Avalanche, coach agree to three-year extension
First impressions aren’t always everything. There’s a recent history of examples in Colorado to back up that notion.
It took time for Josh Manson’s heavier style to acclimate to the Avalanche’s fast-paced system after he was traded at the 2022 deadline. Even as recently as this month, center Lars Eller looked awkward in the lineup for several games before settling in with defensive tenacity and offensive opportunism to compensate for the skating speed he lacks.
Then there’s Denis Malgin. The system fit was never the problem for him. It was the confidence to blend into that system alongside Nathan Mackinnon, Cale Makar and company.
Once his confidence clicks, it sticks.
The December trade acquisition who started as a depth forward is actually playing with the big names now. And he’s showing that he belongs. After Artturi Lehkonen’s broken finger in Montreal, Malgin moved up the top six for Colorado’s next game in Toronto, coincidentally timed for his return to the team that traded him.
“All of us really loved him in the locker room,” said defending Hart Trophy winner Auston Matthews, another example of the talent that has overlapped with Malgin at various stops.
Then Evan Rodrigues exited in a 5-0 win Monday vs. Chicago, forcing the Swiss forward onto the top line for the third period. Suddenly, Malgin was linemates with Mackinnon and Mikko Rantanen. He scored with them — his second goal of the game.
Now he’s set to remain in that position, with Rodrigues in concussion protocol.
“Actually, they’re really good players, but I can (also) play on a forward line with good guys like Nietz and Newy,” Malgin countered when asked how much it helps to share the ice with superstars. In other words: He knows he’s got the juice now, whether he’s on that top line or the fourth, with Matt Nieto and Alex Newhook.
Malgin has scored eight goals in the last 18 games. The blowout win vs. Chicago was his first career threepoint night.
“He’s heavy in traffic. He’s fearless. He’s competitive. And not just on the scoresheet,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “He’s equally as confident with the puck in the D-zone and the breakouts. He doesn’t throw the puck away. If you want it from him, you’ve got to go take it from him.”
Malgin might be earning himself a playoff lineup spot, which seemed beyond the realm of possibilities when the Avalanche first traded for him.
After all, the exchange rate was a fourth-line forward who had been claimed off waivers. (Dryden Hunt has since been traded again to Calgary, where he has a chance to become the first player in NHL history to score on four teams in a season.)
“You immediately see all the skill and the skating ability,” Bednar recalled of his first Malgin impression. “And you wonder with his size, as a coach, is he going to be able to defend? Is he going to be hard on pucks? Can he win battles? I feel like maybe when he got here, a little tentative, not as confident. Had trouble putting the puck in the net for a guy with as much skill as he had in Toronto and here.”
Malgin is small in stature and locker room presence. The 5-foot-9 wing mostly keeps to himself or chats with the other Russianspeaking Avs. His early games in Denver reflected that demeanor.
He was snake-bit. Found himself in scoring positions a decent rate and didn’t convert. Defended well in the bottom six but didn’t flash enough of his potential with the puck on his stick.
“It was good to have the chances,” Malgin said. “If you don’t have the chances, then something is going wrong with your game, right? If you have chances, at least you’re doing something right.”
It didn’t add up to his teammates. The way Malgin skates is slick and slippery, especially once he possesses the puck and sees daylight.
“We see him do it in practice almost every day, so we know that he’s got it in him,” Nieto said. Goalie Alexandar Georgiev marveled, “He’s such a skilled player.”
The individual plays he’s making now are flashes of Mackinnon Lite.
Paired with the real Mackinnon for a few games, the goal pace might not slow down.
“We play a good transition game here. The team is very fast,” Malgin said. “I think that fits my game
Avalanche coach Jared Bednar signed a three-year extension with the organization Tuesday, keeping him under contract through the 2026-27 season.
The seventh-year Avalanche coach, whose contract was set to expire after 2023-24, passed Michel Bergeron’s franchise record of 265 wins to become the winningest coach in Avalanche/nordiques history in January. After Monday’s 5-0 win over the Blackhawks, Bednar’s current head coaching record is 281-190-52. He led the Avs to their third Stanley Cup championship in 2022.
Bednar, 51, is already the third longest-tenured coach in the NHL, behind only Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning (hired March 25, 2013) and Mike Sullivan of the Pittsburgh Penguins (hired Dec. 12, 2015).
His tenure started with the abominable 2016-17 season, in which Colorado finished 22-56-4. The Avs have reached the playoffs every year since then, winning seven series including a dominant 16-4 playoff record en route to the 2022 Cup. In three consecutive years, they had been eliminated in the second round.
“On behalf of the Kroenke family and the entire organization, we are thrilled to announce a longterm commitment to our head coach,” Avalanche president of hockey operations Joe Sakic said. “Jared has done a tremendous job behind the bench and certainly deserves this extension and to continue as the leader of our team.”