Avalanche's depth, healthy roster can be strength of team throughout playoffs

DENVER -- Josh Manson had to think about it for a second.

The Colorado Avalanche had their full roster of players practicing on Saturday and all will be available for them in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round against the Los Angeles Kings at Ball Arena on Sunday (3 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, FDSNSC, truTV, TNT, ALT, TVAS2, SNP, SNW, SNO).

Everyone feeling great? It’s something the Avalanche haven’t enjoyed much this season.

“I mean, I don’t think we’ve been fully healthy, maybe one time. We’ve always had one guy comes in, one guy goes out. We’re excited,” Manson said after practice on Saturday. "We have a lot of belief in the group that we have and belief in our depth, too. Whoever comes in, comes out. So, we’re really excited to have a full team, a team we really believe in.”

That’s great for the Avalanche, who had the best record (55-16-11) in the NHL this season, and scary for anyone facing them.

“The depth can be the strength of our team,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “We’ve got a good group. We have guys who have specific roles on our team and they play them well. With some of the additions that we got at the deadline, it makes us a deeper four-line team with the health that we have right now. I’m excited about that and being able to keep the energy of our game where we want it to be and depth helps with that, being able to be a four line team.”

And it gives Bednar a chance to re-examine some lines they didn’t get enough opportunity to see in the regular season due to injuries. On Saturday, Nazem Kadri, who is expected to play on Sunday after missing five games with a finger injury, was center on the third line with left wing Gabriel Landeskog and right wing Nicolas Roy. Kadri and Landeskog played some together before Landeskog sustained a lower-body injury against the Dallas Stars on March 6, then played briefly together again earlier this month. 

Landeskog, Kadri and Roy have played just 4:40 together, against the St. Louis Blues on April 7, because Kadri was injured in that game.

“Obviously, with 'Naz' missing the last few games, it’s one thing we’re kind of missing out on is what is the chemistry of that line that we like? But I think 'Nic' has some attributes that I really like when it comes to playing with a guy like 'Naz.' He doesn’t like to throw the puck away, he’s able to hang onto it, find plays in traffic, play a little give-and-go game,” Bednar said. 

“'Landy' was with him today, too. They’re both able to go to the net, and get to the net, and win puck battles along the walls, and can then maybe free 'Naz' up to find some space and be a little bit more creative. Some of the things I look at when I’m putting together a line is that guys’ skill sets can complement one another.”

Kadri said the third line could be a “killer line.”

“I think we played a couple of games together and had some tremendous success, so I think we all work well off each other. It’s going to be an extremely hard line to play against and can obviously pitch in offensively. So, very excited to play with a couple of veteran guys who have that experience and should be a great combination.”

To say that the Avalanche suffered in the standings due to injuries would be a lie. Their longest losing streak this season was four games from Oct. 21-Oct.26, and they still got points out of that stretch (0-1-3). That’s a testament to their depth and the group that the Avalanche brass has built. That depth is just that much more eye-popping now that everyone is back.

“They’ve done everything they can to put us in good spots,” defenseman Cale Makar said of the Avalanche’s hockey operations. “I mean, we talk about it a lot. There’s a lot of outside noise and everyone wants to focus on how far you’re going to go. At this point, it really doesn’t matter. You’re focused on tomorrow and that’s it. After that game’s over, focus on the next one. Just try to build and build and build and see how far we go.

“For us again, it just goes back to sticking in the moment and making sure, as a group, we’re even keel and remain on a day-to-day basis.”