Duchene trade placed Avs in playoff position

Sans Matt Duchene, the Avalanche’s patient rebuild is coming together quickly. With 18 games remaining in the regular season, the Avalanche could play .500 hockey and finish with 93 points, which would be the second-most for Colorado in nine years and could be enough for a playoff berth.

Just a year after finishing with an Nhl-low and club-worst 48 points, the Avs — the league’s youngest team — are in the playoff hunt and Duchene is completely out of it playing for Ottawa.

Duchene didn’t want to be part of another rebuild in Colorado. He was thrilled to become a Senator on Nov. 5, the day he was traded in a three-team deal that netted the Avs seven pieces in what could go down as the greatest trade in club history. Four months later, the Avalanche (35-24-5) has 75 points and the Senators (22-31-10) just 54.

The Avs are 27-18-5 without Duchene. The Senators are 1628-5 with the former Colorado forward who never was going to be content as a winger or No. 2 center.

I’m just stating the facts. Duchene is good person, a good professional, and his decision to not put his heart into playing for the Avs isn’t much different than changing companies in the same business. It happens.

Duchene always provided the local media with honest insight and never turned down requests for an interview until his final two months with the Avs. If anything, his honestly paved the way for Joe Sakic’s greatest move as general manager, and greatly helped the Avs become the young and exciting team they are. There was no team chemistry with Duchene on the team. There is an abundance of it now.

So let’s talk playoffs. It took 94 points to get into the Western Conference postseason last year. The Nashville Predators turned in that number as the conference’s eighth and final seed, and the Preds knocked off No. 1 Chicago en route to advancing to the Stanley Cup Final against Pittsburgh. Toronto and Boston each got into the Eastern Conference playoffs with 95 points.

So if the Avs go 10-8 to finish the regular season, they will be right there, with 95 points. If they finish a very doable 12-6, they will have 99 points — and be all but ensured a playoff berth.

“I think it’s too early to tell, eh?” Avs coach Jared Bednar said Saturday. “You’d have to study everyone’s schedule and just see how it’s all going to play out. I think it’s too early to tell how many points you’re going to need.”

Colorado’s schedule is favorable. There’s nine more home games, including Sunday afternoon against the ultra-tough Predators to complete a fourgame homestand.

The Avs have been exceptional at home, winning the first three games of this homestand and going 23-8-1 overall — tied for third in the NHL in victories at home behind playoff-bound Vegas and Winnipeg, both 24-7-2 entering Saturday. The only Eastern Conference team with as many wins at home as the Avalanche as of Saturday was Pittsburgh, the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion.

Teams that consistently win at home make it to the postseason, and the Avs have a player no team has been able to shut down at the Pepsi Center: Nathan Mackinnon leads the NHL with 56 points at home, including a remarkable five goals and 10 points in the last three games.

When you have Mackinnon on your team, you do not need a Duchene.