Question from Will Andrea
Question from Joe Cerwinske
What would your personal lineup look like if you were the coach and everyone was healthy? Basically, who would play and who would sit when Logan O’Connor is back, and everyone is available?
Aarif’s Response
I would have something like this:
Lehkonen — MacKinnon — Necas
Landeskog — Nelson — Nichushkin
Olofsson — Colton — Brindley
Kelly — Drury — O’Connor
Extras: Kiviranta, Bardakov
It’s worth noting that good teams win the Stanley Cup by having enough depth to sit good players. So if the Avs add a 3C without subtracting any of these forwards, then that would mean that Brindley, Olofsson, and Colton would probably be competing with each other to not be the odd man out on any given night.
Don’t forget, when the Avs won in 2021-22, we saw Andre Burakovsky, Alex Newhook, and Nicolas Aube-Kubel all get scratched at one point or another. This is similar to what they’d have this year. The fourth line is set, but the wingers on the third line (Olofsson, Colton, and Brindley) would have to compete on any given night to play with the new 3C. Just like Burakovsky, Newhook, and Aube-Kubel had to in 2022 with center J.T. Compher.
Burakovsky was a healthy scratch after putting up 60+ points. Think about that for a moment. And think of how necessary it was to have this depth after the injuries they had on their way to the Stanley Cup championship.
Question from Jeffrey Anderson
Question from Jeffrey Anderson
Any universe where CMac can negotiate a fair deal with Patrik Allvin for Kiefer Sherwood?
