GM’S deals make Avalanche bigger, better at deadline
Claude Giroux is an artist on skates. He also checks in at 5-foot-11. Dude’s about 185 pounds soaking wet.
Avalanche general manager
Joe Sakic already has plenty of virtuosos.
The Avs needed bangers. Colorado got better and bigger this month, all in the same breath. So, yeah, love that Sakic added a 6-foot-3, 220-pound bruiser (Josh Manson) to his defense. And how he subtracted a 5-11 forward (Tyson Jost) and replaced him with another 6-3 guy (Nico Sturm) to send to the boards.
Look, goaltending, same as it ever was, is going to say more about the Avs’ playoff destiny this spring than depth. Much as the Front Range has justifiably grown to despise Marc-andre Fleury, a part of you wishes Sakic had snatched up the veteran netminder to have in his back pocket for a Cup run … the way Minnesota just did.
But if you’re not going to spend crazy draft capital to get greedy between the pipes, then spend smart. Sakic knows: To think big, you’ve at least got to make the effort to get big first.
The Avs opened last season with the ninth tallest roster (6foot-1, on average) and the ninthheaviest (200 pounds) in the NHL, according to Eliteprospects.com. Now here’s how the top four heaviest rosters, on average, wound up faring in the ’21 Stanley Cup Playoffs:
1) Tampa Bay (204 pounds) — Won it all
2) Vegas (202) — Made it to semis, eliminated by Montreal
3) Washington (202) — Eliminated by Boston in first round
4) New York Islanders (201) — Made it to semis, eliminated by Tampa Bay
The end result? Three out of the top four made it to the NHL’S Final Four. The biggest and the baddest, the Lightning, also proved to be best.
OK, so roll the clock back to the Bubble. The Avs ranked 22nd in average height (6-1) and 26th in average weight (196) in 201920.
How did the four heaviest teams in ’20 fare in the postseason?
1) New York Islanders (205) — Made it to semis, eliminated by Tampa Bay
2) Dallas (204) — Lost in Cup final to Tampa Bay
3) Tampa Bay (203) — Won it all
4) Vegas (203) — Made it to semis, eliminated by Dallas
All four made the Final Four. No. 3 beat No. 2 to snatch Lord Stanley.
In 2018-19, the Avs ranked No. 28 in average height (6-1) and tenth in average weight
(201). Here’s how the four heaviest squads ended their respective Cup runs:
1) New York Islanders (205) — Eliminated in quarterfinals by Carolina
2) Dallas (204) — Eliminated in quarterfinals by St. Louis
3) Washington (204) — Eliminated in first round by Carolina 4) St. Louis (203) — Won it all No, having the biggest hockey team isn’t always better. But if recent history is any guide, it sure as heck doesn’t hurt, either.
“To go through a two-month playoff run,” Super Joe told reporters Monday, “you need depth.”
Sakic added that depth without roster shenanigans. Without the farcical long-term injured reserve (LTIR) loopholes that Vegas and Tampa Bay don’t hesitate to lean on whenever they need some creative salary-cap accounting. And, impressively, without giving up a first-round draft pick, either.
“That was one thing we weren’t going to move,” Sakic stressed. “Especially for a rental (player). We were happy we were able to avoid that.”
Avs faithful should be happy, too, for the most part. On the whole, the NHL trade deadline came and went with clever ripples instead of crashing waves. Yes, losing prospect Justin Barron — and his 6-2, 195-pound frame — stings. Ditto Drew Helleson, a 6-3 20-year-old who went to Anaheim in the Manson swap.
At worst, adding 26-year-old Artturi Lehkonen gives Sakic a savvy bottom-6 forward, a doanything, do-it-anywhere grinder who doesn’t mind the dirty stuff along the boards and can play bigger than his build (6foot, 176).
Andrew Cogliano, at 34, also isn’t huge physically (5-10, 175) but adds another smart, veteran “glue” guy. One with 100 career postseason appearances under his belt.
More to the point, both help with one of the few inconsistent cogs in the big burgundy machine — namely, the penalty kill.
Finding a flaw in this locker room is like complaining about the brush strokes on a Rembrandt, but the Avs opened the week 18th in the league in PK percentage (78.4). Among the top 8 clubs in the Western Conference as of Monday, only Edmonton (76.3), Minnesota (76.0) and Los Angeles (74.3) were operating at a lower clip while shorthanded.
“We feel like we’ve addressed,” Sakic told reporters, “what we needed to address.”
For where this team, and this town, expect to go, size matters. After all, when it comes to the Stanley Cup, there are only two roads. Go big, or go home.