They’re not elephants in the room. They’re veterans. Jarome Iginla is 38, Alex Tanguay 36, and while Iginla this season has become the 19th player in NHL history to score 600 career goals, the pertinent issue now for the Avalanche is that their production to varying degrees has been disappointing.
Iginla has 13 goals and 13 assists. That’s roughly a 20-goal pace — far from disgraceful, but not up to the standards Iginla has set during a career that will land him in the Hockey Hall of Fame — and lower than the 29 he had with Colorado last season after signing a three-year contract as an un- restricted free agent.
He is coming off a brief but lackluster stint on the top line with Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Duchene. Both Iginla and Duchene were on their off wings — at left and right wing, respectively. Duchene has been one of the hottest players in the league playing on that side, so it didn’t make sense to flop him and Iginla.
Tanguay has only three goals and 16 assists — and two of the goals were in October.
“I got an opportunity for a couple of games to play with Nate and Dutchy,” Iginla said Friday. “I was excited about it. It was a bit of an adjustment to play left (wing) and I was hoping to be better at it. I didn’t make a big impact on that line.”
At the outset of Saturday night’s game against Winnipeg at the Pepsi Center, Avalanche coach Patrick Roy will have Iginla and Tanguay — former teammates and linemates at Calgary — back on the same line, flanking center John Mitchell.
It’s an attempt to get them going by putting them together. Again.
“I’ve had good chemistry over a couple of years with ‘Mitchy,’ ” Iginla said. “Tangs, I’m always excited to play with him. We both know what we’re going to do instinctively because we’ve played together so much. But now we know we need to be better.”
Roy said the veteran wingers’ lack of scoring “is a bit of a concern, but at the same time, they’re veterans, they know what they have to do, and certainly they’re understanding their role. It’s a good opportunity for the three of them to play together. They had some good moments together early in the season, and hopefully that will create a spark for both of them to play at a certain level.”
The domino effect is that Roy is breaking up the Cody McLeod-Mitchell-Jack Skille line, which hasn’t pitched in much on the scoresheet, but has been the effective change of pace and energy line. Now, Chris Wagner or Mikhail Grigorenko probably will center that line. Roy said, “Now we’re looking to put points on the board … I’m sure (McLeod and Skille) will keep playing their game.”
Last season, Iginla’s 59 points (including 29 goals) tied him with Gabe Landeskog for the team lead, while Tanguay (22 goals) was next, tied with Ryan O’Reilly and Matt Duchene at 55 points.
Iginla said he isn’t concerned that his odometer has rolled over.
“It’s been a tough year for sure,” he said. “I’ve had a different role than in the past, and I’ve been trying to adjust to that.”
He emphasized that scoring lulls are inevitable in this sport, and he has had both lulls and slow starts even during his prime seasons.
And his age?
“That’s an easy excuse, and I won’t use it,” Iginla said. “I look at Shane Doan (his former major junior teammate). He’s a year older than me, and he’s having a good year (at Arizona). And (Jaromir) Jagr, he’s special.”
Iginla is averaging 15:45 of ice time, which would be the lowest of his career.
“In reality, that’s a big part of overall production,” Iginla said. “I’m not playing as much, but I’m saying I have to find ways to be effective.”
Terry Frei: frei@denverpost.com or @TFrei
