Too early to panic about the Colorado avalanche? | Evans' Bag | Colorado avalanche

Welcome to Evan's 'Bag, where Evan Rawal answers all your Avalanche (and hockey) questions every Monday. If you have a question about Mailbag, please feel free to send it to [email protected].

Okay, apart from the goalkeeper… overall feeling after 2? Is this team in trouble or still as good as ever?

I wasn't that worried so early on as I can't even remember when. MacKinnon is already breaking sticks. How worried are you?

With reasonably good goaltending, this team would be at least 1-1. There were many positive aspects in each of the games, but when you don't make a single save, the mistakes become even greater.

MacKinnon, Rantanen and Mittelstadt roll offensively. The power play was great early on, keeping them in the game, and Ross Colton seemed comfortable on the wing. When you score four goals in a game you expect to win and yet here we are.

It's not just about the goalkeeper. Josh Manson and Sam Girard had tough performances against the Blue Jackets and failed to score on a couple rush goals against the Blue Jackets. But the fact is, you won't win many games if your goalkeepers struggle to save 70% of the shots they get. There's no sugarcoating this – Georgiev and Annunen were bad and need to change the situation.

Am I worried? A little, simply because this team is already exhausted. Even the best players in the world can't beat the Avalanche's goaltending skills through two games. And again it's only two games. Plenty of time to turn things around, and the Avalanche aren't the only team with high expectations getting off to a slow start (see Edmonton).

If they're at .500 until they get guys like Lehkonen and Nichushkin back, call that a win. It just might not look nice to get there.

How are the newbies? (Ivan, Kovalenko, Ritchie)

Ivan Ivan never fails to impress, and perhaps the most impressive thing about his game is that he always makes smart decisions, both with and without the puck. That can do a lot for the coaching staff, and that's why he was on the ice during a 4-on-4 situation in the game against the Blue Jackets. In my opinion, he has outperformed a veteran like Joel Kiviranta in camp and in the first few games.

Nikolay Kovalenko made it to the top on Saturday and looks like he'll be there again on Monday. It has to be intimidating for any young player to play with two superstars, and coach Jared Bednar hinted at that after the game. He brings some other elements to the game that make him valuable, including some physicality. Against the Blue Jackets, he took two penalties in the offensive zone and just has to keep going no matter who he's playing with.

The game looks a little too fast for Cal Ritchie right now. He doesn't want the puck on his stick and isn't comfortable in the defensive zone. The talent is clearly there and the team is giving him the opportunity to showcase his skills by using him as an additional attacker in each of the first two games. At this point, he would need to improve significantly to get through the nine-game testing period, but anything is possible.

Evan, what moves could the Avs reasonably make at goaltending? What serious pieces could the Avs move and for whom?

That's the problem with problems so early in the season – no team is willing to do anything. They want to see what their teams can do.

The goalkeeper market is likely limited and the names in that market are unlikely to excite anyone. The one name that keeps coming to mind is Mackenzie Blackwood of the Sharks. San Jose traded for Yaroslav Askarov this summer and it's only a matter of time before he moves to the NHL. Not that I'm trying to reunite the Sharks' goaltending tandem from last year in Colorado, but there's only one goaltender that might be available. I can't imagine anyone reading this being so excited when they heard that name.

Could they trade for a man like John Gibson? Sure, but I think it would cost a lot more. He's also someone whose play on the ice doesn't quite match the reputation he has among fans. I understand he's stuck on a bad team, but it's been a long time since he's had a decent season. He is also prone to injury.

The Avalanche doesn't exactly have a lot of valuable trading assets, which only complicates things.

You haven't seen a recent video of Landeskog skating, are there any updates at all?

I'm trying to remember, but I don't think I've seen Gabe Landeskog skate since training camp started. That doesn't mean he doesn't skate at all, but I just haven't seen it, so it could all be happening in private.