Eight games into his Colorado Avalanche career, one thing is very apparent.

Gavin Brindley has that dog in him.

And that’s earning him a lot of trust with the coaching staff.

Perhaps the toughest transition for young players to make coming out of Juniors or NCAA hockey to the NHL is realizing you aren’t the best player on your team anymore. For the longest time, Brindley was one of, if not the best, player on every single team he played on. Selected early in the second round of the 2023 draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets, Brindley was a standout at Michigan University, putting up 53 points in 40 games as a sophomore.

The transition to pro hockey last season was a difficult one for the now 21-year-old, but perhaps the best thing that could have happened to him was to get traded to Colorado. If you work hard and can skate, you can play in Colorado’s up-tempo system. That’s exactly why the Avalanche coaching staff has taken a liking to Brindley.

For most skill players, adjusting to playing in a bottom six role where you might play fewer than 10 minutes most nights is difficult. Brindley makes it look easy. Every time he’s on the ice, you notice him.

And that has forced the coaching staff to take notice.

The last few games, Brindley has become a regular on the second power play unit, replacing veteran Ross Colton. They’re not giving him some minor role, either. He’s used in a similar way to that of Nathan MacKinnon on the top unit. The puck gets dropped to him in the neutral zone and Brindley uses his speed to hopefully enter the zone cleanly.

It’s a small sample size, but the Avalanche like what they’ve seen so far.

“We have some guys that we don’t feel like they’re our best options to help the power play. I think (Brindley) is,” Jared Bednar said after Thursday’s loss to the Hurricanes. “You want a young player to get some opportunity. He’s always played the power play and he’s always been a super dangerous power play (addition). I like what he’s doing on our power play at practice, so he’s going to get some game time there.”

What might be more surprising is the addition of Brindley as a penalty-killing option. With Joel Kiviranta going down with what appears to be a long-term injury, Brindley has started to see some game action when the team goes shorthanded. It’s not a big role, as he appears to be an extra used when a regular penalty killer is sitting in the box, but it’s a sign that the young forward has earned a lot of trust very quickly.

“He’s done a nice job (killing) through training camp, through exhibition, in the regular season in just a couple of shifts here and there, so he’s the next guy up,” Bednar said. “It’s just attention to detail, doing a job on penalty kill or power play in the reps that you’re given and it’s up to us to evaluate him and get him in the right spot, so we have.”

The trust test for Brindley’s staying power in the NHL, at least in the short-term, could be when Logan O’Connor returns to the lineup. The veteran winger is expected to return in early November. At the moment, Brindley is occupying the spot O’Connor usually does at fourth-line wing.

As Brindley is waiver exempt, the easiest move for the Avalanche to do when O’Connor gets healthy is to send the young forward to the Eagles to develop a bit more. Brindley’s play, however, isn’t making that decision easy for the coaching staff.

And that’s exactly what they want.

What I’m hearing

• I tweeted (yes, I’m still calling it Twitter) after the second period against the Hurricanes that it was time to put Valeri Nichushkin back on the top power play unit. I highly doubt Bednar and company were reading my tweet during the intermission, but 15 minutes later, Nichushkin replaced Brock Nelson and what do you know? Nichushkin scored a power-play goal just a little bit later. I get that the Avalanche want to experiment with things early in the year, but Nichushkin is one of the most efficient power-play goal scorers in the NHL over the last three seasons. He should be a staple there at all times. “I thought he was our best player (against Carolina), so we decided to make the switch,” Bednar said of Nichushkin.
• When I asked Martin Necas about how Carolina plays, he said “they don’t really hold on to pucks much.” That’s probably why he wasn’t the biggest fan of playing in that system.

What I’m seeing

• Through eight games, an admittedly small (but not insignificant) sample size, Brock Nelson ranks last among all Avalanche forwards who have played every night in five-on-five shots on goal-per-60 and shot attempts per-60. That’s a stat that has to change.
• On the flip side, Ross Colton and Victor Olofsson rank just behind Nathan MacKinnon in the same categories on the team. That third line has been sneaky good.

What I’m thinking

• Biggest early surprise out East? The Tampa Bay Lightning sitting at dead last in the standings. It would be a huge surprise if that is still the case a month from now, but if it is, is Jon Cooper’s job in danger? As for the West, the Chicago Blackhawks being competitive is good for the NHL. Connor Bedard looks improved, Frank Nazar is legit, and Spencer Knight looks fantastic in net. That’s still a flawed team, but Knight playing well early is huge for them.
• The Nordiques jerseys looked beautiful on the ice, but in my personal opinion, going with a total replica was a little … boring. I would have liked to see a bit of Avalanche flavor added to the jersey. I think I still prefer the reverse retro sweaters the team wore in 2021.