days," said Bednar. "I thought the pace has been real good, it hasn't slowed down. Execution has been OK, I think some of our details are just probably a little lax and getting better in certain drills as they go along. I think the guys, and from talking to them during the break and talking to some of our leaders over the last few days and just touching base with guys, I think they are feeling good. I think that we will be in good shape when it comes to our conditioning when Edmonton rolls around."

The Avs will continue their camp in Denver before travelling to Edmonton, Alberta, on July 26 for the 2020 postseason. Bednar said after the first day of sessions on Monday that he wants to use the practices in the Mile High City to try out different lineup combinations. On Tuesday, he split up his longtime trio of Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. Landeskog skated with Nazem Kadri and Valeri Nichushkin while Andre Burakovsky was on a line with MacKinnon and Rantanen.

In the 2019-20 season, Burakovsky reached the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career and set personal highs with 45 points and 25 assists.

"Burky has had a real good year for us. He has been a dangerous player, can be a little bit of a streaky scorer, and when he is skating and moving his feet and playing with confidence and he's using that shot he's got, I think he is a real dangerous offensive guy," said Bednar. "[He] put up career numbers this year in a shortened season. I see him as a key guy that can help us have success here in the playoffs when you are going to need depth scoring."

In addition to testing out a Burakovsky, MacKinnon and Rantanen threesome, Bednar is intrigued by what the combination of Landeskog, Kadri and Nichushkin could do.

"As far as Landy moving to that line, I have a similar feeling about Kadri. I think we know what we have seen here and what we have had the last couple years with Landy, MacK and Mikko that they are a real good line together, we had some success with them apart this year.

I see Kadri a lot like Burakovsky as sort of a swing player for us," Bednar added. "If he is playing real well and he is in a role where he can play and agitate and shut down other teams' top guys, it just frees up the MacKinnon line even more.

"Two of the players that I feel can help him do that are Landeskog and Nichushkin, who has had a stellar defensive season. Both guys are big and strong, hard on pucks, they check real well and I think there is some offensive ability in all three of those guys. If we can find some chemistry with them together it just gives us another real good option."

All of the forward combinations and defensive pairings will remain fluid through the camp and into Colorado's Stanley Cup Qualifier contests with the hope that some chemistry between different lines will develop.

"We are going to look at playing with that second line a little bit and our third line probably at times, which will affect the top line," said Bednar. "I just want to get them playing and moving together on certain days through training camp, so we have some of those options available when we get to the round robin and/or playoffs."

TED LINDSAY FINALIST

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On Tuesday morning, the NHLPA announced that Avs center Nathan MacKinnon is one of three finalists for the 2019-20 Ted Lindsay Award, an award that is presented annually "to the most outstanding player in the NHL," as voted by fellow members of the NHLPA.

The other finalists are the Edmonton Oilers' Leon Draisaitl and the New York Rangers' Artemi Panarin. It is the second time that MacKinnon has been named a finalist for the award (also 2017-18), and he looks to join Joe Sakic (2000-01) as the second Avalanche player to receive the award.

"It doesn't surprise me, would have surprised me if he wouldn't have been one of the finalists," said Colorado goaltender Philipp Grubauer. "Speaks for itself. Great guy, obviously can make something happen out there so hopefully he is going to win it."

MacKinnon led the Avalanche and finished fifth in league scoring with 93 points (35 goals, 58 assists) this season, skating in 69 of Colorado's 70 regular-season games. He finished the campaign 43 points ahead of the Avs' second-leading scorer, Cale Makar (50 points), the largest gap of any team since the 2007-08 Washington Capitals.

"I think it's well deserved. That's the player-voted MVP and then there's the writer-voted MVP, which is the Hart (Memorial Trophy)," said Avs head coach Jared Bednar. "We're spoiled--we see him every day--but obviously the impact that he has for our team we consider him an MVP candidate and lots around the league are taking notice of that. I think, especially if you look at this year and what he did with our team to try and keep us in the mix for first in the West, I think he has 43 more points than anyone else on our team. When you look at some of the injuries that we had throughout the course of the season and we didn't miss a beat and that was because of players like MacK leading the charge and elevating their game when we needed them most. That's what an MVP does, so I think it's very well deserved. Hopefully he wins them both."

The league will announce the finalists for the Hart Memorial Trophy on Tuesday and the winners of the 2020 NHL Awards will be revealed during the conference finals, with exact dates, format and times to be determined.

WHAT'S NEXT

Colorado has another day of practice set for Wednesday, which will once again feature the roster split into two groups.

"Just having the 30 skaters, as opposed to 50 or 60 like we'd have at a regular training camp is going to be a positive," Bednar said of the camp so far. "You get to work with smaller groups, guys that are dialed in, that are hungry to get going for the round robin and the playoffs. That sort of mental engagement and intensity that you need for practices and scrimmages over the next couple weeks is what we are looking for. I think our guys are ready to bring that and excited to play."

LINE COMBINATIONS

Group 1

Andre Burakovsky - Nathan MacKinnon - Mikko Rantanen
Gabriel Landeskog - Nazem Kadri - Valeri Nichushkin
Tyson Jost - Vladislav Kamenev - T.J. Tynan

Ryan Graves - Cale Makar
Samuel Girard - Erik Johnson
Conor Timmins - Jacob MacDonald

Philipp Grubauer & Pavel Francouz

Group 2

Vladislav Namestnikov - J.T. Compher - Joonas Donskoi
Matt Calvert - Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - Matt Nieto
Shane Bowers - Sheldon Dries - Logan O'Connor

Nikita Zadorov - Ian Cole
Kevin Connauton - Mark Barberio
Bowen Byram - Anton Lindholm

Michael Hutchinson & Adam Werner