Avalanche News
5 Takeaways: Sakic, MacFarland Discuss Disappointing End To Season
We never used to get end-of-season press conferences from the Avalanche’s front office. But that changed in 2024 when general manager Chris MacFarland and Gabe Landeskog met with media to discuss the captains rehab.
This year looks a little bit different. The Avs bowed out in the first round after an epic Game 7 third-period collapse to the Dallas Stars. MacFarland held court to talk about how it all unfolded, but he was accompanied by team president Joe Sakic. That in itself was new. Sakic hasn’t spoken publicly in this manner since handing the reins over to MacFarland in 2022.
Given how things ended and the Mikko Rantanen saga, it was a good move for Sakic to also be there. MacFarland has spoken about Rantanen on multiple occassions.
Before diving into my five takeaways, I did want to note that MacFarland said the only notable injury was Ross Colton’s pulled groin. Others played with bumps and bruises but nothing worth mentioning. Simply, the Avs were beat by a better team.
No excuses from management.
“It wasn’t about the officiating at all. We just didn’t get it done,” MacFarland said. “We had three third-period leads, with 12 minutes to go and some crucial times where we had to come through, whether it was on special teams or whatever, to step on their throat early in the series and we didn’t do it.”
Added Sakic: “I went through as a player as well. Sometimes things just aren’t going to go your way. I look at Cale (Makar). Like Cale played so well. He had as many chances in the playoffs as he did in the regular season on a per-game thing. It might have gotten blocked, great saves, just missing the net at times. Those things happen, but it doesn’t mean you don’t play well. Sometimes it is just not going your way.
5 Takeaways
Ray Bennett Fired
Jared Bednar was given a full vote of confidence from the front office. But one of his longtime assistant coaches, Ray Bennett, was let go on Tuesday. Bennett has been on the Avs’ staff since 2017 and handled the power play.
The team has had a top 10 power play for several years but given how things unfolded in the postseason, it was time to move on. There’s no word yet on who will be hired to replace him, but they’ll have a full summer to find someone, although I doubt it takes that long.
I’ll write about some potential suitors soon.
Rantanen Trade? No Regrets. No Comments
This was expected. Neither MacFarland or Sakic were going to say anything different. Sakic reiterated what MacFarland told us back in January about the team’s lack of depth and making a tough decision to move on from a star player given the cap crunch.
But the part that stuck out to me was that neither would admit that it stung a little bit extra that Rantanen did what he did in that series. Neither was willing to comment on the trade that sent him from Carolina to Dallas or if they regretted not working with the superstar forward to ensure he signs in the Eastern Conference.
I know they saw my story and I still stand by it. It’s a fireable offense to let things play out the way they did. That opinion won’t change, even if MacFarland has a great offseason and rebuilds this team to a point where they can content again next year. And the reality is, he probably will.
Trading Rantanen is one thing. But finding out he wasn’t going to sign in Carolina at the same time as all of us is a bad look.
“We wanted to have him signed,” Sakic said. “I’m not going to go into details and talk about negotiations, but I know his agents. They know where they were at before the trade was made.”
Necas Extension Talks
Martin Necas is heading to the World Championships to play for Czech Republic. Him and Nathan MacKinnon will be the only two Avs players participating in the tournament.
I asked about getting a head start on the Necas negotiations — if the team is ready to sign him this summer a year before he becomes an unrestricted free agent or if they need to see more.
“In terms of any player, whether it’s Marty Necas or Parker Kelly, or anybody who’s got one year left and getting ahead of it type of thing, yeah, we’ll look at all that and try and see,” MacFarland said. “It takes takes two parties that have to want to get a deal done. We all know where the cap is going the following year. So we got to look at what those challenges are, and make those decisions.
“But when you have a year out, it’s not as pressing, obviously, if it’s a guy that’s up on June 30. But yes, we will look at all those things and see if we can make the puzzle pieces work and have those discussions like we do every year.”
I personally don’t think management should let this get to opening night without a contract. If they feel Necas is a long-term piece, get him signed by October. Don’t let this hang over your head like the Rantanen saga.
Landeskog’s Return is a Big Positive
Having Landeskog back and playing the way he did is one of the bright spots of an otherwise disappointing postseason. The most important part is, they can now plan to have him when building the roster. There isn’t this weirdness with accounting for his money while not knowing if or when he’ll play again.
The Avs are ultimately going into the offseason with all of their top four wingers under contract and healthy. They have Valeri Nichushkin, Artturi Lehkonen, Necas, and Landeskog all accounted for. They have a gaping hole at second line center and will look at bringing back Brock Nelson if he’s interested (I have my doubts that he stays).
But, they know Landeskog is back, he’s making $7 million, and is worth that cap hit. That’s a big, big positive.
Speaking of Landeskog, they also were asked about him not playing until Game 3 and said it was because of conditioning and ensuring he was up to speed and when he felt comfortable. I believe this.
I don’t buy for a second that they saved Landeskog for his return to be at Ball Arena. It’s the playoffs. If he and the coaching staff felt comfortable playing Game 1 or Game 2, he would’ve been in the lineup. Every extra day he had to practice and get up to speed at the NHL level helped.
Nabokov and Gulyeyev
These might be the only two high-pick prospects left in the Avalanche’s system that are worth following. Mikhail Gulyayev has one year remaining on his contract in the KHL and that was all MacFarland had to say about the possibility of him coming over to North America for the upcoming season.
As for the goalie, Ilya Nabokov, things are still up in the air.
“We have had discussions with Nabokov’s agent,” MacFarland said. “We’ll see if we can find (a deal). We would like to get something done there.”
Evan Rawal of the Gazette reported that Nabokov is taking his time to decide if he’d like to make the leap to North America.
Former Avalanche Great Adam Foote Lands Head Coaching Gig in Vancouver
Deen’s Daily: What To Do With Drouin; Dallas on Verge of Third Straight WCF; Ken Holland to LA?
Leave or Stay: Jonathan Drouin Enters Third Straight Year as UFA
Deen’s Daily: Stuart Skinner Has Arrived; Canes Win Again; What Should Avs Do at 2C?
Avalanche Mailbag 4.0: Clearing Cap Space, Offseason Changes & Should Avs Re-Sign Nelson?
Avalanche Mailbag: Let Your Frustrations Out — Ask Us Anything!
5 Takeaways: Sakic, MacFarland Discuss Disappointing End To Season
Avalanche Mailbag 2.0: Revisiting the Mikko Rantanen Saga
Avalanche Retain Jared Bednar, Fire Assistant Coach Ray Bennett Following Early Playoff Exit
Avalanche Mailbag 1.0: Coaching, Management, & What Went Wrong in the Playoffs?
Could have dumped Girard, Drouin and Nelson and (without Necas) had $17M to extend Rantanen and Manson this summer. And Skog-MacKinnon-Moose on the first line next season. Instead . . .
I’ll go over this slowly, kids . . .
Girard $5M
Nelson $3M
Necas $6.5M
Drouin $2.5
Total: $17.0
Class dismissed . . .
Of course, if we get rid of half of the team, we’ll find money.
I’m making over $13k a month working part time. I kept hearing other people tell me how much money they can make online so I decided to look into it. Well, it was all true and has totally changed my life. This is where I started
.
HERE—————⊃⫸ https://tinyurl.com/4e9eczre
Let’s do some realistic math… (all figures from Puckpedia) The Avs currently have $86.8m in salary committed next season with a $95.5m cap giving them $8.7m to use. If the Mikko trade never happened and his cap hit was $12m with Necas and Drury’s salaries coming off ($8.825m) that would reduce the available cap space for next year to $4.93m. Looking at UFA/RFA and assuming Wood takes one 3rd line spot you would still need a 4C (Drury), a 3rd line FWD (Kivi/Drouin), a 2C (Nelson), and 2 defensemen (Malinski and Lindgren) just to fill out a 20 man roster… Read more »
You are correct in that had they re – signed Rantanen at 12 it makes a tight cap situation that much tighter. Always knew that it would. Especially with Landy back on the books. I think next year without moving significant money off the books they were going to be screwed regardless. So personally I’d rather have Rantanen & 3 – 4 less in cap space to work with for one summer. The long term piece for me has always been is it worth trading him to give yourself a very negligible bit of cap relief for one year. The… Read more »
Time to Fire the teacher for figuring out how to add before figuring out how to count.
Girard costs $5m, both Drouin and Nelson are UFAs and Nelson specifically had zero to do with the Avs cap when they traded Moose. No idea on that math.
I’ll help you. When you get rid of 3 players from your lineup, you need 3 players to replace them. So you can’t just count the salary of the players who leave and the player you’re interested in getting in return. You also have to add the salary of two other players that don’t interest you in the equation.
I’m completely lost as well as to what you’re talking about lol.
Agee, that’s my point…no idea how those moves frees up $17m to sign Moose. The math makes zero sense
Nelson : 6M
Girard : 5M
Drouin : 2.5M
Total : 13.5M
Rantanen 14M
Player #2 : 1M
Player #3 : 1M
Total : 16M
13.5M – 16M = -2.5M
In terms of accounts, we are in the red.
Mikko signed for 12. You’d also lose Jack Drury and presumably find someone cheaper to replace him. I’m sure an AHLer can take the game losing penalty. That math above is screwy but the real issue was that Mikko was making 9 and change. You needed about an extra two and a half to sign him so you could just dump Miles Wood. There’s the contract right there. You could go without a scratch and play the cap game to make things work. Ivan Ivan and what not. It’s plenty doable if you aren’t an idiot.
Rantanen demanded 14M from Colorado. MacFarland didn’t want to take the risk of losing Rantanen for nothing in the summer and if he wanted to keep him, the amount to pay was 14M.
Uh, you forgot that Necas eats up $6.5M, brah.
Landeskog eats up 7M, Makar eats up 9M, Toews eats up 7,25M, Nichushkin eats up 6.125M, etc. I’m aware of all this, man.
Dude, if the Lanche had Rantanen, they wouldn’t have Necas and his $6.5M salary. What part don’t you get?
Would rather have a superstar on the first line over three minimium-wage guys on the fourth line.
When you add minimum wage players on your 4th line to pay your superstar, you inevitably add minimum salary players on the 3rd line as well. A team that doesn’t have a strong 3rd and 4th line doesn’t get far in the playoffs.
According to Puckpedia, the Lanche could reasonably have had a $95M payroll for 23 players under contract next season WITH Rantanen on the roster. I’ll post more on this later.
Uh, you forget that Necas eats up $6.5M, brah.
Exactly! Dump those three and remove Necas from the roster, and Rantanen could have been extended at $12M/season. And there STILL would be $5M to burn!
Last post as you have little grasp on the reality of the cap. Avs as it stands now have to replace 2 D and a 2C and have around $8.5 to work with. You want to dump an additional 4 while taking on $3.5m in liabilities so the Avs would need to replace 38% of their 20 man roster to spite being a poor cap situation and with rising player costs due to the cap increase. Seems easy on paper, but finding those 7 guys with minimal trade chips and cap room is a fool’s errand…doesn’t matter much anyway, based… Read more »
Although Samy g didn’t see score sheet as much as we all would like to see he was not on the ice for a few goals when it really counted. I’m very interested and puzzled as what happened to Cale in the series. Is there stats on how many times he didn’t hit the net last 7 games
Girard’s diminutive stature is a liability.
He’s a productive player during the Ice Capades season. But once the playoffs roll around and the ice shrinks, he is a big time liability. I think this is the year to trade him. I know $5M/year is cap friendly but the Avs need to build a team for the playoffs. Not enough toughness and grit down low to move players out of the front of the net or win the battles in the corners. During the 2021-2022 Cup run, for the last two series (Oilers and Lightning) Sammy G was absent as he was knocked out in St. Louis.… Read more »
Landeskog had surgery to receive a cartilage transplant in his knee 2 years ago. Landeskog has been working to recover from this surgery for two years and has been training all winter. He played 2 games back to back with the Eagles a week before the start of the playoffs. And MacFarland says Landeskog needed more time to get up to speed. If that is the reality, it is downright bad planning. Bednar and the rest of the staff should have been able to work out a schedule so that Landeskog could return to the team in the first game… Read more »
They made it seems as if Landeskog needed a bit more practice time to “get up to speed”. Which sure, whatever. If we assume this to be true. It still really doesn’t explain why he suited up & took warm – ups before game 2. If one were a conspiracy theorist. There’s plenty to point to that would indicate the Avs were purposely holding him back for the home games. They were up 1 – 0 in the series, he’s filming a doc & what a great bookend for said doc for him to make his return at a sold… Read more »
That whole mess was about putting the hype over the team. They wanted him to have his comeback at home. The circus cost them a game. Not playing Landy in games 1 and 2 was another contributor to the series loss. Just as not replacing Makar on the PP with Toews or better yet Malinski. There were a number of mistakes in managing the team that ultimately cost the series. The Landy thing was just more proof that the business comes before winning in today’s world.
Do more Joe!
My feelings on Necas aside. They’re in a tough spot. Another underwhelming postseason performance. Yet he’s coming off a career year. Do you extend him in the off – season & pay him more potentially than you feel comfortable with because of said year. Or do you let him start the year without an extension & run the risk (since we assume he’ll be playing on Mack’s wing again). That he has a 90 plus pt season & then you’re looking at having to extend him at a number that isn’t really far off what you would’ve had to pay… Read more »
Necas’ production dropped while playing with Mackinnon.
How do you figure that? He played with Mackinnon the vast majority of the time. Virtually the entire regular season after he was acquired. And in the postseason.
But I would assume if next year he’s playing next to Charlie Coyle or whomever they might acquire in the off – season to be the 14th 2C of the CMac era. As oppose to Mack his production will plummet.
Here comes NecasDrury to say why that’s blasphemous in 3…2…1…
2024-2025 NHL Season :
with Carolina : 1.12 point/game
with Colorado : 0.93 point/game
Oh..I understand what you initially meant now. Well..I think the Canes knew & the Avs should’ve too. That Necas leading the league in pts early in the season & going off in Carolina was an aberration.
Nobody thought he was an elite player around the league. Good..not elite.
Trade Nuke for some trade chips. Trade Necas and those pieces for a true blue superstar to carry in the moments they’ll need to carry.
I think they should be open to trading either. Nuke is a headcase. When he’s not been suspended or gone AWOL over the last 3 years he’s been hurt. Then this past year when he was in the lineup he was either a difference maker. Or appeared completely checked out.
If you go back & look at how many killer goals against he was on the ice for where he didn’t really back check or just was floating in the neutral zone. Not a good look.
And Necas for obvious reasons…
Today this franchise made a statement that they are happy with just making it to the playoffs. We are the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NHL. You trade away a superstar, don’t do your homework on the team you traded him to, so happen to play him in the playoffs, get embarrassed by him (most embarrassing in franchise history), and you keep your job? The Avs are unserious and obviously aren’t committed to getting any better. They stand by their decision and claim “depth?” Ok, where was that depth, where were the new pieces that were so important that we traded… Read more »
I have a raccoon in my house. Do you think he could do the trick?
It’s funny you compared the Avs to the Steelers. Earlier today at work I was daydreaming & thought how much Jared Bednar is the Mike Tomlin of the NHL. And I don’t necessarily mean that as a compliment.
I’m originally from the ‘burg and you’ve really crossed the line this time 😉. Since winning a cup the Avs have undeachieved with some really good and a few great players. Tomlin consistently makes the playoffs with mediocre rosters that he’s been dealt. Belachick and Mike Shanahan did shit once their HoF QBs were gone. Steelers weren’t going to the Super Bowl after Roethlisberger retired but they kept making the playoffs
I’ll defer to you lol. I stopped following the NFL as closely as I once did. My brother is a huge Steelers fan. So most of my intimate knowledge of Tomlin as a strategist & what those in the hardcore fanbase think of the job he’s done is from him. And my brother is most definitely not his biggest fan. From the outside looking in. I just thought it was a pretty apt comparison. In that they’re long tenured coaches who have gotten tons of shit from their respective fanbases for “underachieving”. As I’ve said before. I’m not going to… Read more »
Spencer Carbury, Jim Montgomery
Yeah. Montgomery is a legit EXCELLENT hockey coach. Boston is really..really going to regret letting him go. And then of all people to plug in his place Joe Sacco…good lord.
As for your last paragraph, hockey isn’t unique. The difference is the length of the season. The saying, “on any given Sunday” is true because upsets are always possible and each game in the NFL is significant for the standings. All other major sports’ seasons are a slog. Upsets are possible there too but each game is less significant as a stand alone. The longer a season, or series will ultimately eliminate the imposters
I agree. I think in terms of quality of play baseball, hockey & especially basketball would greatly benefit from shortened reg seasons. Obviously that’s never going to happen.
By the time we’re old men the NFL will probably be up to 20 reg season games a year lol.
Bennett was the scapegoat and got fired.
Bednar is the HC and if he sees the PP isn’t working then he should tell his PP coach to switch crap up or do it himself.
I don’t see avs upgrading there roster unless they get rid of some cap.
They should def let drouin walk in FA.
They should trade Girard and manson colton and wood.
They should resign Nelson and lindgren depending on the price.
Lindgren and malinski could be bottom 3rd pairing.
Well, that was a weird season. 1 for 3 on my list of “I’m happy with how this went.” 1-The Red Wings continued to be irrelevant by finishing as high as they could in the standings without making the playoffs. This is always the foundation for a satisfying season. Why do I even care about the Wings anymore? Old habits die hard. [Check that box!] 2-The Sharks are very bad, but actually really fun to watch… still, very bad. [No check for that box] 3-Landy coming back was really cool thing, so there’s that. However, the Avs front office got… Read more »
feels like they’re in denial. First round exits two of three years. The year they advanced the opposing goalie collapsed. More and more looking like 22 was a perfect storm. A well engineered one, but some good fortune as well. They decided to let a 22 minute a night guy go because the guys that play seven and eight a night aren’t good enough. That’s some weak stuff. Within five years that’ll be as antiquated as fullbacks in the NFL. Starting to think maybe Joe needs to go as well.
It is bizarre how every roster decision & trade leading up to 22 was smart. And since not so much…
It is bizarre and if you look at all three Avs cup victories they all seemed to fall into similar habits after winning them. After ’96 they traded Simon and Leschyshyn, bad move come playoff time in ’97. After ’01 Bourque retired, but the Avs still lost some grit and skill on the lower lines, other factors too leading up to the ’02 meltdown. After ’22 not making way to keep Kadri which they may as well have done at this point, obviously cap being a factor while the previous cups didn’t have to deal with that to set them… Read more »
The Avs built a better roster without Mikko. Deeper and more skilled across all four lines. With him, they were top heavy and probably would have been ejected in 5 or 6 five by the Jets. Without him, they were a bounce or two from legit Stanley Cup contention.
I look forward to seeing next year’s deeper, more complete team. The window remains way open.
For the 1000th time. Trading Mikko gave them an extra million dollars of cap space. Trading him gave them virtually no extra flexibility. They got considerably worse in their top 6. And got a 4th liner. Just because Macfarland keeps parroting the line “they needed to get deeper” (which was true). Doesn’t mean that trading your 2nd best forward & making your team WORSE by doing so, was the course to take. Like the trade, don’t like the trade, whatever. But let’s stop with the false narratives. The Nelson trade, the Coyle trade, Lindgren. Everything would’ve been the same had… Read more »
It’s strange that you insist on demonstrating that MacFarland made a serious mistake by trading a future Hall of Famer in his prime. But that you were ready to lose Rantanen for nothing in the summer. Similarly, you were willing to sacrifice 3-4 years to be serious contenders for the Stanley Cup for a single year, and this after 2 fiascos. It’s a good thing you’re not a GM.
How does signing Mikko Rantanen long term negate any chance of the Avs contending going forward. There’s plenty of maneuvering that can be done to free up cap space. Look at how many players on this roster who have movable contracts that are expendable & making a touch too much. * Colton * Girard * Manson * Wood Plus you have guys like Coyle & maybe even Nuke that you could entertain getting rid of this summer. And the cap is going up considerably, & that’s not nothing. Part of being a good & competent GM is being able to… Read more »
As much as i love Necas, truly, i feel Newhook is the best ever!
Don’t know how the negotiations last time between the Rantanen clan and the Avalanche went? Rantanen wasn’t even at training camp and was threatening not to start the season. Rantanen still has the same agent. And this time, Rantanen was not going to be a restricted free agent but an unrestricted free agent. That makes all the difference. But it seems that you deliberately ignore these elements in an attempt to defend your narrative to the end. But the problem is that the foundations of your narrative are like mud. MacFarland had a budget and a salary cap to respect.… Read more »
Loud stick tap for Aarif, who had the balls to correctly say MacFarland should get his fired because of his complete and utter incompetency.
Can’t believe Clueless Joe approved the Rantanen steal. More than anyone in the organ-i-azation, he should know the value of a superstar player.
What about Landy as #2C for next year?
Well I guess we are where we are. We can talk players, we can talk what ifs, but the real problem with the core of this team (even when Landy was not hurt) is that apart from one year, the players are lacking a mental toughness in the playoffs. When things go bad, they crumble. They NEVER recover and show poise. Poise, or the lack thereof, for such an experienced team at this point, is shocking. Nukes decision to do a behind the legs pass in the offensive zone when we have a 2-0 lead just plain f*cking stupid. Girard… Read more »
You also forgot about Makar who wasn’t aiming for the net. Lindgren who doesn’t know how to pivot on the right side. Manson, Kelly and Drury who take stupid penalties. Lekhonen, Nichushkin and Drouin who didn’t produce up to the mark. There is no shortage of players to free up cap space.
you are right, when we were up 2-0 and pressing to start the third, Makar had a great opportunity in the slot and again shot it right into their goalies’ glove, but this team lacked killer instinct all year.
Send Necas and Girard to Ottawa for Brady Tkachuk. The team needs more grit, not speed.