DENVER (AP) — Joe Sakic trusts his core group of players. That trust extends to his head coach, too.
So he’s giving them the benefit of the doubt.
The Colorado Avalanche president of hockey operations — and now de facto general manager — plans to run it back next season behind a group that includes Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and captain Gabriel Landeskog. Jared Bednar remains safe, too, with Sakic throwing his support behind the coach with the most wins in team history.
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Sakic prefers to focus on a regular season that produced a franchise-most 121 points — and the Presidents’ Trophy — over one bad week of hockey in which the Avalanche were swept by Vegas in the Western Conference Final.
“We could panic and try and blow everything up and start all over,” Sakic said Thursday. “But this team, what they’ve done over the course of the year, was pretty remarkable. We want to give them an opportunity to try and do it again.”
The hot seat
Bednar appeared to be on the hot seat after a series against the Golden Knights in which the team didn’t make many in-game adjustments to counter a stingy Vegas defense. Bednar is entering the final year of his contract.
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“He’s got the confidence from the players,” Sakic said. “It’s clear from everybody, from players, the staff, that he’s the right guy. They respect him, they love playing for him, and that’s a big thing. … The players really believe in him, and I’m going with the players.”
Sakic, who won two Cup championships with Colorado, steps back into the role of GM after Chris MacFarland left the organization last week to take over as president of hockey operations/general manager of the Nashville Predators. Sakic was the architect who built the Avalanche in 2021-22 when Bednar coached them to a Stanley Cup title.
Colorado was cruising along in this postseason, going 8-1 before running into a Golden Knights team that caught fire after John Tortorella took over as coach. Tortorella’s team held Colorado — the highest scoring squad in the regular season — to seven goals in the series.
“We all feel that we left something on the table, but you wake up the next day and you look to try and get better,” Sakic said. “We’ve got a great group. Yes, we had a tough last week of hockey, but we still, from September on, we won the Presidents’ Trophy. We had the most points in franchise history. We played really well against L.A., really well against Minnesota. We played against a (Vegas) team that, just for that time, played better than we did. No excuses, but we’ll be ready for next year.”
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The Avalanche were hit by injuries in the playoffs, most notably to Makar, who missed two games against the Golden Knights.
“Everybody is going to be at training camp and 100%,” Sakic said. “Nobody going to miss any time.”
An extension for Makar?
One of the first orders of business for Sakic this offseason will be signing Makar to an extension. The conversations have already started. Makar turned in a 20-goal season for a third consecutive year.
“I mean, listen, Cale is going to finish his career here,” Sakic said. “We’re confident that something’s going to get worked out at some point.”
Is their style an issue?
Sakic downplayed any issues with the fast-paced style that’s made the Avalanche so successful in the regular season but hasn’t always translated in the playoffs (see: Dallas last season and Vegas this year).
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“I don’t think the physical play is the reason we lost,” Sakic said. “It was just our lack of execution in moments of the games.”
Is anyone off limits?
At a season-ending news conference for the Denver Nuggets, Kroenke Sports and Entertainment vice chairman Josh Kroenke alluded to the fact that everyone not named Nikola Jokic could be an option in a trade. Kroenke had a slightly different take with the Avalanche.
“You’re comparing fruit, but it’s much different fruit,” Kroenke said. “This core group of players on the Avs have, in a similar way, been drafted and developed. … There is an element of continuity that I always want to say we believe in, and I think continuity of that group is what has established them as an elite program in the NHL year-to-year. So hopefully that continuity continues.”
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Even the assistant coaches will be back, including Dave Hakstol who oversaw an erratic power play.
“We have to be better in certain areas, and that’s an area we’re going to be better,” Sakic said. “This group’s come a long way. Now we’re in that window, and this team deserves to try and win, but we’re going to do whatever we can.
“If it’s to get younger, we’ll look to try and get younger. But we want to make sure this team has the right pieces to try and compete for the Cup.”
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL
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