DENVER - Lars Eller may be new to the Colorado Avalanche, though he’s not a beginner when it comes to the mentality required for a title defence.
“There should be no doubt within the room that you’re able to do it, because you’ve already done it. If you’ve done it once, you can do it again,” said Eller, who captured the 2018 Stanley Cup as a member of the Washington Capitals and was a shrewd trade deadline acquisition this year by general manager Chris MacFarland. “Any doubt or hesitation, none of that is there.”
The Colorado Avalanche open the playoffs on Tuesday night against the Seattle Kraken and while belief isn’t the only quality needed to achieve the goal of recording 16 victories to capture the Stanley Cup, it is definitely an important one to have in the toolkit.
“It's helped us immensely, not just come playoff time but I just think you’ve got to get your team to a spot not only where they believe they can win, but when they're going above and beyond in order to win,” said Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar. “And that's where we got to last year. It's where we failed the years prior. So I think our guys have a really good understanding of that. And so then even going through the regular season, I think that's helped drive our team down the stretch again and then the second half guys just going above and beyond or doing the little extra things, the attention to detail, the habits, understanding how important those are to put ourselves in the best position come playoff time, that we're playing with those habits and details in order to win hockey games.
“For us, it's not just about getting to the playoffs. It's what we need to do when we get there to have success and that takes practice and that takes commitment. And so, in winning last year, our guys proved that they could get there and now we want them to get there again.”
Although news this week that Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog is still dealing with a cartilage issue on the bottom of his patella and won’t return for the Stanley Cup playoffs after missing the entire regular season is a blow, the group did have 82 games to adapt to life without him.
And as he pointed out this week, Landeskog will still be around for moral support and will continue to provide leadership despite not being in uniform.
“There's a lot of champions in there. Majority of the guys were there, and they know what to expect,” said Landeskog. “The advantage you have after having gone through it is (that) you know what to expect every step of the way. Will things be difficult and hard? Absolutely, as it should be. It's the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“But I think my message is just kind of be there, support them, give them any help if they need it. The leadership group in there is very strong. We've got plenty of guys in there with experience, but also just kind of that passion and the drive to do it again. The hunger to do it again. I've been very impressed with what I've seen, especially the second half of the season. Starting to recognize our hockey team again after obviously it was a tough first half of the season, in terms of who was in the lineup on a nightly basis. It was very choppy. There was no real flow to it. Second half of the season, guys have done an amazing job. And I'm confident in our group in there. Whoever we're lined up against, I like our chances.”
Even without Landeskog, the power forward and captain, the Avalanche enter the postseason as one of the prohibitive favourites, as the second seed in the West and the team that finished tied for sixth in the NHL in points (109) with the Edmonton Oilers.
The Avalanche spent large chunks of the season playing without key cogs, which allowed the organization a chance to test its depth and for some other players to see expanded roles.
Down the stretch, the Avalanche clearly found their groove, rocketing from a wild card berth to capturing the Central Division for a third consecutive season.
The atmosphere at Ball Arena remains electric and the Avalanche were road warriors this season, putting together an 11-game road winning streak to end the campaign, allowing them to set a franchise record for road wins (29) in the process.
Although defenceman Cale Makar was limited to 60 games due to injury, he played exceptional hockey when he was available, contributing 17 goals and 66 points.
And the Avalanche continue to be led by one of the fiercest one-two punches in the NHL in centre Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen.
MacKinnon and Rantanen are legitimate candidates for the No. 2 spot on the Hart Trophy ballot, with both players eclipsing 100 points for the first time in their respective careers (111 for MacKinnon, 105 for Rantanen), while also producing career highs for goals (55 for Rantanen, 46 for MacKinnon).
Since Bednar has witnessed their growth and emergence firsthand since his arrival on the scene for the 2016-17 season, I posed the question to him last week, just to see what he might have to offer in the quest to try and determine who is having the more valuable season.
Spoiler alert, it was like asking a parent to try and decide who their favourite child was (but it was still worth a shot).
“I’ve been asked this question a couple of times already and I can’t (separate them),” said Bednar. “They’re both so valuable to our team and they contribute in different ways. I’m impressed with both of their seasons and really the main reason, which I think makes this year better than their year’s past regular season is they didn’t play together. So all of their numbers and career highs that they’ve hit over the course of the (years), they’ve played together, they played with one another and off one another and complemented one another.
Now they are, but for the bulk of the season, they didn’t. And they still put up career highs. So that just kind of shows you what they’re made of.
“It would be really hard for me to pick one, to be honest with you.”
Bednar doesn’t have to choose between the two players, he’s got the luxury of tapping them on the shoulder to go on the ice whenever he sees fit.
Make no mistake, MacKinnon and Rantanen are tough to handle for an opponent, whether they’re playing together and dominating or are on separate lines in an effort to spread out the offensive wealth.
Much of the core group remains intact, though the departure of Nazem Kadri as a free agent to the Calgary Flames could be felt as the stakes get higher.
That’s why the emergence of JT Compher - who posted a career-high 52 points this season (smashing his previous best of 33 set in 2021-22) while providing dependable two-way play - is so important.
As is the contribution made by forward Evan Rodrigues, who bet on himself on a one-year deal for $2 million on Sept. 12 before delivering 16 goals and 39 points in 63 games to finish eighth in team scoring.
The other big difference for the Avalanche is in goal, where the organization chose to move on from Darcy Kuemper and made a trade for Alexandar Georgiev from the New York Rangers.
That was another deft move by MacFarland, as Georgiev posted numbers that warrant attention for Vezina voters looking to round out their respective ballots after the front-runners.
Georgiev finished third in the NHL in starts (62), just behind Connor Hellebuyck (64) of the Winnipeg Jets and Juuse Saros (63) of the Nashville Predators, while posting a 2.53 goals-against average, a .918 save percentage and finishing ninth in the NHL among goals saved above expected (21.9), according to MoneyPuck.
“This is a committed group, with a lot of heart and grit. Comparing it to last year’s team is not fair,” said Bednar. “We had a wagon. Lots of depth at every position, tons of scoring. You look at this team this year, in some areas, we’re better. In some areas, we’re lacking.
“This team has got to play a little bit differently to win. It’s still the same structure and identity of our team, but the margin for error is probably smaller, so in order to win as many games as we did, with the guys that we’re missing, shows the commitment that they have.”
That commitment, coupled with talent and belief, is one of the reasons the Avalanche could join an elite list of teams who have won consecutive titles.
“The hunger is here to win. We hate to lose and that’s the driving force,” said Eller. “We have the capabilities, the assets to be a really competitive team, no matter who we come up against.”
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REVOLVING DOOR OF COACHES
One of the underrated stories of the offseason was watching how the game of musical chairs behind the bench turned out and with the results of the regular season complete, it’s fair to say all of those teams were happy with how things turned out for them.
Jim Montgomery took over the Bruins and led them to a historic season (65-12-5) that includes the Presidents’ Trophy.
Former Bruins bench boss Bruce Cassidy joined the Vegas Golden Knights and helped them rebound from an injury-plagued campaign to become the top seed in the Western Conference.
Pete DeBoer went from the Golden Knights to the Dallas Stars and they finished second in the Central Division, just one solitary point behind the Avalanche.
Former Stars head coach Rick Bowness replaced Paul Maurice/Dave Lowry in Winnipeg and helped the Jets return to the playoffs as the second wild card in the West.
Maurice ended up replacing Joel Quenneville/Andrew Brunette with the Florida Panthers and they claimed the second wild card in the East.
For Cassidy, he became the first coach in NHL history to record consecutive 51-win seasons with two different organizations.
“He obviously holds guys accountable. That’s everyone. It doesn’t matter who you are,” said Golden Knights centre Jack Eichel, who is off to the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in his eight-year career after 476 regular season games. “That’s been good for our team. He’s pushed us, he’s made us better systematically. Obviously, you see it. We won 51 hockey games this year. That’s pretty good.”
The coaching carousel is going to take several spins next season as there are already three vacancies, with more expected to follow.
Already confirmed to not return next season are Dallas Eakins of the Anaheim Ducks, Peter Laviolette of the Washington Capitals and Brad Larsen of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
THE PICKS
The Winnipeg Jets, Florida Panthers and New York Islanders were the final three teams to secure wild card berths and now it’s time to see if any of those clubs can advance beyond the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Five of the 16 teams to qualify were on the outside looking in last season and it will be interesting to see which of those teams can make the biggest splash here.
One of those teams to return to the playoffs - the Golden Knights - are the top seed in the West, while the others are the Seattle Kraken, New Jersey Devils, Islanders and the Jets.
To review, in our pre-season predictions for Sportsnet.ca, I was able to select two of the four division winners (correct on Avalanche and Hurricanes, while I had the Oilers in the Pacific and Maple Leafs in the Atlantic).
My Stanley Cup pick was Avalanche over Hurricanes and that will be altered slightly (we’ll get to that in a moment just to raise the suspense).
Round 1
Golden Knights over Jets in 7
Oilers over Kings in 6
Avalanche over Kraken in 5
Stars over Wild in 7
Bruins over Panthers in 6
Maple Leafs over Lightning in 7 (Ryan O’Reilly the difference-maker)
Islanders over Hurricanes in 6
Rangers over Devils in 6
Conference final
Avalanche over Golden Knights in 7
Rangers over Bruins in 7
Stanley Cup
Avalanche over Rangers in 6
Conn Smythe winner: Nathan MacKinnon
RAPID FIRE
The NHL century club for points wrapped up with 11 members, as Vancouver Canucks centre Elias Pettersson (102) and San Jose Sharks defenceman (101) joined the group last week. That group was led by Art Ross Trophy winner Connor McDavid of the Oilers (153), Leon Draisaitl of the Oilers (128), David Pastrnak of the Bruins (113), Nikita Kucherov of the Lightning (113), MacKinnon (111) of the Avalanche, Jason Robertson of the Stars (109), Matthew Tkachuk of the Panthers (109), Mikko Rantanen of the Avalanche (105) and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the Oilers (104). Jack Hughes of the Devils and Mitch Marner of the Maple Leafs finished the season with 99 points.
McDavid also captured his first Rocket Richard Trophy, notching 64 goals this season to edge Pastrnak. Rantanen was third in the league with 55, while Draisaitl (52) and Brayden Point (51) of the Lightning were the other players to hit or eclipse 50 goals this season.
A stick tap is required for Predators D-man Tyson Barrie, who suited up in his 85th game of the regular season on Friday night. Thanks to the trade from the Oilers, Barrie had the opportunity to go three more games than the full NHL season and finished the campaign with 13 goals and 55 points, which left him 14th among NHL D-men in scoring. Karlsson topped that list, becoming just the sixth blue-liner in NHL history to surpass 100 points and the first since Brian Leetch of the Rangers in 1991-92 (102).
