Jared Bednar isn’t trying to turn Zach L’Heureux into a different player. He’s trying to help him become a smarter one.
That matters for Colorado, because L’Heureux’s past is impossible to ignore. The 23-year-old forward has been suspended 12 times since the start of his career, going back to his QMJHL days, and those bans have cost him 42 games. His most recent suspension came last January, when the NHL hit him with three games for slew-footing Wild captain Jared Spurgeon.
It’s a lot for a player that young. But Bednar has seen this movie before.
When L’Heureux’s history came up, Bednar pointed to Nazem Kadri as the template. Kadri arrived in Colorado in 2019 at age 28 after already being suspended four times for on-ice incidents. The reputation came with him, and so did the occasional lapse.
The biggest one came in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs, when Kadri was suspended eight games for an illegal check to the head of St. Louis Blues defenseman Justin Faulk.
That was his fifth suspension for an on-ice incident and his third in the playoffs. After that, though, the suspensions stopped.
Kadri didn’t lose his edge. He just learned how to control it.
“He still kind of plays on the edge at times,” Bednar said. “But he's still, he's disciplined guy.
You know, he wants to win. He's matured into knowing when he has to play physical and play with grit, and, you know, when he can, like, kind of tone that down a little bit.”
That’s the lane Colorado wants L’Heureux to find. The Avalanche didn’t bring him in to strip away the nastiness that makes him useful.
They need that kind of bite. They need someone willing to make opponents uncomfortable and answer when games get heavy.
That has real value for a team that has had plenty of skill, but has also run into Dallas and Vegas in the playoffs - teams that are more than willing to drag a game into the muck and make every inch painful.
L’Heureux can help there. He just can’t let that side of him run the show.
“We'll just watch him play,” Bednar said, “and we'll have discussions on when we think he needs to dial it back a little bit, or when he needs to ramp it up a little bit.”
That’s the challenge in front of him: not becoming less physical, but learning when the physicality is an asset and when it turns into a problem.
L’Heureux has already said he needs to clean that part of his game up, and at 23, he still has time to do it. Bednar’s Kadri comparison shows why Colorado is willing to be patient. Kadri arrived with plenty of baggage, and even after joining the Avalanche, he still had one more major suspension to serve before he finally moved past it.
L’Heureux is getting that lesson earlier. Colorado doesn’t need him to be someone else. It needs him to become the player he already is without constantly paying for it.
In Other News...
Former Avalanche Blue-Liner Brings Back An All Too Familiar What-If
Ryan Lindgrens night for the Kraken ended almost before it began, a jarring turn for a defenseman whose career has already been marked by constant movement. He was hurt 15 seconds into Seattles game against the Vegas Golden Knights after taking a hit from behind and did not return because of an upper-body injury, another frustrating reminder of how quickly a season can tilt for a player trying to carve out stability in a new home.
For Avalanche fans, Lindgrens situation can stir a familiar what-if after his brief stint in Colorado following a trade brought him into the fold. He is now in his second season with Seattle, and his recent career path has been a reminder of how often his value has traveled with him from stop to stop. The injury adds a fresh layer of uncertainty to a season that had already been defined by change, leaving more questions about what comes next than answers. [Read more 🡒]
Nathan MacKinnon Suddenly Has The Help Colorado Needed Most
The Avalanche barely had time to settle into the season before their offense started roaring, piling up 14 goals in the first two games and matching a franchise mark. Martin Necas has been a big part of that early surge, flashing the kind of finish and playmaking Colorado hoped to add when it put him alongside Nathan MacKinnon and Artturi Lehkonen.
Necas backed up the buzz in the 6-1 win over the Blues, scoring twice and adding an assist as the top line combined for three goals and eight points. What makes the start even more encouraging for Colorado is that the scoring has come with strong defensive work behind it, giving the Avalanche an early look at the balance they have been chasing. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Get An Early Test Of How Real This 2-0 Start Is
The Avalanches 2-0 start gets a sharper examination on the road Thursday night, when they visit the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre for their first away game of the season. It also brings a couple of notable lineup choices into view, with Zachary LHeureux set to make his season debut and Mackenzie Blackwood back in net for a third straight start as Colorado looks to carry its early momentum into a different building.
Winnipeg is expected to counter with Stuart Skinner in goal instead of Clay Stevenson, who made his Jets debut in the previous game. For Colorado, this feels like an early measuring-stick night, the kind that can say a lot about a hot start without fully settling the question of how sustainable it is. [Read more 🡒]