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I like Slufoot's lines and those will be the most logical going forward.
Someone had posted a fourth line of McLoed-Mitchell-Kobasew....
Personally I don't see Kobasew on that 4th line, a fiesty energy guy like Olver will out play Kobasew who will spend most of his time in the press box, until an injury is forth coming.
A lot of Avs fans are a little disappointed in the teams' offseason. Parenteau was great but were hoping for a little more than just Zanon and Mitchell as depth signings.
I guess what a lot of people forget is that they made some great moves at the deadline by bringing in Downie and McGinn, whom with a full healthy season should thrive in Colorado.
Stastny should bounce back to his 70 pt. ways. The quality of his wingers isn't what it once was, but Jones and McGinn should both be able to pot 20-25 goals this season. He put up 32 pts. in 42 games in 2012, and the chemistry with Jones and McGinn was obvious.
Duchene played injured last season, and him back at 100% should see him get back on track and 65+ points. The benefit of having Parenteau on his line is that Duchene won't feel the need to do it all himself, which was a common theme last season. Parenteau is a solid playmaker who will get Duchene the puck, and Duchene has the speed to get into open spaces and into good scoring opportunities. 14 goals and 37 points is not the way Hejduk wanted to finish his career and he should come back to score 20 goals with a healthy Duchene and Parenteau playing the easy minutes.
Ryan O'Reilly is a terrific hockey player, but it looked like he was tired nearing the stretch run for the Avs. Playing night in and night out against the other teams' top offensive units and still being looked at to carry the offensive load took its toll. He finished the year with 5 points in 18 games, and he had 50 pts. at the end of February in 63 games.
Hopefully Landy can continue to build on his Calder season for next year.
I think Varlamov really established him in the last couple of months of the season, and the biggest improvement that needs to come from this team is Erik Johnson on the blueline. 4 goals and 26 points just isn't good enough. 5 goals by a D-man was tops on the team last year thanks to Jan Hejda and the departed Kyle Quincey. EJ and the way he'll run the PP will be big keys for the Avs next season. Especially when you look at the lack of offense from the blueline: Wilson, O'Brien, Hejda, O'Byrne, Zanon, and Hunwick don't exactly jump out off the page to cement a spot on either of the PP units.
If Elliott or Barrie do enough in training camp to stay up with the club to help with the offensive part of the game than Hunwick could find himself in the press box along with another D man perhaps getting traded.
Based on a sub par year from Stastny, EJ, Mueller, Jones and Hejduk, and the injuries to Duchene the fact that this team was only 7 points out of a playoff spot (thanks mostly in part by Landeskog and O'Reilly) is pretty remarkable. For next season, they just need their best players to be their best players.
Finally, Joey Hishon has been cleared to resume activities back at the start of June, so if all goes well, he should be playing hockey this fall. Also 2nd round draft pick Mitchell Heard being 20 years old already could knock out Kobasew from that 4th line spot if he impresses in camp the way he did last season in Toronto.
Also, it's nice to be back
Originally Posted by mapletreemarty
