Makar Money Bag: Avalanche 2025-2026 season

[Pokecheque]

Marty Party Necas signs for eight years, $11.5 million annually.

So a very small discount taken as compared to what Rantanen signed in Dallas, but I think this was the way to go.

It's good to have that out of the way.

[Pokecheque]

So explain to me why Mikko was traded when they signed Necas to this new extension for basically similar money and term?

It's a good question. So, a few things:

1. If Erik Johnson is a reliable source, Mikko and his camp were wanting WAY MORE than what he finally signed for in Dallas. Avs have always been pretty strict on their internal salary structure. They don't mind paying up when the time comes, but there have a limit as to how much AAV certain players get. They balked at Ryan O'Reilly's demands because they set Matt Duchene's $6 million per as the upper limit to how much they were going to pay a play (this was obviously a while ago). As of right now, Nathan MacKinnon is the highest-paid player at over $13 million per season, and again, I don't know if this is true or not, but rumor has it Mikko and his agent wanted more than that, and the Avs said no. BTW, I think we all know and the Avs know that Cale Makar is gonna blow right past that particular barrier next year.

2. Keep in mind they didn't just get Necas, they also got Chris Drury's nephew Jack. And he's been a fantastic add. Before he showed up the Avs were saddled with using a platoon of rookie Ivan Ivan (yes, that's his name) and Parker Kelly as the third line center and it wasn't working. Drury gave the team some much-needed stability to a bottom six that desperately needed it. And the move finally allowed the Avs to move Kelly to wing where he's been phenomenal. And the line of Kelly-Drury-O'Connor was by far the most reliable line the Avs had in that unfortunate first round series against the Dallas Stars. Any evaluation of this trade must include Drury as well as Necas.

3. Avs kinda painted themselves into a corner. They thought maybe they could hold off but then Necas got off to a rip-roaring start to the season and I think the Avs just had to get it done before the points piled up and Necas could set his own price.

I don't regret the trade, though Necas has to prove he's at least comparable to Rantanen in the postseason. I'll give him a pass this last go-around because he suffered a pretty serious injury right before the season ended.

[Pokecheque]

Taylor Makar made his NHL debut on Saturday, played relatively well but unfortunately managed only six minutes.

Avs are off to a very good, but also very strange, start. They are atop the league with 19 points. Elite penalty kill. Elite possession metrics. Only the Winnipeg Jets have a better goal differential.

The bad? Power play is 24th as of this post, they'd be damn near last if not for that huge night against the Devils and the hapless Jacob Markstrom. Finishing overall is a problem despite the fact that Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Martin Necas are among the league leaders in scoring. Goaltending started out amazing before leveling off, hovering around league average. Given the circumstances you can't ask for more than that.

So this is a MUCH BETTER place to be than last year when the team basically had to score 4-5 goals a night just to win because the goalies simply could not keep the puck out of the net. But I'm still frustrated that some very obvious issues were just not addressed this offseason. How you come out with the same exact fucking scheme on the man advantage when it failed so miserably in the postseason AND you fired a guy over it...just exasperating.

I may be looking a gift horse in the mouth but great regular season numbers matter little if you don't get it done in the postseason.

Brock Nelson appears to be playing better but continues to be a player I just hate to watch. Plays a cerebral game, capable defensively and apparently he's been a very good PK forward...but he needs to start putting the goddamned puck in the goddamned net.

[Pokecheque]

Four day break, back-to-back, four day break, game, four day break...what the fuck is this schedule.

Avs hang on to win against the Bolts at home. A bad giveaway by Makar leads to an early Tampa lead but Avs take control after that. Landeskog, who's been struggling to start the year, took on that one guy, it's some silly French name but it's pronounced Dah-Stew. Anyway the Avs really woke up after that and took it to the Bolts, would've been a bigger lead if not for Vasilevskiy. Ross Colton scores a pretty breakaway goal against his old team. Victor Olofsson scores two more. Very solid pickup, I like his game a lot. Not at all the player I originally envisioned him as.

Power play, despite scoring once still looks like ass. The good news is that they are atop the standings despite some very obvious flaws.

[Pokecheque]

Back to back in Canada, a 9-1 stomping of Connor McDavid and the Oilers, followed by an OT win against the Canucks.

Go figure, they go 0-for-5 on the power play in that rout (but score a SHG) last night but score two tonight on the man advantage in Vancouver.

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Should be noted that Gavin Brindley, who was a prospect/tweener player they got in the Miles Wood/Charlie Coyle trade with Columbus, had himself a GAME. Bednar liked him so much tonight, he demoted Necas to the third line and put Brindley to the top unit with MacKinnon and Lehkonen. Also saw a decent shift in OT where he proceeded to skate right down the middle of the ice and put away his own rebound to win it.

Decent pickup.

[Pokecheque]

Mind-blowing that the Avs scored 14 goals this weekend and Brock Nelson factored in on exactly ZERO of them. Not a single point, not even a secondary assist. Zip. Zilch.

Dude's on pace for like 25 points.

[Pokecheque]

After an impressive performance the other night against the Canucks, the Avs waste NO time extending Gavin Brindley for two more years.

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So the hockey world appears to be a little curious about tonight. People were probably looking forward to the OIlers/Avs tilt before this season began, but now it appears the BIG game is going to be Ducks/Avs, with Anaheim just barely behind Colorado in the standings and playing absolutely dominant hockey.

I am not looking forward to seeing their top six, that lineup actually looks extraordinarily scary, and they've been dealing with all kinds of injuries.

Side note, I just read that Wedgewood is starting...Blackwood practiced but was spotted wearing dark glasses under his helmet. So it appears he might be concussed or something. Oh joy...

[Pokecheque]

Well that was fun.

Were they perfect? No not by any means. But they eked out a very solid 4-1 win against the powerhouse Ducks of Anaheim. Landeskog FINALLY scores…and it’s not taken back. Just happened to be the game winner.

[Pokecheque]

Looks like Nichushkin will miss some time after leaving the game last night. Blocked a shot and didn’t return.

Likely candidates to replace him on the 2nd line are Brindley and Olofsson.

He and Nelson haven’t clicked at all as linemates so hopefully they try a few guys there. Really I think Necas should line up on Nelson’s wing. The two of them were quite productive for a brief time near the end of last season, but Bednar just doesn’t seem all that interested in reuniting them.

[Pokecheque]

I'm reading that current 4th line center Zakhar Bardakov said in an interview he's not happy about playing six minutes a night.

I'm kinda mystified as to why Bednar has kept him on such a short leash. His analytics, small sample size and all, appear to be very good. That whole 4th line of Kelly - Bardakov - Brindley has been phenomenal, certainly the best one they've had since Cogliano - Helm - O'Connor back when they won the Cup.

[Pokecheque]

Good Lord I forgot tonight's game against the Sabres is "Fourth Wing Night." They're doing a promotional thing with the book of the same name. I'm somewhat embarrassed to say I listened to the audiobook because I wanted to know what all the hype was about this rather smutty YA fantasy series. I didn't care for it, was just about the cheesiest thing I ever did read/hear, and "smut" is putting it mildly. Very strange they'd be picking this particular book. I suppose it's a better choice than having anything to do with that crazy British woman who created that series about a boy who does magic.

Also, I'd advise the Avs to be very wary of the "BookTok" crowd that surrounds things like this, because the Seattle Kraken found out the hard way HERE and HERE that such marketing efforts can backfire horribly.

[Pokecheque]

Oh, I forgot to say the Avs just extended Scott Wedgewood, 1 year and roughly $2.5 million or something like that, I'm too lazy to look it up.

Very necessary with the way he has played in Blackwood's stead and the fact that top goalie prospect Ilya Nabokov is struggling badly in the KHL.

[Scott 679]

Oh, I forgot to say the Avs just extended Scott Wedgewood, 1 year and roughly $2.5 million or something like that, I'm too lazy to look it up.

Very necessary with the way he has played in Blackwood's stead and the fact that top goalie prospect Ilya Nabokov is struggling badly in the KHL.

Here you go.

https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/article/avs-ink- ... extension/

[harmfuljays]

[Pokecheque]

Avs take care of business and beat the Sabres 6-3, a game closer than that score would indicate. Buffalo had it tied at 3 before the Avs pulled away on Gavin Brindley's perfect wrister from the right side. That line as a whole was huge, with both he and Nelson scoring huge goals.

Marty Necas led the way with two goals and two assists on the night, and Gabe Landeskog got ANOTHER goal called back (this time on supposed goaltender interference) but ended the night with an empty netter. Would've been hilarious if they had reviewed THAT.

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Yeah, dude is really well-spoken and intelligent. They didn't just get him for his goaltending abilities, they also got him because he was reportedly good in the room. And after all the chaos and disruption caused with Landeskog not being there, Johansen, and Georgiev, they desperately needed that kind of presence.

[Pokecheque]

Avs win again 4-1 but that score is a bit of a mirage, Avs were down 1-0 in the first before scoring two quick ones in the 2nd and holding on for dear life until an empty netter and then a garbage-time Brock Nelson goal with 15 seconds left. Isles were the better team but Scott Wedgewood was awesome throughout.

I guess the Colton-Nelson-Brindley line is working. It probably shouldn't be, but it is. Ever since they took Landeskog and now Nichushkin off his line, Nelson has looked a lot better. Those were just bad fits, and Landeskog appears to have benefited from the demotion as his underlying numbers have improved significantly. Oh and of course, he initially had a secondary assist that they then erased later because they claimed the Isles player "had possession" en route to Sam Malinski. It bounced off said player, they never had "possession" but you do you, NHL.

Power play is still absolute garbage though. I know, I know, they're the best team in hockey and it's all the more impressive they're generating this much offense almost exclusively at even strength. But at some point they need to figure this the hell out. And the power play LOOKS bad, just a lot of standing still and perimeter passing followed by a one-timer that gets blocked or saved rather easily.

[Pokecheque]

Avs win 6-3, last two were empty netters.

Score was pretty close until the end, though metrics-wise they absolutely destroyed NY, one of the most dominant road teams (and worst home team) in the league.

Scott Wedgewood with another masterful start.

Four points for Nathan MacKinnon, who gets increasingly irritated every time he has to be interviewed. There are some nights he won't even come out to acknowledge the fans when he's announced as one of the Three Stars, and last night he already had his jersey and shoulder pads off when he was announced as First Star of the Game, didn't do the usual twirl but (begrudgingly) sat down and talked to the arena/rinkside reporter, Rachel Tos. The whole time you could tell he was desperately wanting to get out of there. And that's fine, he doesn't get paid big bucks to be a media darling.

Brock Nelson with a huge power play goal off a broken play, which is a good thing because the power play once again sucked donkey balls and went 1-for-6. He was at the postgame show and said he was pretty psyched about scoring against his old team and his old team's archrival in back-to-back games. It was perfect placement on the shot too, something tells me he kinda knows where to shoot it on Shestyorkin.

Rookie Gavin Brindley took a bad hit and left the game, doesn't look good at all. Real shame too, he was off to a very promising start, hopefully not too serious but we'll know more today probably.