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r/ColoradoAvalanche•
hello2you

Should the team move Holden to a forward spot?

Speaking as a season ticket holder that went to all but two games this season, it shouldn't be any surprise that I'm down on #2.

BUT -- I feel like Holden is way better when he's on the wing and he doesn't have to worry about skating backward. His play in the final game of the year where he drove it through the zone and eventually scored made me think about this.

He has an awesome 1-timer too. When Nick isn't worried about D, he freaking rocks.

What do you guys think? I think on the 3rd or 4th line as a winger Nick might work.

Posted Apr 10, 2016, 7:27 AM UTC · edited

713
Kysoo•

How about we just move Nick Holden from defense to... Some other teams defense :)

23
seancolorado•

Nick Holden was tried as a winger in the past and it didn't work out great

8
TurtleMountain•

This. He played a few games last season as a 4th line wing when he was slumping at the beginning of the season and in the doghouse. It wasn't pretty.

I have no issues with Holden as a 3rd liner. He's obviously not an ideal defenseman, but we've had worse. I just think it's bizarre how Roy kept him with Barrie all season. Barrie and Holden spent 1076.3 5v5 minutes together this year. Barrie's next most common partner was Beauchemin with 137.35. In terms of the defensemen who played the most 5v5 minutes on ice together, the top 10 is:

  1. WEBER-JOSI

  2. SUTER-SPURGEON

  3. NISKANEN-ALZNER

  4. LARSSON-GREENE

  5. GORGES-RISTOLAINEN

  6. KLINGBERG-GOLIGOSKI

  7. MARTIN-BURNS

  8. MCNABB-DOUGHTY

  9. HOLDEN-BARRIE

  10. JOHNSON-BEAUCHEMIN

I'm not 100% sure, but aren't Holden and Barrie the only 2nd pairing on the list? Pretty strange.

2
TarHeelWalker•

I actually like Holden, and I thought his play this year was a huge improvement over last year. That being said, I think that they could use him to trade for an upgrade on defense. Dunno what you could get for him. I hope that he improves some more next year if the Avs keep him.

6
cracker1206•

worth a try Holden seems like a great guy and a decent player, he needs help on D, he is not the guy to be paired with Tyson. When you play D and Tyson is you partner well...........

5
Ace676•

Most of the time he's not able to hit the broad side of a barn with his shot so I don't know if he would actually help our offense that much

4
Fitzwell•

they need to move him alright. Move him to another team...

4
orionblueyarm•

Just no. Holden was average to poor this season, but he's a 3rd line D-man playing on the 2nd pairing. Either trade him, or put him back where he belongs and he would be perfectly serviceable (at least until some of the young guys show they are ready for full time duty)

3
canucklehead272•

No. He can't pass and he's terrible on the wall. Realistically they should trade him and Mitchell and use the cap savings for a true upgrade elsewhere in the roster

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TurtleMountain•

Mitchell has a cheap contract and can play up and down the roster, on the PK, and on the PP. He's also decent defensively and can chip in offensively. He's a frustrating player when you know the skill is there but he just decides to dangle through the neutral zone. That being said, his utility is great for a bottom 6 player.

5
canucklehead272•

With the Avs current roster construction Mitchell is a 31 year old 4th line center coming off one of the 2nd worst year of his career (21 points) and costing $1.8M in cap space. That's an enormous luxury price to pay for a guy who's contributions are relatively minor considering you could replace, and likely even upgrade on him for cheaper with a player in free agency or out of your own system (Compher)

4
TurtleMountain•

At the same time, he only has a year left on his deal. The return for trading him would not be equal to the utility we get from having him in the lineup.

As for the 21 points, that's not exactly the best metric to use to evaluate Johnny Malkin. His usage has changed significantly. This season, his TOI is lower than ever before with Colorado. He spent more time on the 4th line than before (remember that very effective McLeod-Mitchell-Skille line from the beginning of the season?) In the past, he's been higher up in the roster because we've had depth problems. In the 2012-2013 season, his most common 5v5 linemates were Duchene and Parenteau. In 2013-2014, Talbot and McGinn. In 2014-2015, Duchene and Iginla.

You can make the argument that John Mitchell's play has degraded, sure. You could just as easily make the argument that he's always been a 4th line center and now is the first time in his career that he's actually playing in the correct role. I think the flexibility he affords us is much greater than the potential return (a 4th round pick or something?) on draft day. I would only be down for it if we couldn't fit MacKinnon and Barrie under the cap this season, which hopefully will not be a major issue.

2
canucklehead272•

The point in trading Mitchell (or Holden or Berra for that matter) isn't about what you get in return because the return is going to be minimal. Guaranteed. The point is that you can replace or even upgrade those players for something like 700k to 1M less cap hit. Do that 3 times across your roster and you have the money to spend on a real upgrade where it's needed or the money to comfortably sign a top 6 winger to replace Boedker. I put that at a higher priority than retaining a declining, "meh" 31 year old 4th liner

1