GDT: Preseason Game #4 | 10/01/24 | 7:30 PM MST | VGK @ COL

[cccoltsicehockey]

Turned it off after the 3rd goal. I couldn't be bothered to watch anymore and it was the first one I have watched.

 

[Bender]

George+ Ritchie+ picks. Then we'd have to move someone else to make the numbers work.

I don't think the Avs would give up Ritchie in that kind of deal.

Ilya Nabokov though, yeah that would make sense to include him when you consider that Swayman is still only 25 and an established starter + top 10 goalie.

Personally, I believe the Avs current plan is to roll with Georgiev this year and let him 'roll off as a UFA' next summer while they bring Nabokov to be the replacement starter.

There's a lot of uncertainty with that scenario especially when you consider that historically the Avalanche have been abysmal at drafting goaltenders. Were they finally going to luck out at some point with Nabokov ? That's hard to say for sure.

 

[henchman21]

I don't think the Avs would give up Ritchie in that kind of deal.

Ilya Nabokov though, yeah that would make sense to include him when you consider that Swayman is still only 25 and an established starter + top 10 goalie.

Personally, I believe the Avs current plan is to roll with Georgiev this year and let him 'roll off as a UFA' next summer while they bring Nabokov to be the replacement starter.

There's a lot of uncertainty with that scenario especially when you consider that historically the Avalanche have been abysmal at drafting goaltenders. Were they finally going to luck out at some point with Nabokov ? That's hard to say for sure.

Nabokov is very likely to stay another year in Russia.

 

[niwotsblessing]

Moose for Swayman. Make it so.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

Ivan ivan can legit make this team given how bad some of our complementary pieces have been.

 

[Pokecheque]

So what's been worse so far, the Broncos offense or Avalanche goaltending?

 

[GirardSpinorama]

This is the first year the Avs have legitimately had spots there for young players to take, and Kovalenko is the only one who has really stepped up. Everyone else has severely disappointed. You can tell Bednar isn't happy about that.

Ya absolutely. Malinski has also stepped up but we signed so many small dman. We probably should have tried to find the brannstrom of forwards instead.

 

[henchman21]

Boy oh boy this game was rough... the best player for the Avs was Belly, and I don't even think he played that great.

On PEB... I think he's clearly getting a contract here. Not sure if he starts as the 4C or extra, but he's shown enough.

Behrens - His worst preseason game. Not that he was horrific, but he wasn't good either. The start was fine, but the last half of the game... like the rest of the team, he looked bad.

Brannstrom - If he plays like this, he's not going to last here. Soft and bad defense... with high risk plays were enough went against him that make him a lot of risk, little reward type of player. He's a legit concern at this moment.

George - He was horrific. Looks mentally broken at this point. His movements are still quick, but his tracking was bad and looked dejected instead of confident. IMO he needs a few good games and I'd try to run him the rest of the preseason to see if he can get a couple.

Big guns - playing at half effort (being generous)

CDH - I thought he was the 2nd best player for the Avs. Really didn't have a bad night. Saying that, his lack of physicality at his size is going to be an issue for this team. The defense is very soft (which was very evident last night) and if he doesn't take that role, I'm not sure what he really adds.

Kovalenko - His effort is there, but he makes some really baffling errors and his always looking for a call fits right in.

Polin - I know he got sent down, but I think he showed well enough in his games that he's likely to be a call up later.

Other scrubs - They all are shitty. There's not really anything there. Innala, Tynan and Phillips will probably have good AHL seasons. Foudy might as well. None of them look to have any NHL chops.

 

[S E P H]

George - He was horrific. Looks mentally broken at this point. His movements are still quick, but his tracking was bad and looked dejected instead of confident. IMO he needs a few good games and I'd try to run him the rest of the preseason to see if he can get a couple.

I told you lot that he was getting beat by the same shots at training camp like last season. However, he couldn't do anything on three of the goals yesterday, like MacKinnon batting it in his own net.

 

[LOFIN]

We have 3 of the top 10 players in the NHL, including the unanimous best defenseman on the planet.

It’s actually pathetic what we’ve been able to “accomplish” with this core.

Sure. But it's still more than a team that has had two of the top-3 centers in the world, including the unanimous best player on the planet.

Winning A Cup is hard as F in the NHL. Winning multiple cups is even harder.

 

[henchman21]

I told you lot that he was getting beat by the same shots at training camp like last season. However, he couldn't do anything on three of the goals yesterday, like MacKinnon batting it in his own net.

Sure... that leave 3 others though. The margins are so thin in the NHL that you can't accept a bad goal every game... let alone 2 or 3. That's flatly unacceptable for a #3 goale, let alone a guy who is supposed to be the starter. George has had a knack for a long time of typically giving up a bad goal in a lot of his games... nothing shown so far signals he's out of those woods.

 

[S E P H]

Sure... that leave 3 others though. The margins are so thin in the NHL that you can't accept a bad goal every game... let alone 2 or 3. That's flatly unacceptable for a #3 goale, let alone a guy who is supposed to be the starter. George has had a knack for a long time of typically giving up a bad goal in a lot of his games... nothing shown so far signals he's out of those woods.

I guess what we're seeing is that when the game gets away from the Avs, he sort of crumbles along with that. It makes sense to me how many games Avs lost last season where it was close and then we ended up losing 7-3 or 6-0, even at home.

 

[henchman21]

I guess what we're seeing is that when the game gets away from the Avs, he sort of crumbles along with that. It makes sense to me how many games Avs lost last season where it was close and then we ended up losing 7-3 or 6-0, even at home.

Yeah... IMO. If a bad bounce happens or a slightly bad play by George gets through, the 'here we go again' thought creeps into his mind. Then he starts thinking and playing scared rather than reacting and playing confident. We've all seen that when George is on his game, he's got the athletic ability to show great things. When things go wrong, he wilts. I really think he's either just not mentally strong enough, or he's just broken right now. I'd probably lean to him not being strong enough as this has been a MO of his for a while... but given we are stuck with him right now, building that confidence should be a priority.