The Colorado Avalanche claimed Marko Dano off of waivers today. The Avalanche have had success with this resource in the past when claiming Matt Nieto, who just got a 2 year $2 million per year deal this summer, and Patrick Nemeth, who got a 1 year deal at just a little more than that. These players may not be big names but they had some success last year and helped the Avs get to the playoffs. Nieto showed some chemistry with Soderberg and Nemeth showed some adeptness at the PK. Over the summer, their roles have been diminished somewhat after promoting internally and signing free agents Matt Calvert and Ian Cole. With the roster shaping up nicely, it seemed unlikely the Avs would need to look at the waiver wire this year.

However, through the first 2 weeks of the season, Nieto and Bourque have shown very badly in every game. They are constantly fumbling pucks, giving up good scoring chances against, and haven’t done their job on the PK. Another depth option for the Avs is Sven Andrighetto. He started the season injured and is somewhat of an unknown. He recently practiced in a regular jersey so it looks like he was set to get back on the ice sooner rather than later.

With these pitfalls of the team, the Avs were desperate to get a good start this season and decided to take a chance on Marko Dano. Dano started his career in Columbus (big surprise there) where he was drafted. He played in the KHL for most of his Draft +1 season and signed a contract at the end and played 10 games in the AHL before the season ended where he registered 6 points. Dano came into the next season looking like a good prospect. The young first round Slovakian would start in the AHL but be called up to the Blue Jackets where he flourished on a line of fellow young stud Alex Wenneberg and veteran Scott Hartnell. He put up 21 points in his first 35 games which is good for 49 points in a full season. After that season he was sent to Chicago in a trade that would send Saad back to the Blue Jackets. Dano started in the AHL where he put up very good AHL numbers showing that he has nothing left to learn there. He was brought up only played in 13 games with Chicago before being traded at the deadline to Winnipeg. He has been in Winnipeg since then until today where he has constantly been battling with other depth players for ice time. With a roster of:

It is going to be hard to crack the roster of one of the deepest teams in the NHL. It would be hard to show your ability when you are stuck playing with Lowry and Tanev for most of your time. When you are trying to show that you are at least a middle 6 player trying to get points on the board, its going to be hard to show when your linemates aren’t producing and when that isn’t the role you have been forced into. Dano played most of his time with bottom 6 depth except for his first stint with Columbus. Since then he has had trouble producing, which could be his fault, but it could also have a lot to do with the quality of his linemates.

Nothing against Dano though because he has even looked good defensively. Dano has spent a lot of time playing against all kinds of competition. From PuckIQ, Dano has played almost equally against, bottom six, middle, and top 6 quality competition. His stats are somewhat disappointing when facing top quality players, that is not something to turn you away from him. Most shut down players generally have disappointing stats.

Dano wont come in and wow anyone with his shut down ability but he definitely will be an upgrade on the recent performance of Nieto and Bourque. Dano also hasnt played any PK time but I would expect the Avs to give him a look there at least for a little bit in practice. Putting Dano with Soderberg could prove beneficial. Soderberg has been saddled with Nieto and Bourque all season and has still managed to tally a whopping 5 points in 5 games with no help from his wingers. The Avs were messing with the lines last practice after the loss to Calgary so I would expect the Avs to experiment with putting Dano on Soderberg’s line. Dano has shown very good offensive ability when paired with other skilled players. He produced with Wenneberg and Hartnell, neither of which were bonafide skilled players at the time. He played a little bit with Toewes and Hossa when in Chicago and produced a bit there until he was taken off and stranded on the bottom line.

With a career shooting percentage of 10% and possibly being on a line with Soderberg, Dano could have the chance to put up some decent numbers and get 10-15 goals by the end of the year with consistent playing time. And this isn’t a small sample size. Over 4 seasons, though only around 35 games played per season, his numbers are consistent. His underlying generation and possession metrics are not overwhelming but more positive than we have seen with other waiver pickups like Nieto.

Expectations for Dano should be kept low, but if the front office looks to be eyeing a replacement to replace Nieto or Bourque and help Soderberg, this could be a sneaky good move by the Avalanche. He wins battles down low, he has some intensity, and is adept at zone entries. He has some visible skill on the opponents side of the ice, though it has never shown in his stats. He is consistent and solid defensively. He wont wow you anywhere on the ice, but can provide the Avalanche with a better offensive option than Nieto or Bourque and an equal replacement defensively than them. Dano cannot drive the play defensively alone, however, but can play off of others very well. He reads the ice and his linemates to always be in position and to rarely be a liability.

Credit to PuckIQ for quality of competition stats

Credit to NaturalStatTrick for advanced metrics and screencap

Credit to DailyFaceoff for roster and lineups and screecap

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