Colorado Avalanche Head Coach trying powerplay setup that no other teams use
The Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche are testing a new concept by playing three defenseman on the power-play. This is indeed rare, but the Avalanche have the defensive depth and players to do this. Devon Toews, Samuel Girard, and Bowen Byram all have experience playing on the power-play and they all have offensive ability.
Currently they're having these three skaters together on a power-play unit. Of course they already have world class defenseman Cale Makar who will also be logging power-play time on their top unit. The three defenseman theory is intriguing. Not many teams have tried this approach but the Avalanche might not have a lot of other options.
They already lost Nazem Kadri and Andre Burakovksy to free agency. Gabriel Landeskog is also scheduled to miss the start of the season with a lower body injury. So the Av's don't have as much depth up front and all three of those players logged power-play time last season. The Avalanche do have the luxury of calling on several defenseman to fill the void and it looks like that is the case on the power-play. You could even make a case for Josh Manson to get some power-play time if they had too. Perhaps this will work out well for the Avalanche or maybe they will have to adjust their approach as the season progress. It will be curious to see what strategy they choose and how it works for them.
| POLL | ||
What is your preferred powerplay setup? | ||
| 3 forwards 2 defensemen | 76 | 21.6 % |
| 4 forwards 1 defenseman | 235 | 66.8 % |
| 2 forwards 3 defensemen | 41 | 11.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
