Colorado Avalanche: Bednar excited for new-look line

MacKinnon, Landeskog, and Rantanen are a star line on the Colorado Avalanche. But is it worth moving the three around to show depth, or should they be kept together?

MacKinnon, Landeskog, and Rantanen are no doubt the core of the Colorado Avalanche. They are akin to the “two-headed monster” that the Pittsburgh Penguins have, except they’re younger and there’s more of them to balance out in case one gets hurt. But they have the talent of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin together, a truly generational talent that you only see once in a lifetime.

The question is, now, should they be kept together or should they be separated for the good of the team? You would think the answer is easy: keep them together, for God’s sake! But it might not be that simple, in any case, it’s certainly not that simple to Jared Bednar.

According to ColHockeyNow,

"“I like to do both, to be honest with you,” he said. “I really like what Landy provides to that line, but I also like what he is able to give ‘Naz’ (Nazem Kadri), for instance, in support. I think it helps Naz and one other linemate a lot there.”"

It might seem counter-intuitive to break up a line so strong and bring up players who might not have the chemistry that the three players do, but it’s something that Bednar seems likely to do. If Landeskog can help the second line and we can bring up JT Compher to the first line and it works, I don’t see the problem in doing that every once in a while. Bednar seems excited for the opportunity of bringing up people to the first line and letting Landeskog help the second line.

I think we’ll likely see the core on the line together at the start of most games. Why wouldn’t you? If you have a core that’s as strong as this one, you wouldn’t break it up unless you have to. So unless the Colorado Avalanche have a few bad games which makes Bednar want to rethink his lineup, I think you’ll see just how excited he is for his core to be back.