Avs Mailbag: Why hasn’t Nathan MacKinnon been as dominant this season? – The Denver Post

Hi Mike, what is going on with Nathan MacKinnon right now? He hasn’t been the same player this year. This team is known for scoring, scary what might happen if MacKinnon gets things rolling also. Thanks.
— Matt, Aurora

MacKinnon seems to struggle on restarts. His first couple games from COVID protocol in October were tough, as were last week’s first few when he returned from injury. But he scored his second goal of the season Wednesday at the New York Rangers and he has 16 assists in 13 games.

The Avs’ superstar had nine shots at Philadelphia earlier this week and clanged one off iron against the Rangers. When pucks start going in again, MacKinnon is liable to catch fire.

André Burakovsky has one year left on his contract and has been a liability on most nights recently. Is he someone you trade in a package to bring in a major piece before the deadline or wait until he hopefully gets going?
— Joey, Littleton

Burakovsky can be an unrestricted free agent July 1. He can be a terrific offensive player, but you’re right, his defensive-zone turnovers seem common.

I don’t think the Avs will put him on the trade block this season. They’ll probably see how the next couple of months go and either re-sign him or let him test free agency. Linemates Nazem Kadri and Valeri Nichushkin are in the same situation with their contracts, so there’s some interesting decisions coming for general manager Joe Sakic.

This year’s club had a tough time finding their footing and then had a truly astonishing 7 of 8 games (before last night’s game in Toronto). With the loss of Saad and Donskoi and the third line consisting of Kubel/Newhook/O’Connor, do you think Sakic will try and get a top-six scoring forward at the trade deadline for the playoff push? If so, what assets and/or prospects do you think Sakic would move?
— Joshua Canfield, Denver

Alex Newhook and Logan O’Connor are coming on offensively. Newhook enters Friday on a three-game goals streak and O’Connor scored twice against the Rangers.

A month ago, the Avs might have been worried about their depth scoring. Not now. They’re averaging 4.26 goals a game and getting scoring throughout the lineup. As for tradable assets, No. 1 on my list is defenseman Sam Girard — if rookie Bo Byram returns from his concussion-related issues.

This team is an offensive freight train right now. Do you recall teams from the past that have scored like these guys have?
— Alex, Centennial

Good question. I was thinking about that recently, trying to find a comparison. Obviously, the Joe Sakic-Peter Forsberg days featured a ton of offense. But the Avs haven’t been this dangerous since then. Colorado led the league with a 3.52 goals average last season. Now it’s the only team above 4.00. Impressive.

Shane Bowers is supposed to be a future star, so where is he? All these injuries and he has only played one game for the AHL affiliate. What’s the story?
— Greg Bradley, Halifax, Nova Scotia

He’s been injured, Greg. Not sure of the injury but he could be back soon. I wouldn’t say Bowers is pegged as a future star, but he’s certainly a nice young asset who could develop into a solid NHL player.

Hi Mike, what is with all the equipment issues with our goaltenders? I don’t remember this ever being an issue in the past. Is it just worn-down equipment, or is new technology to blame?
— Sean, Fort Collins 

Haha. No, the equipment is always relatively new and state-of-the-art at this level of hockey. Darcy Kuemper said Wednesday in New York he had a lace problem that ties between the leg pad and skate. He previously had two issues with the carriers to his skate blade. Kuemper told me he’s never had these problems before, so I don’t expect them to continue.

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