Welcome to Evan’s mailbag, where each week, Avalanche reporter Evan Rawal answers all your Avalanche- and hockey-related questions. Mailbag questions can be sent to evan.rawal@gazette.com.

Were there questions about the power play? You better believe it.

Do we see a change in who is managing the power play, as bringing in (Dave) Hakstol has somehow made it worse?

There’s genuine concern from the fanbase about the struggling power play, but there’s also concern inside the organization with it, Jared Bednar said last week. We’re halfway through the season and it’s a mess, despite multiple personnel changes to the top unit. This team has been so good at even strength that it hasn’t cost them games until Sunday in Florida. That’s probably the most remarkable part.

I don’t see them making a coaching change (more below), so I think it must be figured out internally. With Martin Necas’ very temporary removal from the top unit, the only two mainstays on the main group have been Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. Beyond that, they’ve mixed and matched players and even tried different setups. It’s not working, at least not consistently, and what’s even more maddening is you see flashes of greatness.

The power play won them the game in Minnesota just before Christmas, and after two periods of looking helpless in Carolina, they cranked it up and produced the prettiest goal they’ve scored all season on the man advantage. You aren’t going to score on every power play. Heck, you aren’t going to score on one-third of your opportunities (unless you’re Edmonton). But far too often the power plays from the Avalanche don’t produce a single good look. It’s baffling.

While they’ve tried a few setups this season, they haven’t tried the one I’ve been advocating for since the offseason: put Makar on one of the walls. At the very least, move him around. Teams are playing Makar differently on the power play, and I think he’s struggled to adjust. Opposing teams have really taken him away as an option, so if it’s not working at the point, why not try him somewhere else? He played on the wall in college and is one of your two most skilled players. You want those guys in the best spots with the puck, and the data shows that’s typically not at the point, the furthest spot from the net. At the very least, you’d think moving Makar around would force the opposition to change a few things up, which may create some openings.

Another issue is movement, and not just when it comes to the players on the ice standing still. Decisions have to be made quicker. Look at Dallas’ power play, which is third in the league. The puck is on and off sticks immediately, which makes it very difficult to defend because you’re forcing the penalty kill to constantly reset. That creates openings. Heck, Nelson’s game-winner in Carolina was a perfect example of it. Necas, Makar and MacKinnon barely had the puck on their sticks before Nate hit Nelson for the one-timer. Carolina’s penalty kill (and goalie) couldn’t keep up with the movement, which created openings for passes to go through. We don’t see that enough with the top unit.

Boy, that was way too long. To recap: they have to figure this thing out internally. It’s not struggling due to lack of talent. They have half a season to get it figured out. If they can’t, they’ll risk it costing them another playoff series.

Do you get a sense Hakstol would be let go midseason?

No. It’s not the MO of the Avalanche organization to do something like that, certainly not when this team is so far ahead of everyone else in the standings.

Also, running the power play isn’t Hakstol’s only job in Colorado. It’s a big part of what he does here and to say the power play has been disappointing is an understatement, but that’s not all he does.

He’s in charge of the forward group that has some players playing better defensive hockey than ever before. Defensive detail has always been Hakstol’s bread and butter, which is part of why hiring him to run the power play was a little confusing. But he should get credit for how this forward group is working in its own end. The Avalanche are the highest scoring team in the league while also giving up very little. The stingy defensive numbers aren’t just because of the six guys on the blue line. It’s called team defense for a reason.

If the power play ends up costing them again in the playoffs, Hakstol, like Ray Bennett before him, may be out of a job. But I can’t see the team getting rid of him midseason.

With the amount of high stakes games the Avs will play within in a consolidated schedule, the Olympics included, is there any concern of overworking certain players, particularly Gabriel Landeskog? Is there a plan to rest them a bit?

All things considered, I think the Avalanche have done a pretty good job of not overworking their top players this season, which I wrote about recently. Makar isn’t even in the top 50 when you look at even-strength time on ice per game for players, and Toews is only barely ahead of him. MacKinnon’s ice-time is down compared to previous seasons.

If the Avalanche lock up the division early like they did in 2022, I think they’ll probably rest some guys. But I don’t see it happening before that.

When will Logan O’Connor come back?

When Jared Bednar told Altitude Sports Radio “it’s not going well” in regard to O’Connor’s rehab, that’s when I started to get concerned about whether he returns this season. It doesn’t sound like it has anything to do with his offseason hip surgery, but rather something else that came up once he got close to returning. Furthermore, they’re having a tough time pinpointing a plan of attack. Without knowing the full details, that sounds like making a decision on whether to rehab the issue or just go through with a procedure.

Either way, I think the Avalanche have to approach the rest of the season as though they’ll be without O’Connor unless something changes, which stinks because he’s a big part of the bottom six and leadership group.