Secondyear forwards hold key to offense
The sample size is just two weeks of practice and one preseason game, but it appears the Avalanche’s patience with its young forwards will pay off.
Make no mistake, secondary scoring is the Avs’ No. 1 concern to begin this season, which is less than a week away. They can’t make the playoffs with a onedimensional offense led by Hart Trophy runnerup Nathan Mackinnon and wingers Gabe Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen.
Unlike last season, they don’t want Carl Soderberg as the secondline center and Matt Nieto as the secondline left wing. Soderberg was an openingnight healthy scratch a year ago, before ultimately proving he was the team’s best option as the No. 2 center.
Soderberg, 32, is now the Avs’ oldest player.
Today’s game is all about young legs and speed, and the Avs want secondyear forwards Alex Kerfoot, Tyson Jost and J.T. Compher in those secondline positions to allow Soderberg and Nieto to play their 200foot, defensefirst game on the third and fourth lines.
Based upon Friday’s preseason performance against the Minnesota Wild’s Bteam at the Pepsi Center, doubts that Colorado can produce regularly with their young guys — beyond the heralded top line — were quieted.
With the Avs’ top forwards in the same preseason game for the first time this month, Kerfoot and Jost combined for two goals and four points in a 43 overtime victory. Kerfoot, 24, had a goal and two assists — including one play when he fed Jost, 20, backdoor for the Avs’ second goal.
Kerfoot, Jost and Compher, 23, hold the keys to Colorado’s secondary scoring, along with veterans Matt Calvert, Colin Wilson, Gabriel Bourque, Nieto, Soderberg and Sven Andrighetto, the latter of whom will miss 24 weeks with a lowerbody injury.
The Avs’ MGM Line — (M) Mackinnon, (G) Landeskog and (M) Rantanen — is considered one the NHL’S best trio. Mackinnon set up Rantanen for the 4on3 power play goal in OT.
“There’s going to be a lot of talk about that,” Kerfoot said of secondary scoring. “We know what the first line is all about. We know how dynamic they are offensively and they’re going to show up every night and produce. It’s a good challenge for the other nine forwards on our team to step up. “
The Avs didn’t sign or trade for a topsix forward this offseason because they believe Kerfoot, Jost and Compher, among other youngsters, will develop into consistent scorers. They already had the bottomsix forwards in place, and added Calvert and former University of Denver captain Logan O’connor to bolster the third and fourth lines. Calvert, however, could become the right winger on Jost’s line, with Kerfoot on the left side, Avs coach Jared Bednar said after Friday’s win.
Kerfoot, a fouryear standout at Harvard, seems to have taken the biggest step forward from his rookie season. But Jost and Compher also seem to be playing with more swagger.
“Not as stressed out coming to the rink every day, (thinking) if you’re going to be here or there — down in the minors,” Kerfoot said. “I’ve only been in this league a year and I’ve got a lot of room to grow. But where I was last year I’ve definitely settled in.”