Deen’s Daily: Winless Preds; Avalanche Close out Homestand; Goaltenders Getting Paid

The Avalanche have a chance to turn things around on Friday when they host the Anaheim Ducks. The team coached by Greg Cronin has been sneaky good to start the season, albeit they’ve played just three games. They are 2-1-0 and have scored just eight goals and surrendered seven in that stretch. Not bad for a 27-win team that couldn’t stop a beach ball last season.

In Colorado’s first three losses, the team didn’t seem to have much to build off of. Each of the first two games was mired with bad goaltending and the third game was a brutal effort all-around — especially for the star players. But the final 25 minutes against Boston and specifically the third period was the best hockey the Avs have played all year. Things slowly started to come together and you could tell they’ve developed some chemistry with this depleted lineup.

I discussed this, and more, on my podcast, Rinkside with Aarif Deen, on the Mile High Sports platform. Give the episode a listen (and subscribe to the podcast!) to prep for what should be a good game for the Avs.

The reality is, the guys currently healthy and in the lineup are the ones that are going to have to figure it out. Given the cap constraints and the fact that it’s too early into the season for teams to sell off assets, Colorado isn’t getting help from outside of the organization. And the guys that are injured aren’t expected back on Friday. Read more about that here.

One of the things that has worked for the Avs is the shift of Ross Colton from center to wing. In Tampa Bay, Colton exclusively played on the wing. But when Colorado acquired him last summer, they did it with a plan in mind to shift him to center on the third line. With all the center depth issues the team had last year, Colton didn’t get a chance to shift to the wing when injuries hampered the top six. But with Casey Mittelstadt here, Colorado has that option this year. Colleen Flynn wrote about this and the recent play of Colton in general.

Around The NHL

Nashville: The Predators lost again, this time falling 4-2 to the Edmonton Oilers. That means Colorado has a chance to get a point before the Preds. Both teams are 0-4-0 and are the only two teams without a point in the standings. The only other team in the league without a win is San Jose, although they are 0-2-2. Nashville’s next game is at noon on Saturday against Detroit.

Dallas: The Stars announced on Thursday that starting goaltender Jake Oettinger signed an eight-year $66 million contract — matching the deal that Jeremy Swayman signed with the Bruins before the season began. Boston’s goalie wanted to shake up the goaltender market and did exactly that. Since Swayman’s deal was announced, Linus Ullmark (4 years, $33 million) and Oettinger have both signed for the same $8.25 million AAV. Before Swayman’s deal, and the two that followed, only four active goalies were in the $8 million or higher range: Andrei Vasilevskiy, Sergei Bobrovsky, Connor Hellebuyck, and Ilya Sorokin. That number is almost double now.

Utah: Defenseman Sean Durzi was hurt against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday and is expected to miss some time. It’s tough news for the Avs’ division rivals, and for Durzi, who has been excellent for Utah Hockey Club to start the year. Earlier in the week, Durzi played more than 29 minutes in a 6-5 OT victory over the New York Rangers.

Pittsburgh: Goalie issues? Somewhere other than Colorado? The Penguins have a Tristan Jarry problem, says Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now.