Morning Skate Diary
Nazem Kadri back in regular jersey, Devon Toews to get next four games off
The morning skate for the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena is over, and there are some personnel notes to list here, starting with Nazem Kadri and Devon Toews:
- Kadri returned to wearing a normal, full-contact jersey today. However, he won’t play tonight. He is expected to be back in the lineup at some point on the Avs’ upcoming three-game road trip to Seattle, Edmonton and Winnipeg.
- Devon Toews, as expected, won’t play against the Capitals and won’t make the trip. “We’ll leave him here,” Jared Bednar said. So Toews will get the next four games off, at least, actually. Don’t get too alarmed here, but Bednar did say Toews has a couple of nagging little injuries and the time off will do him good. Bednar said, if this were a playoff series, Toews would be in, no problem.
- Bednar said Kurtis MacDermid would slot in for Toews.
- Erik Johnson will get a night off tonight. “E.J. is still dealing with a lower body [injury],” Bednar said.
- Andrew Cogliano also will get the night off, with Darren Helm sliding in for him. Bednar said Cogliano “actually has an upper-body thing going on.”
- Darcy Kuemper will start against the Capitals.
- Bednar said Bo Byram would get some added responsibility on the power play with Toews out. That’s a nice show of confidence from Bednar in Byram. “He’s going to run the top of the second unit,” Bednar said of Byram. “He’s playing the right side right now with [MacDermid], but he’ll be seeing time with [Cale] Makar as well.”
- Ben Meyers will play again tonight.
- Frankly, I’d like to see Cale Makar get some time off, too. But his Norris Trophy battle with Roman Josi likely explains why he hasn’t gotten any of late and might not down the stretch either.
- Avs are -190 favorites to beat the Caps tonight, at SuperBook Colorado.
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I would love to see the Makar/Byram pairing happen again. It was disgusting how good they were together earlier this season.
Yes, whoa. That was one dynamic pairing. Every time they are in the attack zone, it’s a goal waiting to happen. Love the way they both stick handle and can move the puck around. Bo’s skating skills are underrated – – or at least I don’t think it gets mentioned often.
I really like what Bednar and the Avs are doing in resting players. With the deep roster – – it keeps everyone’s head in the game while letting key players recuperate from a long regular season. It wouldn’t have happened if Sakic didn’t make the moves and acquisitions he did before the trading deadline. By far, Joe’s best year at the helm, IMHO.
Joe and staff have outdone themselves prior to the trade deadline this year. Really good to see MacDermid back in the lineup. You want to keep him from getting rusty in case they need him in some of the early round matchups.
Dont’ forget Tom Wilson will be in the line up tonight…
Good thing MacDermid will be on the ice in case Wilson decides to take some liberties with Bo Byram,
It’s nice to be able to rest guys for sure. But it’s just as nice to have the pedal to the metal and come into the playoffs on a tear, like what seems to be happening. Joe’s giving us cake and letting us eat it too 😀 Most importantly though, seems like the leadership (Joe, Beds, the core) is keeping the team in the proper mindset of trying to develop winning habits and attitude every game instead of taking it easy and coming into the playoffs in a sloppy manner. Have I mentioned I really really like and appreciate Super… Read more »
Great to see some guys getting rest.
When Kadri comes back, it will be interesting to see how Bednar continues to juggle his lines. Who will get sent back to the 3rd line? Will it be Compher or Lehkonen? If it is Compher, will Sturm stay on the 3rd line or go to the 4th? Resting players is great, but I hope the team is able to play a game or two with their proposed playoff lineup intact, especially the 3rd and 4th line.
Pretty good news all around there AD. I agree with you about resting Makar some, but I think they’ll probably do that with more minute management than games off. I would still anticipate him not making the trip to Minnesota unless he has something worth playing for like a 30th goal or something like that. I’m just looking forward to seeing him and Byram playing a lot together over the next week, that will be a lot of fun.
Yes indeed some good things finally for the HAvs! Yes I coined it. I represent it! Anywho, the only thing that matters about lines is the effectivness of them. Who GAFF what the line number is, the big line, the small line, the fast line, the lift line. All that matters is 60 minutes full bore from 23 players!
Would have liked to see Frankie between the pipes tonight, especially after what happened to the Canes goalie on Saturday. Plus, he needs to see more pucks heading into the playoffs just in case.