I don’t think this is the case at all.
I think it’s just his preference to load up. He’s really always been like that. Philosophically that’s what he believes is best. The guy has coached his way to a lot of wins having MacK, Rants, and Makar win the battle against other teams top players.
He went away from it last year out of necessity with JT at 2C. If Johansen struggles to get his footing, I would expect him to try Rantanen on his wing.
I think this is a minor league mindset of which he cannot rid himself. From Juniors to AHL, if you can load up one really good line, you can win every game. Hell, back in the 70s you might be able to pull it off with a Gillies / Trottier / Bossy line up. But it just does not work in the contemporary NHL. McDrai does not work as a single line for crying out loud.
One possibility is that the bruising 2nd line always goes against the opponents' first lines and keeps them in check and in band-aids. That leaves Mac / Mikko / Drouin to feast on a lesser 2nd line. That is easier to do with the home ice last change, so let's see if Bednar uses nuke/ryjo/lehky in that manner. I doubt it. Almost any criticism of Bednar in HF stems from his inability to change. PP, PK, clearing the puck, transitioning out of the defensive zone: Bednar always seems to lean on what worked in the minors. His doghouse reeks of minor-league mentality as well.
To me, today's NHL demands that the first two - if not three - lines have a passer, a sniper and a 'dirty-work' guy:
Dirty Work guys: 4- LOC; 3 - Wood; 2 - Lehky; 1 - Nuke
Passing guys: 4 - Olofson; 3- Tatar; 2 - Ryjo; 1- Drouin
Sniper guys 4- Cogliano; 3 - Colton; 2 - Mikko; 1 - Mac
Sure, the third line doesn't really fit the profile, but that trio likely
could if this was part of the Avalanche identity.
I think I've done a good job of being the biggest Bednar hater in this group. That said he has built a mindset and culture, which I suppose is enough to give him job security. But change out the assistants and give him a good 'bench coach' who is in charge of all the X and O's. Ray Bennet already does most of that ( but not particularly well) so why not formalize it and pull someone with Head Coaching experience to be the bench manager?