When a team is off to the third-best start in league history, any sort of concern is very much a first-world problem.
There are a few nits to pick with the Colorado Avalanche. The power play is the most obvious one. A lack of success in shootouts is on the list, but as coach Jared Bednar often says, there are no shootouts in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Maybe the most interesting of them all is the No. 3 center position. It’s the one spot on the roster where there is the least amount of clarity, now and in the future.
The newest No. 3 center is a familiar one. Ross Colton, who began the 2023-24 season in the role, is back after spending the first 30 games on the wing.
“It’s been fine,” Colton said. “It’s only been two games and I don’t know what’s going to happen here moving forward. I’m just trying to play my game, not really change anything. Obviously I played it a little bit two years ago. Just keep working at it, with the minutes we’re getting.”
Jack Drury began the season as the No. 3 center. Bednar loves him in the fourth-line center, but with Charlie Coyle off to Columbus in an offseason trade, Drury was the answer by the end of training camp to be his replacement.
Drury is an excellent defensive center. The offensive ceiling is the question. He had four goals and 10 points in 30 games as the third-line center.
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Enter Colton, who had 17 goals and 40 points two years ago. He moved back to the wing last season, with free-agent addition Parker Kelly making the same transition he had the year before. Like Colton, Kelly was solid in the role while learning on the fly.
But like Colton, Bednar also likes to play Kelly on the wing. And so the Avs have three players that are all capable of being the No. 3 center, but the coach might like them all better in a different role.
“I like the way he plays at center,” Bednar said. “My concern is taking away Ross’ best attributes, which is a hard forechecking guy who can get physical and sort of create a bunch of chaos that way.
“I liked the D-zone (these past two games). I think he’s handled it perfectly against two teams that can be a handful down low in the zone. I think he arrives in the zone well and played the position well down low and yet I still saw some good forechecking and good o-zone play. I know I like him on the wing, but if he can help us at center that’s even better.”
Much like last season, the answer to who will be Colorado’s No. 3 center in the playoffs may well be someone not currently on the roster. Bednar was recently asked if there was anything on his wishlist, and a No. 3 center was the first thing he mentioned. It’s the obvious place where the Avs might look to trade for someone ahead of the deadline.
Colton has been a valuable Swiss army knife for the Avalanche. His versatility, particularly the previous two seasons when the lineup was constantly in flux because of injures, was a huge asset.
He’d probably like to settle into one role and run with it, but this is a byproduct of being the jack-of-all-trades guy.
“I had a really good year that year down the middle,” Colton said. “And then, I don’t know, I felt like I was playing really well on the wing and then you’re playing a completely different position. It kind of takes away a little bit of the offense from it.
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“For me, it’s just working on the D-zone, staying below pucks and not really cheating. Then just worry about winning faceoffs and with what we’re doing, trying to just focus on working as a unti, getting some chemistry and building off each other.”
The Avs might have another guy in the Colton-Kelly mold. Rookie Zakhar Bardakov has only played as the fourth-line center this season, a spot now occupied by Drury. He’s another guy who can play center, and the club can be successful with him there, but his best position might ultimately be on the wing.
“Yeah, it might be an easier workload for him, easier decision making, less responsibility on the defensive side of things,” Bednar said. “So if Ross continues to play the way he has, the next time we get Bardakov in, it might be on the wing.”
Footnotes: Logan O’Connor, who has not played this season because of multiple issues, skated Monday after Avs practice. He missed the start of the season while recovering from hip surgery, but a second problem has kept him out for the past month or so. Bednar called it a soft-tissue injury a few weeks ago, but there is still no timeline for a return.
Martin Necas returned to the top line at practice, with Gavin Brindley sliding back down to the third unit. Brindley played Saturday with Nathan MacKinnon and Artturi Lehkonen, the first time all season Colorado started a game without the same three guys on the top line.
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