These are frustrating times for the Colorado Avalanche, so it’s not too shocking to see some moves here and there.
Mikko Rantanen (pictured) failed to score a point in his first six career NHL games, so it’s not that shocking that he’s headed out of the picture.
Really, the Avs have bigger concerns when it comes to their scorers.
Matt Duchene expanded a bit on Cam Ward’s save from last night, and his scoring frustrations in general, as mentioned in this Hockey Buzz article.
“It’s hard because I put so much pressure on myself,” Duchene said. “My job is to score and provide offense and obviously that’s probably game over unless they score having to pull the goalie. It’s extremely frustrating that I wasn’t able to put that one in, but when you’re getting chances it comes.”
(You can see Ward’s remarkable save in the video above this post.)
One can understand Duchene’s frustration at that specific moment, yet the bottom line is that he’s barely producing more than Rantanen (Duchene has one goal in six games).
However you may feel about Patrick Roy’s philosophy and systems, one goal just isn’t good enough from Duchene, especially since scoring is indeed his calling card.