Sean Keeler: Val’s back! You hope that’s a good thing for the big guy, first and foremost. But I’ll tell you what: It’s an unquestionably amazing thing for the Avalanche, which has been running the Indy 500 on three wheels for what feels like a month now. Jared Bednar’s dudes could use a shot in the arm. Oh, and a hammer on the power play. There aren’t many 6-foot-4 power forwards on the open market averaging more than a point per game while also knocking home a baker’s dozen goals off the PP (13) in barely half a season of work. Now that one hole has (hopefully) been filled by Valeri Nichushkin, how would you like to see the Avs go about patching up some of the others before the March 8 trade deadline?
Corey Masisak: The Avs could probably use one more top-nine forward, and they could definitely use one more center. If that player can check both boxes, that would be great. A big question is how much faith do Colorado’s decision-makers have in Ryan Johansen’s ability to find another level? But a bigger one is how do the Avs add a center capable of playing second- or third-line minutes given the severe salary cap restrictions? If they can do it by including Johansen and paying extra (in assets) to cover his $4 million cap hit next year, that could work. If they have to include Bo Byram or Sam Girard, then it gets a little dicey.
Keeler: For me, assuming you can either fix or move Johansen, the biggest elephant left in the room hasn’t moved, and he’s still between the pipes. Oh, for a playoff-worthy, playoff-tested “1B” goalie to pair with poor Alexandar Georgiev down the stretch. No. 40 has appeared in a whopping 48 of the Avs’ 59 games so far this season, a clip of 81%, which puts him on a pace for 67 this season. The franchise record is 71, set by Craig Anderson in 2009-10. Not sure that’s one I want Georgie aspiring to.
Masisak: Playoff-worthy is the key phrase for me here. The time for adding a backup who might be a little better or slightly more trustworthy than Justus Annunen or Ivan Prosvetov has probably passed. Given the financial limitations, adding someone Bednar might play a couple more times than his current options in the final 24 games doesn’t make much sense. A viable top-nine forward would help more. Now, if it is someone who could be trusted to help the Avs win a round or two if Georgiev gets injured, that’s a different deal.
Keeler: Georgie proved last year that he could be a marathon man, but the tread on those tires is starting to show. Since New Year’s Day, he’s giving up more than three goals per game. Since Feb. 1, he’s posted a 3-3 record with a 3.02 goals-allowed average and a .900 save percentage — a tick below his career marks of 2.82 and .909, respectively, but a far cry from his 2.53 and .919 clips of a season ago. He hasn’t posted a shutout since Jan. 10 against Vegas. Get the man some help!
Masisak: Annunen has played three of the past eight games, which is an uptick, and he was great Thursday night in Detroit. Prosvetov is also putting up video-game numbers in the AHL (7-0-0, 1.14 GAA, .961 save percentage). If one of Annunen or Prosvetov — or a new guy if Sean gets his wish — continues to start three out of every eight games to finish the regular season, then Georgiev will end up at 63 … which is one more than last year. That’s still a lot, but he also started 28 of the final 33 games a season ago. In this scenario, he’d only start 21 of the final 33.
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