Too early to panic about the Colorado Avalanche? | Evan's 'Bag

Welcome to Evan’s ‘Bag, where Evan Rawal answers all your Avalanche (and hockey) related questions each Monday. If you’ve got a question for the mailbag, feel free to send it to evan.rawal@gazette.com.

Okay, aside from the goaltending.... Overall feelings after 2? Is this team in trouble or still as good as ever?

I haven't been this concerned so early since I don't even remember when. MacKinnon is already breaking sticks. How concerned are you?

With half-decent goaltending, this team would be at least 1-1. There have been plenty of positives in each of the games, but when you can’t get a single save, the mistakes are magnified.

Offensively, MacKinnon, Rantanen, and Mittelstadt are rolling. The powerplay was terrific early and kept them in games, and Ross Colton looked comfortable on the wing. If you score 4 goals in a game, you expect to win, and yet, here we are.

It’s not all on the goaltending. Josh Manson and Sam Girard had rough showings against the Blue Jackets, breaking down on a few rush goals against. But the fact of the matter is that you aren’t going to win many games when your goalies are struggling to save 70% of the shots sent their way. There's no sugarcoating it – Georgiev and Annunen have been bad and need to turn it around.

Am I concerned? A little bit, simply because this team is already depleted. Even the best players in the world can't outscore the goaltending the Avalanche have gotten through two games. And again, it's only two games. Plenty of time to turn it around, and the Avalanche aren't the only team with high expectations off to a slow start (see Edmonton).

If they’re .500 by the time they get guys like Lehkonen and Nichushkin back, you call it a win. It just might not look pretty getting there.

How are the rookies? (Ivan, Kovalenko, Ritchie)

Ivan Ivan just continues to impress, and perhaps the most impressive thing about his game is that he consistently makes smart decisions, both with and without the puck. That can go a long way with the coaching staff, and that’s why he found himself on the ice during a 4-on-4 situation in the game against the Blue Jackets. To me, he has outperformed a veteran like Joel Kiviranta through camp and the first few games.

Nikolai Kovalenko got the bump up to the top line on Saturday and looks like he’ll play there again on Monday. It must be intimidating for any young player to play with two superstars, and coach Jared Bednar alluded to that after the game. He brings some other elements to the game that make him valuable, including some physicality. Against the Blue Jackets, he drew two penalties in the offensive zone, and just needs to keep playing his game, no matter who he plays with.

The game looks a little too fast for Cal Ritchie right now. He doesn’t want the puck on his stick and doesn’t look comfortable in the defensive zone. The talent is clearly there, and the staff is giving him opportunities to show off his skill, throwing him out there as the extra attacker each of the first two games. At this point, there would have to be a lot of improvement on his part for him to stick past the nine-game tryout, but anything is possible.

Evan, what moves could the Avs reasonably make at goalie? What serious pieces could the Avs move and for whom?

That’s the problem with issues this early in the season – no team is ready to make moves. They want to see what their teams can do.

The goaltending market is likely limited and the names on that market probably won’t excite anyone. The one name I keep coming back to is Mackenzie Blackwood in of the Sharks. San Jose traded for Yaroslav Askarov this summer and it’s only a matter of time before he is in the NHL. Not that I’m trying to reunite the Sharks goaltending tandem from last year in Colorado, but it’s just a goalie who might be available. I can’t imagine anyone reading this got all that excited hearing that name.

Could they trade for a guy like John Gibson? Sure, but I’m that would cost a fair bit more. He’s also someone who's on-ice play doesn’t quite match the reputation he has among fans. I understand he’s been stuck on a bad team, but it’s been a long time since he had a decent season. He’s also injury prone.

The Avalanche doesn’t exactly have a lot of valuable trade assets, which only complicates things.

Haven't seen any recent video of Landeskog skating, any updates at all?

I’m trying to recall but I don’t believe I’ve seen Gabe Landeskog skate since training camp started. That doesn’t mean he isn’t skating at all, but I just haven’t seen it, so it could all be happening in private.