Welcome to Evan’s mailbag, where Denver Gazette reporter Evan Rawal answers all your Avalanche- and hockey-related questions each Monday. Mailbag questions can be sent to [email protected].
Does Val have to say anything to the locker room/address the players? I know Nate and Toews have said no, but I don’t believe them.
I’m sure he’ll say something, if he hasn’t already. He was in the locker room celebration after the win over the Hurricanes. If the players don’t think he has to say something, that’s ultimately their choice, but if I was Val, I'd probably feel like I should address the situation.
How come Mittelstadt isn’t getting any looks for projected U.S. rosters for the 4 Nations tournament?
That’s a good question, considering his start to the year, but the simple answer is that the U.S. is stacked up front. Auston Matthews and Jack Eichel is a pretty solid 1-2 combo down the middle, and then you’ve got J.T. Miller and Jack Hughes as well. As good as Mittelstadt has been to start the year, it’s hard to put him above those guys.
I’m not as excited about this tournament as others, but it should be entertaining hockey and the U.S. will have a really strong roster.
Logan O’Connor seems to be struggling coming off surgery. What are you seeing?
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Everyone who has this surgery seems to ultimately recover and be fine, but I expected O’Connor to get off to a slower start. It’s a major surgery and you need some time to get back into things.
O’Connor’s underlying numbers are strong but he hasn’t had much luck on his side when he’s on the ice. Colorado’s shooting percentage with him on the ice is a measly 4.65%, which is the lowest on the team among their regular forwards. He hasn’t looked very good with the puck on his stick, but it doesn’t appear as though the team is giving up many dangerous chances with him out there.
Part of the problem is also that he’s being asked to do way too much. For most of the season he’s played in the top six, and he’s just not a top six player. If the team gets some bodies back and he gets moved back into a role he’s better suited for, he’ll probably look better.
Are you worried about Landeskog or do you think he will still be returning this year?
The most recent update didn’t make me feel warm and fuzzy, that’s for sure.
I’m not going to bet against Gabe, but a lot of things are just working against him at this point. I think it would be unrealistic to expect him to be the same player he once was, and another thing I’ve thought about is how the rest of his body will hold up. He hasn’t played an NHL game for 2.5 years. Can his body adjust to the grind again? It won’t be easy.
Either way, I’ve long been in the camp of not penciling him into any future lineups for this season until he actually shows signs of getting close.
