In a unique NHL season where every game is played against a divisional opponent, there are more questions than answers regarding the relative strength of each Stanley Cup contender.
NHL West Division rivals Vegas, Colorado and Minnesota were the first three teams to clinch a playoff spot, each doing so last week. The Carolina Hurricanes of the Central Division became just the fourth team to clinch when they did so Monday.
All of which leads to the question: Are the Golden Knights, Avalanche and Wild as dominant as their records suggest? Or is the rest of the division relatively weak and the top three have gotten fat feasting on junk food?
We probably won’t have an answer until the third round of the playoffs, given that the NHL still plans on going all-divisional through the first two rounds.
Avs coach Jared Bednar on Tuesday suggested the West’s top teams have separated themselves in part because the cellar-dwelling Anaheim Ducks (14-28-7) have turned to a full rebuild along with California’s two other teams — the Los Angeles Kings (18-22-6) and San Jose Sharks (19-24-5).
“They’re at a different point in the development of their group. They’ve got a lot of young guys playing, and when you fall out of a playoff race they’re looking at young guys like we did a few years ago,” Bednar said after an optional practice at T-Mobile Arena, where the Avs and Knights will also conclude their eight-game set May 10.
“Some of those guys are ready, some of them aren’t. They’re trying to give guys experience. And when players get injuries at this time of year and you’re not in a playoff race — especially with the next season coming up quickly — there are guys opting for surgeries. You make decisions based on the future instead of the present.”
That all bodes well in the short term for the Avs (31-11-4), who play eight of their remaining 10 games against San Jose and L.A., with the other two against Vegas. The division-leading Golden Knights (34-11-2), meanwhile, play eight of their last nine games against a playoff contender. Minnesota (31-13-3) also has a tough schedule, playing seven of nine against a top-five club.
In the long term, will the Avs’ lack of games against playoff contenders end up producing a team that’s not battle-tested enough for the last two rounds of the playoffs? Avs center Nazem Kadri doesn’t seem to think so.
“Honestly, there are no easy games,” Kadri said. “I just feel like our division is pretty strong in general and even the teams at the bottom, they compete every single night. They might not get the results they want but they come to work hard. I think as the season goes on the better teams start to separate themselves and that’s exactly what we’re seeing.”
The Avalanche stood ahead of Vegas before its recent COVID shutdown and seeks to reclaim the lead and home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. But on Wednesday the Avs will again be without three key players coming out of COVID protocol. Goalie Philipp Grubauer is with the team in Las Vegas and practiced Tuesday but is not in game shape. Grubauer and wingers Mikko Rantanen and Joonas Donskoi, however, could be back in the lineup Friday at home against the Sharks.
Missing parts. Colorado seemed to sorely miss its No. 1 goalie and top two scoring right-wingers in consecutive losses at St. Louis — the first time the Avs lost consecutive games in regulation in more than two months.
“We know how important it is. We know where Vegas stands and we know how good of a team they are,” Avs captain Gabe Landeskog said about Wednesday’s showdown. “It’s definitely going to be big. Excited to see what kind of jump and energy we can come up with.”
Footnote. The Avalanche on Tuesday signed defenseman Justin Barron to his three-year, entry-level contract. Barron, 19, was the club’s 2020 first-round draft pick (25th overall). He will report to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. Barron was the captain of the Halifax Mooseheads this season and produced 31 points (eight goals) in 33 games for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League club. He played in all seven games for Canada’s World Junior Championship team in late December and early January, finishing with a plus-5 rating for the silver medalists.
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NHL’s West Division is top heavy. Will it hurt Avalanche in later rounds of the playoffs? - The Denver Post
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