WASHINGTON — A younger, less confident version of Miles Wood might have immediately done what he’s been known to do his entire career: attack, with speed, in mostly straight lines.
Wood had the puck last week near the New Jersey blue line, in the building he called home for seven seasons, with a rookie defenseman in front of him. Attacking Devils defenseman Simon Nemec, and potentially creating some chaos, wouldn’t have been a bad option.
But Wood slowed down instead of speeding up. He surveyed the developing situation, watched Nemec’s defense partner make a tactical mistake and slipped a cross-ice pass to Nathan MacKinnon, who came off the bench during a line change and was suddenly in alone on the goaltender with a Grade-A scoring opportunity.
This is not something Wood did a lot of during his 402 games with the Devils. It is the type of play he’s now making with regularity in his first season with the Avalanche.
“I think it’s my puck play. Making more plays off the rush,” Wood said. “I’ve incorporated that in my game. I feel personally that is a big stride for me. Off-the-rush plays and just holding onto the puck more, the small two-foot plays and stuff like that. I didn’t do as much of that stuff in the past.
“I think I’m just playing with more calm out there. It’s knowing when to pick your spots to play with speed and when to slow down and read the play.”
Wood has nine goals and 20 points in 49 games. He’s not producing goals or points at a rate better than his career-best in New Jersey (19 goals, 32 points), but he’s also not getting time on the power play.
And it’s clear to anyone who watched him in New Jersey that this version of Wood is just a better all-around player. It’s not just that he’s making multiple passes per game that he might not have even attempted when he was with the Devils.
He’s become a quality player away from the puck, positioning himself well and anticipating plays to pick off passes and strip opponents of the puck. Few players at Wood’s age (28) make such obvious strides years into their NHL careers.
“To be honest, I think it’s just having a coach that trusts you,” Wood said. “Having the confidence to make those plays and just picking the right time and space to try it. Jared (Bednar) has been huge in the fact that he lets his guys play. You still have to be smart with that, but I think it comes down to having a staff that trusts you and knows that you can make the plays. I think that’s the most important.”
Wood’s all-around game, including his playmaking with the puck and his defensive acumen without it, has taken a significant step forward after signing a six-year, $15 million contract with Colorado this past offseason. The contract drew a wide range of reactions because clubs don’t generally give that much term to a player expected to be a depth contributor.
Whether or not the length proves to be an issue in the future is low on the priority list for a franchise with Stanley Cup-or-bust expectations. The Avs needed to overhaul their forward depth. Not every move has worked out, but adding Wood and Ross Colton via trade certainly has.
They have joined forces with Logan O’Connor to form the Avs’ best, most consistent support line behind the stars on the top unit.
“They know their best chance at having success is not just how competitive they are, but it’s also being connected as a group and playing with the right amount of detail,” Bednar said. “There’s a predictability to it that allows them to play fast, be highly effective, that sort of wolf pack mentality where they are outworking some opponents, they’re connected and can talk and they’re in great support. That’s what leads that line to success. Every line has something a little different that makes them tick, but that’s the way we want to play. I think they understand it and they’re dialed into it.”
When the Avs got blitzed last weekend by the Florida Panthers, Bednar was blunt about the many things that went wrong. He also offered praise to one line — the one with Wood and Colton on it.
That felt like a significant moment for Wood and Colton. The loss to the Panthers came 20 games after Devon Toews’ frustrated postgame comments became a viral talking point. Toews was careful to not name names, but comments about guys not sticking to the club’s structure led people outside the locker room to speculate that he was talking about some of the new players on the team.
Whether Wood and Colton were part of the group Toews was frustrated with is immaterial, but the improvements those two have made in assimilating to how the Avs want to play are obvious.
“It’s not easy on a new team. It’s not easy to find your way, but they’ve figured it out,” veteran forward Andrew Cogliano said. “They’ve played well together. (O’Connor) has definitely helped them find a line that really works well in terms of how they all play together and complement each other. They’ve definitely progressed in a great way and played well, and it’s something we’ve needed from them.”
Added Wood: “Totally, for sure. If you look at our first 10 games or so, it was a brand new team, didn’t know much about Ross. We definitely struggled. Since about the 10-game mark or whatever, I feel like we’ve taken huge strides each game. Now we’re just trying to build on that.”
Want more Avalanche news? Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis.
Link to original article