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Tyson Jost

Central Notes: Jost, Zadorov, Nichushkin, Kane

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With a dominant top line that includes Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen, the Colorado Avalanche can’t be happier as they have combined for 75 points so far this season. However, the biggest concern for the team has been their secondary scoring, which most recently seems to have improved when the team re-inserted center Tyson Jost together with wingers Alex Kerfoot and Colin Wilson, according to Kyle Newman of the Denver Post.

Jost had spent some time with that line earlier this year, but between a demotion to the team’s fourth line and an injury that kept him out for four games, Jost finally got a chance to center the two wingers and has made the most of his opportunity with a pair of goals in the past week as well as improved play from both Wilson and Kerfoot.

“It’s tough to score every night, but I want to see them generate chances every night and I want to see them doing the right things defensively,” Colorado head coach Jared Bednar said. “They’re starting to earn more trust on the defensive side of the puck as a young line, and they’re finding ways to chip in, and the last (few games) are a prime example.”

  • Sticking with the Avalanche, Ryan S. Clark of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that Bednar has lost faith for the time being in defenseman Nikita Zadorov, who led the league in hits with 278 last year and averaged 19:28 of ice time last season. However, his role has changed as he is averaging just 15:12, was benched in the third period Wednesday against Boston and then finally was a healthy scratch for the team’s game against Washington on Friday. “We’ve got some D that are playing well,” Bednar said. “Like I said, we’ve got the depth at D now, seven (defensemen) and sometimes you gotta make tough decisions. … Sometimes that means moving around the lineup, elevating guys, lowering guys in the lineup with their minutes. Other times it means you have to make tough decisions and scratch some guys. That’s what we did with Nikita. He’s going to get an opportunity to go back in and continue to play. We’ll see how the game goes.”
  • Dallas Stars winger Valeri Nichushkin hasn’t scored an NHL goal in 989 days. Granted, he just spent the last two season in the KHL, which has something to do with that statistic. However, Nichushkin went 26 combined regular season and playoff games without scoring back in 2016 and now has gone 14 straight goalless games this season, according to SportsDay’s Matthew DeFranks. His struggles are not stopping him, however. “Tough start, but I feel better every game, especially the last three games, I had a lot of moments,” Nichushkin said. “I need to score and I think everything will be good. Team’s winning so I don’t care. I know I will be better.”
  • Chicago Blackhawks new head coach Jeremy Colliton has utilized the strategy of playing Patrick Kane as much as possible since he’s taken over, but another interesting stat is that Colliton has used Kane almost entirely on the power play, according to the Chicago Tribune’s Jimmy Greenfield. In fact, Kane has been used for 16:50 of power play time under Colliton in a total of 17:52, an unbelievable usage rate for a 30-year-old player. “I don’t think it’s been a problem so far, and I think the power play’s moving in the right direction,” Colliton said. “I thought the power play was better tonight than it was against St. Louis, but we scored against St. Louis so it (wasn’t) a talking point. We’ve just got to work on it.”

Injury Notes: Luongo, Dubinsky, Jost, McQuaid

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Not much has gone right for the Florida Panthers this season, but the team hopes that they may have good news on the horizon after goaltender Roberto Luongo was on the ice Sunday taking shots, according to NHL.com’s Jameson Olive. The team lost the oft-injured netminder during the second period of the season opener when teammate Frank Vatrano fell on him, forcing him out of the game with a lower-body injury.

The 39-year-old has fared well when healthy, but he hasn’t played more than 40 games since the 2015-16 season, which isn’t great considering the team is paying him $4.53MM per year for four more years. Head coach Bob Boughner was thrilled to see Luongo back on the ice, but has no intention of bringing him back until he is 110 percent healthy.

“He’s a huge part of this team. And you can see, no slight to anybody else, this team’s missed him,” Boughner said. “We’re a different team when he’s playing.”

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets also had good news as winger Brandon Dubinsky participated in Sunday’s morning skate, according to The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline (subscription required). Dubinsky has been out since Oct. 8 with a partially torn oblique muscle, but there remains no timetable for his return. The original diagnosis for Dubinsky’s injury was four to six weeks. He hasn’t been out three weeks yet, but the 32-year-old said that he’d be disappointed if he didn’t play on the team’s upcoming road trip, starting Thursday and going through Sunday. “I would say I’m ahead of schedule, but I don’t want to come back early and set myself back a few weeks,” Dubinsky said. The veteran had only played in two games before getting injured, but already had a goal and an assist.
  • The Colorado Avalanche may be without one of their top youngsters for a while as BSN’s Adrian Dater reported that the team will be without center Tyson Jost indefinitely. Jost, who suffered a head injury Friday in the third period against Ottawa, has a goal and an assist in 11 games so far this season. The 20-year-old scored 12 goals in his rookie season last year, but had worked his way higher up in the lineup this year.
  • Newsday’s Colin Stephenson reports that New York Rangers head coach David Quinn said that defenseman Adam McQuaid is day-to-day with a lower-body injury he sustained in the first period Thursday. He is not expected to play Sunday against Los Angeles, which could open up another chance for defenseman Anthony DeAngelo, who has only appeared in two games for the Rangers this season.

Massimo Rizzo Bound For North Dakota

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A top BCHL prospect is following in familiar footsteps. The Penticton Vees announced today that Massimo Rizzo has committed to join the University of North Dakota for the 2019-20 season, extending a trend of Penticton captains continuing their development with the Fighting Hawks. Rizzo was given the “C” for the Vees for the upcoming season earlier this month.

As a rookie last season, Rizzo turned heads with his impressive performance. The 16-year-old finished fourth on the team in scoring with 39 points in 50 games and then really held his own in the postseason with another ten points. The speedy forward showed good balance to his game and the potential to improve into a game-changing talent. His promotion to captain at such a young age also speaks to his leadership and locker room presence. Rizzo also performed well for Team Canada at the U-17 World Championships where he was again fourth in team scoring with four points in five games. As the Junior-A level in Canada continues to gain more recognition, Rizzo could be the next big name to trace his roots back to the BCHL.

Rizzo should take another step forward in Penticton next season before enrolling at North Dakota, where he will try to follow the path of several notable former Vees captains. Three recent Penticton captains have been recruited by the Fighting Hawks and have gone on to have great success in the college ranks and in the pros. Troy Stecher was a three-year star at UND before signing with the Vancouver Canucks and is now a top-four defenseman in the NHL. Tyson Jost was the tenth overall pick out of Penticton two years ago and showed his value in his one college season with more than a point per game with the Hawks.  He then played a critical role in the re-emergence of the Colorado Avalanche this season. Finally, like Stecher, Nick Jones was a star with the Vees, but went undrafted; however he showed in his first year for North Dakota that he has the makings of a future pro. When Rizzo joins North Dakota in 2019, he’ll reunite with Jones and draft-eligible defenseman Jonny Tychonick on a team that will draw much of its strength from former Vees.

West Notes: Kings, Nosek, Avalanche Injuries

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Earlier this season, it was being suggested that the Kings might be willing to part with a defenseman at some point during the year.  Now, it appears that not only are they going to keep the ones they have but add as well.  TSN’s Frank Seravalli reports that GM Rob Blake has identified a defender that can shift between the second and third pairings as their top priority heading into the trade deadline.

There is a well-defined top-four for Los Angeles with Derek Forbort sliding in at that fourth spot while averaging 21:04 of ice time.  However, their depth players haven’t established themselves as players that can move up in a pinch and as a result, there is a sizable gap between the playing time for their bottom pairing; Christian Folin checks in at fifth in ATOI at just 15:23 per game.  Acquiring someone that could play on the second pairing would not only give the Kings some insurance in case injuries arise but would also go a long way to stabilizing their third pairing.

Elsewhere in the West:

  • Golden Knights winger Tomas Nosek has returned to Vegas to be evaluated by team doctors for an upper-body injury sustained last night against Nashville, notes Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review-Journal (Twitter link). The injury came from a hit from Predators defenseman Alexei Emelin.  Nosek has been a regular on the fourth line for the surprisingly-strong expansion team this season, collecting eight points through 41 games.  His absence will open up a spot for one of winger Brendan Leipsic or center Cody Eakin to return to the lineup.
  • Avalanche center Tyson Jost is dealing with a leg issue and won’t play tomorrow night against the Sharks, reports Mike Chambers of the Denver Post. The injury came about when he inadvertently blocked a shot from a teammate on Monday.  Colorado is getting some good news on the injury front, however.  Winger J.T. Compher will play on Thursday after missing the last six games with an upper-body problem.  Meanwhile, defenseman Tyson Barrie (hand) and Semyon Varlamov (groin) have both resumed skating as well so it appears that more help will soon be on the horizon.

Central Notes: Jost, Landeskog, Mason, Berglund

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8:43 PM: Colorado has indeed recalled Jost, the team announced via Twitter.

6:53PM: The Avalanche are considering recalling center Tyson Jost from San Antonio of the AHL in advance of their next game on Wednesday, Mike Chambers of the Denver Post reports (Twitter link).  Jost cracked Colorado’s opening roster but didn’t have too much of an impact early on.  He played in six games before sustaining a lower-body injury and upon being activated off IR, the team opted to send him down to the minors for more playing time.  Jost hasn’t been particularly productive in his limited action with the Rampage, posting a single assist in four games.  Unless he takes on an important role in the next few weeks, Jost could still wind up being a candidate to play at the World Juniors.

Elsewhere in the Central:

  • Still with the Avalanche, winger Gabriel Landeskog will have a disciplinary hearing on Monday for a cross-checking incident on Saturday against Calgary’s Matthew Tkachuk, the league announced. A minor penalty was assessed on the play.  What may work against Landeskog here is that he will be viewed as a repeat offender as he received a three-game suspension for cross-checking on March of 2016.
  • Jets goaltender Steve Mason was pulled from Saturday’s game with an upper-body injury that that may wind up being a concussion, notes Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun. If he is going to miss time, the scribe suggests it may make more sense to recall veteran Michael Hutchinson over top prospect Eric Comrie as Winnipeg’s schedule is fairly light over the next couple of weeks so there won’t be many opportunities for playing time.
  • While Blues center Patrik Berglund started skating with the team a little while ago, he has yet to get the green light to return to the lineup. He told Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that getting strength back in his shoulder is the key to his return and that the process is getting closer by the day.  He was originally expected to return at the beginning of December and he remains on pace to do so.

Colorado Avalanche To Send Tyson Jost To San Antonio

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While Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar spoke to the media today, he explained that Tyson Barrie won’t play tonight against the Washington Capitals due to an upper-body injury that has been bothering him. According to Adrian Dater of BSN Denver, he also indicated that the team would be sending Tyson Jost down to San Antonio of the AHL. The demotion is to get Jost playing big minutes again and reclaim his timing and fitness after sitting out with injuries of his own for nearly a month.

Jost has played just six games with the Avalanche this season, dealing with lower-body injuries suffered when Adam McQuaid sent him awkwardly into the boards last week. Though he would return for a pair of games he eventually went onto injured reserve on October 22nd.

The 19-year old came into the season as a potential Calder Trophy contender, after looking sharp in his six-game taste at the end of last season. Jost left the University of North Dakota after just one season, and jumped right to the NHL to provide some excitement for an Avalanche fan base that had just endured one of the worst seasons on record. Selected 10th-overall in 2016, Jost is a big part of the next wave for the Avalanche.

This will be his first taste of AHL life, and the Rampage will surely welcome him in. Already armed with an excellent group from two different NHL organizations—the Avalanche and St. Louis Blues are providing players for the Rampage this season—Jost should help San Antonio even more up front. The idea of pairing him with someone like Klim Kostin or Tage Thompson will have prospect junkies drooling, though it’s not clear where Jost will feature as of yet. It likely won’t be long before he’s back with the Avalanche.

Colorado Avalanche Make Four Transactions

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The Colorado Avalanche have made several transactions ahead of their Tuesday night game against the Dallas Stars. The team has placed Tyson Jost and J.T. Compher on injured reserve, while recalling A.J. Greer and Gabriel Bourque from the AHL.

Jost and Compher are out for at least a few weeks, putting a bad taste on what has been a fairly successful start to the season. They’ll turn to the 20-year old Greer, who made his NHL debut last season and Bourque who found himself playing the majority of games in the AHL last season for the first time in several years. The 27-year old Bourque was once a full-time player in the Nashville Predators’ lineup, but has just 28 NHL games over the past two seasons.

The Avalanche are 4-4 but were on the receiving end of a bad call by review officials on Thursday night, leading to a loss at the hands of the St. Louis Blues. While the correct call wouldn’t have guaranteed them a victory, it certainly didn’t help when Mikko Rantanen’s tying goal was pulled off the board.

Colorado was expected to be one of the worst teams in the league again this year after a historically-bad season in 2016-17, but are riding some youth and a re-energized Matt Duchene to a respectable record. If Greer can find some of the jump that made him a coveted prospect in the 2015 draft—he was selected 39th overall—perhaps he can show he belongs to stay in the NHL long-term.

Injury Updates: Draisaitl, Martinez, Jost, Miller

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Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl will miss Saturday’s game against Ottawa and possibly longer with an eye injury and a potential concussion, head coach Todd McLellan told reporters, including Postmedia’s Robert Tychkowski.  Draisaitl has missed the last three practices with his eye being swollen to the point where it was impairing his vision but McLellan suggested there could be more to the injury, noting that they are waiting to hear more about his condition and how it might affect his head.  Fresh off his eight-year, $68MM contract, the 21-year-old has played a big role once again early on for Edmonton with three points in as many games while averaging over 20 minutes a night of ice time.

More injury notes from around the NHL:

  • Kings defenseman Alec Martinez participated in a full practice with the team today and is expected to be activated off injured reserve in time for Saturday’s game against Buffalo, notes Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider. Martinez suffered a lower-body injury late in the final practice before the regular season got underway and will be a big addition to their back end after collecting 39 points while averaging nearly 22 minutes per game in 2016-17.
  • Avalanche center Tyson Jost will miss at least the next two games with a hyperextended left knee and a bone bruise sustained in a collision on Tuesday against Boston, reports BSN Denver’s Adrian Dater. The 19-year-old could be available to return as soon as next Tuesday, Dater adds.  Jost is off to a good start in his first full NHL season with a goal and an assist through four games.
  • Ducks goaltender Ryan Miller expects to be taken off IR in the near future, notes Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register. He has been dealing with a wrist issue that only allowed him to make one preseason appearance and none in the regular season.  Miller has now rejoined Anaheim for practices, splitting shots faced with current backup Reto Berra but there is still no firm timetable for his return to the lineup.

2017-18 Primer: Colorado Avalanche

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With the NHL season just underway, we continue our look at what each team has done this summer and what to watch for in the year to come.  Today, we focus on the Colorado Avalanche.

Last Season: 22-56-4 record (48 points), seventh in Central Division (missed playoffs)

Remaining Cap Space: $5.8MM per CapFriendly

Key Additions: F Colin Wilson (trade, Nashville), F Alex Kerfoot (free agency, New Jersey), F Nail Yakupov (free agency, St. Louis), D Patrik Nemeth (waivers, Dallas), G Jonathan Bernier (free agency, Anaheim)

Key Departures: D Francois Beauchemin (buyout), F Mikhail Grigorenko (free agency, KHL), D Fedor Tyutin (free agency, unsigned), G Calvin Pickard (expansion, Vegas)

[Related: Avalanche Depth Chart From Roster Resource]

Mikko RantanenPlayers To Watch: F Mikko Rantanen & F Tyson Jost – Though everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong in Colorado last year, there is still reason for optimism in the mountains. That optimism starts with the intriguing young core the team will ice at forward this year, including Rantanen and Jost. Both 10th-overall picks, Rantanen established himself as a full-time NHL player last year, recording 20 goals and 38 points in 75 games. While that seems underwhelming for a player many expect to be a top-line winger for years to come, it’s important to note that it ranked third on the team only behind established stars Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Duchene.

Solidly built and armed with an incredibly accurate snapshot, Rantanen will score plenty of goals in this league. His ability to drift away from traffic and find a spot to unleash on net is uncanny, and will only develop with time and more successful linemates. At just 20, he’s only starting to fill out a 6’4″ frame that could carry around 220-lbs when it’s all said and done. That size, when added to his smooth skating and solid edgework shows a player who can contribute in several different elements of the game. While he struggled at times last year with consistency like many of the other Colorado Avalanche, a new season should bring better results.

Jost on the other hand jumped right from the NCAA tournament to the NHL last season, suiting up for just six games at the end of the year. Though he register his first NHL goal, it was the only point he put up through his short tenure. Still, Jost profiles as a prototypical two-way center that can score in bunches. He dominated his final season in the BCHL before heading to North Dakota where he continued to show why the Avalanche valued him so highly in the 2016 draft.

Not as big as some of the other number-1 centers in the league, Jost will likely settle into a second-line role with the Avalanche in the coming years. For now he’s been practicing with the fourth line, but there is clearly talent beyond that spot in the lineup. His development will be key to the success of the franchise, especially if they end up trading away some of their depth down the middle.

Key Storyline: That brings us to Duchene, who has been one of the biggest stories in the league for months now. While it now looks like he’ll begin the season with Colorado, there remains much speculation that a trade will eventually happen. Teams like Columbus, Carolina, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Nashville and New York have all been linked to Duchene at one point or another, though it’s unclear who would be willing to step up and pay the steep price GM Joe Sakic is still after.

The Avalanche are probably doing the right thing by waiting for their price to be met, but it must feel like torture to Duchene and agent JP Barry. The latter has been clear about his client’s desire for a fresh start, and Duchene has been hounded by questions and speculation since well before last year’s trade deadline. Perhaps showing that he can bounce back from last year’s disappointing 41-point season will catch the eye of a new team.

Unfortunately, Duchene will have a lot of responsibility heaped onto him to start the year. He’s been practicing between Nail Yakupov and Alex Kerfoot, who don’t inspire much confidence as they look to respectively rebuild and start their NHL careers. While both have high-end skill, Duchene will be required to drive play for the most part and play responsibly in his own end. While the speedster can do both of these things reasonably well, it’s not exactly his prime skill set.

The Avalanche are rebuilding, that much is clear. But this season is about more than just collecting assets and stockpiling draft picks. The team, coach and GM all need to prove that last year is behind them and that they’re no longer the laughing stock of the league. They’re just four years removed from an 112 point season with many of the same faces driving the team—that year Duchene had 70 points, while captain Gabriel Landeskog had 65. The playoffs are a long shot, but improvement is necessary.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Avalanche Notes: Yakupov, Jost, Greer

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If there was a place that Nail Yakupov might be able to turn his NHL career around, the 23-year-old wing may have found the right place in Colorado. The 2012 former first-overall pick has struggled to establish himself the player that everyone thought he would be. Now, five seasons into his career, Yakupov may be nearing his last chance to revive his career.

After a solid rookie year in which he scored 17 goals in 48 games back in the 2012-13 season, Yakupov never was able to improve on that and eventually, his numbers began to decline. He was then traded last October to the St. Louis Blues. Some thought that when Edmonton traded him to the Blues, he could revive his career with the change of scenery. However, Yakupov managed just three goals in 40 games and wasn’t offered a qualifying offer. Finally, as a free agent, he signed a one-year, $875,000 deal for the opportunity to play.

NBC Sports Adam Gretz writes that he will get a legitimate opportunity in Colorado as the team views him as a top-6 wing for them. He adds that its a gamble worth taking when you are last in the league in goals scored (2.01). He cites that agent Igor Larianov believes Yakupov’s lack of success is from his lack of confidence from his Edmonton days and was never given a real opportunity in St. Louis.

  • In a separate piece, Gretz also writes that while the team did little to improve the team this offseason, the team must hinge their hopes on their youth. The team already got good returns from 2015 first-rounder Mikko Rantanen, who put up a 20-goal season in his first full year. Gretz adds that this could also be the season that they see 2016 first-rounder Tyson Jost have a big season. The 10th overall pick in last year’s draft played one year at the University of North Dakota before signing after the season with the Avalanche. Jost, played in six games, scoring one goal for Colorado.
  • SB Nation’s Mile High Hockey also cites 20-year-old forward A.J. Greer as a potential breakout player this coming year. The 6-foot-3 forward, a second-round pick in 2015, had 15 goals for the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage and got into five games for the Avalanche, picking up one point.

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