What we learned at Avalanche media day: Martin Necas’ contract, Gabe Landeskog’s plan and more

The Stanley Cup champions were one of the best hockey teams of the st century which sets a lofty standard Jared Bednar hasn t shied away from comparing his latest Colorado Avalanche clubs to the title-winning Terminator that steamrolled through the playoffs He did it again on Wednesday at media day ahead of the - campaign but this time with a twist Likely the deepest unit we ve had since to start the season Bednar announced The phrase at the end of the sentence was key Colorado s coach declared the same thing about the Avs after the agreement deadline in both and It s clear Bednar and his players feel this edition is different than the past three because of where the roster is right now as training camp begins Thursday with opening night three weeks away Oct in Los Angeles After multiple years without clarity on captain Gabe Landeskog or Valeri Nichushkin and a chaotic seismic trade-filled campaign last season continuity was the theme of the day at Ball Arena Every year it felt like we didn t know who was going to be on the crew Avs star Nathan MacKinnon commented It just feels like we re more solidified There s no wondering which is great and there s no holes in our lineup There were chosen fundamental news items at media day and information to glean about key storylines for the upcoming season beyond the relative roster stability Injury updates While the Avs look healthy relative to previous Septembers there are still three key players who won t be skating with the full group Thursday at Family Sports Center Logan O Connor had hip surgery in early June Bednar disclosed he s on track with the initial evaluation of - months and the Avs are hopeful he ll be back by early November Defenseman Samuel Girard and goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood have both been on the ice away from the main group of teammates during pre-camp captain s skates Bednar explained Girard is dealing with lower-body injuries while Blackwood has been dealing with an offseason injury The Avs hope Girard can be ready by opening night while Bednar suggested Blackwood could miss the first limited games Related Articles It s been a long road but Chase Bradley sees opportunity with Avalanche With new contract settled family Brock Nelson sees bright Avalanche future Feels like a special group in a special place For new Avalanche prospect Gavin Brindley self-belief and hard work are never an issue Avalanche analysis What went wrong with Colorado s power play and why there could be optimism moving forward After breakout season Max Curran offers hope for Avalanche late-draft success story Analysis It s not the star power of Landeskog and Nichushkin but Girard and Blackwood are critical pieces of this unit The Avs are deep when comparing their best NHL lineup to other clubs but the next man up types from the minors are a different story Girard s absence leaves them with only six defensemen who have more than games of NHL experience and only one left-handed guy with more than Don t be surprised if the Avs add another defenseman during camp or right before the season off the waiver wire regardless of Girard s progress Colorado s first back-to-back isn t until Gams Nos and so expect Scott Wedgewood to handle the early-season workload until Blackwood is ready Captain comeback part two Landeskog s return during the playoffs in April was a surreal moment Now it s time for the grind Bednar reported there will be no restrictions on practices or ice time during games to start Both the coach and captain acknowledged there are still unknowns about how it will go after Landeskog missed three full regular seasons We got seven games out of it counting two with the Eagles last year so we don t really know what the managing exactly looks like over an -game schedule plus Landeskog mentioned It s going to be something we just continue working on as we go through the season But I expect to be feeling good and I expect to be playing and I expect to be playing a lot Analysis The addition of Victor Olofsson gives the Avs particular insurance but Landeskog is one of the league s great X-factors this season If he plays most of of the games at the same level he demonstrated against Dallas Colorado could have the best top-six forward group in the NHL Necas contract A year ago the Avs began the season with the No right wing on the depth chart in the final year of his contract Martin Necas situation is not exactly the same as Mikko Rantanen s but it s also not dissimilar We didn t learn much about where things stand at media day We re talking and we ll see what s going to happen Necas commented I can t really tell you I don t even know It will be enthralling It s more about my agent Analysis The current situation feels like a bottleneck Everyone is waiting for Connor McDavid and Kirill Kaprizov to reset the field but neither of them appears close to signing Necas is unique compared to other stars like Jack Eichel Kyle Connor and Adrian Kempe He and his gang haven t had as much time together to figure out if they are a long-term match It s a huge pivot point for what the Avalanche will look like over the next sparse seasons It s Necas best chance to sign a massive contract It could be a tricky spot and the price isn t likely to decrease if Necas continues to produce like he did last season In specific approaches Colorado was lucky to be able to replace Rantanen with Necas The Avs might not be as fortunate if they need to find another high-level forward to replace Necas Right-side logjam Even with a healthy Girard the Avs have four right-shot guys in their top six defensemen Someone has to shift over to the off-side We re going to start with playing Sam Malinski on the left side and see how that goes Bednar noted Analysis Assuming Cale Makar and Devon Toews stay together on the top pairing that means Malinski and Keaton Middleton will be on the left side with Josh Manson and new addition Brent Burns on the right Malinski moved between the third and second pairings last year and presented progress Now he has a new challenge How he handles it could have an impact on Colorado s plans ahead of the agreement deadline Forward battles The Avs have two spots open for competition center on both the third and fourth lines Bednar disclosed Jack Drury who was the No center against Dallas is perfectly capable of handling the C role but also mentioned Ross Colton as a possibility He revealed Parker Kelly proved he can handle the C role last season but the club also intends to give Zakhar Bardakov and Nikita Prishchepov a look during camp Analysis Bednar also mentioned Olofsson as a feasible top-six wing If that happens one of the established guys among Landeskog Nichushkin Necas and Artturi Lehkonen would play on the third line While the Avs are happy to have roster stability it s viable certain players will be shifting up and down the lineup as Bednar experiments Bardakov is a wild card but Prishchepov also had a strong showing while playing center during the Rookie Showcase Those two could give the Avs much-needed depth beyond the veterans up front particularly once O Connor returns Want more Avalanche news Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis