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Is Chuck Kobasew a top six forward? He is in Colorado

Alec Martinez ,Chuck Kobasew

Los Angeles Kings defenseman Alec Martinez (27) slides into Colorado Avalanche right wing Chuck Kobasew (17) during the first period of a preseason NHL hockey game in Denver, Sept. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/Barry Gutierrez)

AP

The Colorado Avalanche are looking to start the new season off with a bang and end up being a surprise playoff team in the Western Conference. With the likes of Paul Stastny, Matt Duchene, Milan Hejduk, and rookie Gabriel Landeskog set to potentially be offensive stars for the Avs, the future is looking brighter after last season saw them finish as the second-worst team in the NHL.

If you were to take a look at the Avalanche roster and pick out how you think the lines would be set up, however, you could design a video game-like set up with all their highest potential scorers teamed up together. With the aforementioned guys as well as a healthy Peter Mueller, David Jones, and T.J. Galiardi where would you have Chuck Kobasew set to line up?

If you’re head coach Joe Sacco, you’ve got Kobasew set to start on your second line as a left winger.

All Things Avs’ Adrian Dater has the politically correct take on what he makes of this curious move.

I like to watch a guy play more than I’ve had the chance to see Kobasew before I level some kind of judgment (positive or sarcastic), so I’m going to wait longer on this one. But is it a bit dispiriting knowing the Avs are giving a top-six spot now to a guy who scored 18 goals in 105 games with Minnesota the last two years? Perhaps.

While Dater will hold off on his sarcasm for now, we’re not going to pull punches: This is a strange move.

While this might be just a move to start the year and things can (and will) change throughout the year, Kobasew is a guy who’s shown glimpses of offensive play but nothing that makes us believe he’s a guy who has been held back by the teams he’s played for. With the Flames, Wild, and the Bruins he’s always been the guy with “potential” to break out and be that depth scorer and solid defensive forward. The offensive part of his game has never materialized though as Dater’s citation makes note of.

Three seasons out of Kobasew’s eight in the NHL he’s scored 20 or more goals. He did it once in Calgary and twice in Boston. Since being traded to Minnesota, however, Kobasew’s goal scoring has disappeared. Whether that’s the fault of playing with a punchless Wild lineup or the chance that Kobasew’s career has plateaued is up for debate. If he can be a 20+ goal scorer again for Colorado he’ll make Joe Sacco look smart. If not, the move looks bad and Colorado’s struggles could be reignited for another season in Denver.

The joy of the start of the season is that anything seems possible and Kobasew could be that breakout candidate. Consider us skeptical.