"Come and earn it": Jared Bednar sends clear message after Day 3 of Avalanche camp

I’ve covered every Colorado Avalanche training camp under head coach Jared Bednar and today was the first time the team had ever done a full-blown scrimmage. It was a fun change of pace. Here were the lineups:

This ended up being a balanced lineup with some interesting opportunities, primarily for young players who are trying to make a little noise. This was part of the master plan as Bednar wanted to see which players vying for the several open roster spots would step up in front of Avalanche top brass.

“If you want a spot on this team, regardless of where you were drafted or what’s your circumstance of being here, I said it before, you’re going to have to earn it,” Bednar said. “I think people that watch our organization or get frustrated that, well, why aren’t we giving this kid a chance or that kid a chance, come and earn it. Some of them have been here a year, some of them have been here five years. This is the best league in the world and if you want to play on one of the best teams in the best league in the world, then you have to expect to earn it.”

Of course, it helps when the coaching staff consistently puts a guy in a position to make some noise as they did today with Cal Ritchie. Playing alongside Casey Mittelstadt and Oskar Olausson, it was obvious what was on the line.

The Avs have potentially two openings in their top-six forwards while they await the returns of Artturi Lehkonen, Gabe Landeskog, and Val Nichushkin. Both Ritchie and Olausson have offensive upside that the team is excited about. It’s fair to say Ritchie was the standout today as he was challenged by getting to play alongside Mittelstadt.

“I think Ritchie is a talented guy, right? He has the ability to create offense. We saw it in rookie camp, we saw it last year with him, it’s why we drafted him,” Bednar said.” I’m trying to put him with some of the more talented guys on the ice. It’s a group he’s been playing with.

Today, it’s Mittelstadt. It’s another guy, you know, they think the game similarly. They play a give-and-go game, they’re good passers. He got a little break from playing center today. He played the wing, which would be new to him. I’m trying to give him reps against top competition, guys like [Nathan MacKinnon], Mikko [Rantanen].

I think it’s good for him. That’s the guys you have to play against in our league. To play him with a guy like ‘Mitty’ and have him try to still be able to create offense and do a good job defensively against stiffer competition is always a good thing.”

Challenging Ritchie in such an obvious way showed positive results for the Avalanche. He played well, winning faceoffs in some spots (against Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, no less) but he and Mittelstadt had chemistry and played off each other well.

The offense is one thing. That’s great, but young players frequently live and die with what they do in their own end. Ritchie handled business well in that end, although he predictably looked a bit green at times. He wasn’t overmatched, however, and that’s what I took away from this.

On the other end of the spectrum was Nikolai Kovalenko. He played alongside Mittelstadt the first two days of camp and found himself alongside AHL-bound T.J. Tynan and Ivan Ivan.

Despite playing with relatively weaker linemates, Kovalenko was one of the stars of the show for the Avs. He is as advertised when he came from the KHL last spring. There is one speed to his game: Go. He’s a tank (thus his nickname, “Tank”) and that maximum effort and physicality impressed everyone today, notably his own teammates.

Kovalenko went down on one knee to block a shot and it stung him on his foot. The benches erupted in support as he got back up, flew down the ice, and forechecked hard. His forechecking throughout the scrimmage caused issues, eventually resulting in a Sam Girard turnover that became a Ross Colton goal (great finish from Colton, by the way).

Unlike previous years when there were maybe two spots open with a small group of players competing for an opening-night job, there are a lot of jobs in play at forward this year and a lot of players making positive impressions so far.

Bednar has sent his message to his locker room: Come and earn it.

Avalanche Observations

• Ritchie and Kovalenko were the young stars of today, but it shouldn’t be overlooked that the oldest guy on the ice, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, has very likely earned himself a job with his play so far. His pace has not been a problem and his simple, repeatable work in the defensive zone is notable after the glaring issues from the Avalanche’s fourth-line center spot last year. This has been an exemplary camp for the 39-year-old forward. One of those openings I mentioned earlier sure looks filled already.
• It was a bit uneven, but Erik Brannstrom was a bolt of lightning today. The good was exceptional, but his level dipped a bit as the session wore on. He looked comfortable alongside Cale Makar and showed good hockey sense in recovery situations. We talked to him on the podcast today and he is very excited to be a member of the Avalanche.
• We haven’t talked much about him in the battle for the third defensive pairing, but there was a lot to like about Sam Malinski today. He looked awfully good to me. He was aggressive when he saw opportunities and attacked up the ice and jumped into the play in the offensive zone. His confidence was high and I think he’s going to make this a hard call on the pecking order on that blueline.
• I mentioned earlier the goal he scored, but Ross Colton had a fun day beyond just that. He is one of the veteran guys who looks like he took the trade talk from the summer and used it as motivation, as if to say, “Oh, you’re looking to move me? We’ll see.” His line has already found that chemistry from last year. Logan O’Connor showed off his wheels and dusted Brannstrom but Brannstrom got to the back post and made it a competitive play. Great work from both players, but the Avs’ third line is buzzing already.
• Speaking of which, Miles Wood was the only goal scorer from the shootout, which lasted what felt like 10 rounds. He was very excited and celebrated with an exaggerated dab. It was a fun moment. Fun is fun.
• Sam Girard had a miscommunication with Justus Annunen and Kovalenko’s hard forecheck helped set up Colton’s goal, but that was the biggest blunder from Girard. He is the model for Brannstrom and Oliver Kylington to find success in Colorado and despite the high-end mobility from both of them, Girard still stands out as a cut above in his skating prowess. His aggression in the neutral zone was causing problems throughout the scrimmage. I’d love to see him continue getting looks away from Josh Manson, just for funsies.
• Following today’s sessions, the first cuts were made as Neil Shea, Briley Wood, and Garrett Pyke were all sent to the Colorado Eagles while Max Curran was re-assigned to Spokane of the WHL.
• There was a second group on the ice today, but it was not the same as the morning session. For those curious, here was the group:

Hear from the Avs

We’ll see you tomorrow for the final day of training camp! We will have Sam Girard on the show tomorrow as we catch up with La Tornade himself.