Jared Bednar: Avalanche have “trust” in all four lines as playoffs approach
Mar 26, 2025, 10:17 AM
Depth is one of the most important traits for a team to make a push to win the Stanley Cup, and Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar knows that. For a sport as physical as hockey is, getting quality play from the third and fourth lines while preserving the legs of the top lines is essential to making a push for a title.
Do these lines have to score a goal every game? No. These lines just need to not be a negative when on the ice and hold their own while the stars get much needed rest. If the lower lines can do that, then the top line with MacKinnon can be used more strategically with offensive zone face-offs instead of throwing them in there whenever momentum is against the Avs.
“We have no passengers, everyone’s playing pretty well,” Bednar said after the Avs’ 5-2 win over Detroit Tuesday. “We have trust in all four of our lines.”
In Tuesday’s win, Nathan MacKinnon played just over 18 minutes, the fourth time in March he’s played under 20 minutes. In the month of March, his average time on ice per game is just 21:37, his lowest in a month all season.
The story for Cale Makar is similar. Tuesday was the third time this month he’s played less than 23 minutes, and he is averaging his fewest minutes per game in a month all season.
In the 2024 playoffs, MacKinnon’s average time on the ice was 24:36, while Makar’s was 26:58. Bednar will throw these guys out there as much as he needs when the time comes, so it’s important for him to try and find breaks for them in the regular season when it matters.
Finding a balance between keeping the stars’ minutes down but still winning games on the ice is also something of note to Bednar because it’s not guarantee that this team just ends up in the Stanley Cup Playoffs every year.
“I get criticized for that over the years, of playing that line too much or whatever, but it’s a results oriented business,” Bednar said. You do what you have to do to win hockey games. I don’t care if it’s October, November, December because playoffs aren’t made in April. They’re made every segment the whole year and you got to meet those numbers or things get infinitely more difficult.”
The Avalanche’s third line of Ross Colton, Joel Kiviranta and Charlie Coyle is scoring 4.31 goals every 60 minutes, which ranks 33rd in the NHL for lines that have played as many minutes together as those three have. While the ranking might not be the most flattering thing, remember that this is a third line, and ranks much higher than many top lines in the league.
Health is another aspect, and if the Avalanche can stay healthy going forward, that will help balance out the minutes. As of Wednesday morning, the only two Avalanche players on the injury report are Erik Johnson and Josh Manson. With all hands on deck down the stretch (with a possible return from Gabe Landeskog), the health of the team can help keep MacKinnon and Makar’s minutes down heading into the postseason.
