Colorado Hockey Now Hockey season is almost here, and the fellas on the Colorado Avalanche are back in town.
Well, most of them, at least.
Avalanche skaters have been hitting the ice for a few weeks at Family Sports, with more and more players joining as time has gone on. Not everyone is there (I’ll get to that), but these aren’t mandatory so there’s nothing wrong with that. I’ve gone to a handful of them and just figured I’d put together a list of observations when it comes to what I’ve seen on the ice.
- The first thing that stands out is that Logan O’Connor looks like himself. It’s possible the Avalanche limit him when camp starts, but he certainly hasn’t looked limited in these skates, so that would surprise me. His presence was really missed in the bottom six down the stretch and in the playoffs.
- Artturi Lehkonen is one guy I do think will be limited when camp starts, but based off what I’ve seen, he looks like someone who should be ready to go when the real games start. And that’s all that really matters, right? I’m not a doctor, so obviously he’s going to have to pass tests and everything to get there, but he’s been putting more and more on his shots after off-season shoulder surgery.
- One name to keep an eye on – Jere Innala. Remember him? You might not, and that’s understandable. He signed way back in June and is a small guy, but he’s got some hands on him. These lines mean nothing right now, but on Friday, he was skating with Casey Mittelstadt and O’Connor, so maybe he’ll get a real look in camp.
- Who are the guys I haven’t seen? Nathan MacKinnon, although everyone knows he’s in town and he’s apparently in Vail this weekend skating with Sidney Crosby and company. Maybe some other Avalanche players are up there with him. I also haven’t seen Mikko Rantanen, Jonathan Drouin, Oliver Kylington, Cale Makar, Josh Manson, Joel Kiviranta, and Justus Annunen. No reason to be alarmed. Like I mentioned before, these are not mandatory. That being said, the Avalanche have had some guys show up with surprise injuries when camp starts in years past, so anything is possible.
- Another guy I haven’t seen? Gabriel Landeskog. That doesn’t mean he isn’t skating, but if he is, they’ve moved it to a time where he’s not in the public eye, which I’m completely okay with. Everyone has seen a million clips of him skating at this point. Do we really need to see more? Let him rehab at his own pace and in peace.
- I’m sticking with my prediction that Erik Brannstrom fits in really well on this team and has a solid year.
- Casey Mittelstadt can pass anyone open. In my opinion, the Avalanche need to give him a long look with Mikko Rantanen this year to see if it’s something that can work.
- There was a lot of panic in my mentions when Nikolai Kovalenko wore a white helmet at the NHLPA Rookie Showcase with the home uniforms. I have no idea if the Avalanche are making any changes, but at the Rookie Faceoff last year, the rookies wore white helmets with the home uniforms, so maybe they’re testing it. I have no real opinion on how it looks. It’s a little jarring but stuff like this never really bothers me. The replies I’ve gotten on X would seem to indicate I’m in the minority when it comes to that.
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