Avalanche Exhibition Game Grades: Hockey is back!

Player grades from Colorado’s 3-2 win over the Minnesota Wild.

Andre Burakovsky – C

He didn’t do a whole lot in this one. Playing next to MacKinnon and Rantanen, he’ll need to be more impactful moving forward. It wasn’t bad at all, just not quite enough. We’ve seen a lot more from him and the Avs will need it.

Cale Makar – B-

A nice assist on the power play and he settled in nicely as the game went on. He was clearly uncomfortable in the first period with multiple icings and generally looking like he hadn’t participated in any of the scrimmages recently. He shook off that rust and had some moments in this one.

Conor Timmins – D+

It wasn’t perfect and it certainly wasn’t the standout performance from training camp but he continues to look like he belongs. There was a gaffe with the puck in his own zone that was exacerbated when he fell down but his teammates picked him up (figuratively) and helped cover for him. The double-minor penalty in the third period was an accident but in protecting a one-goal lead, that’s the last thing you can do.

Erik Johnson – B-

I loved EJ’s game early on, especially at even strength. As has always been the case in his career, when he moves his feet and activates offensively, he makes a difference. The decision making was a little iffy at times with the puck as he struggled on multiple chances to clear pucks on the PK but overall I liked his game.

Gabriel Landeskog – C

This is a tough one because he scored a goal and an assist but also took two penalties and struggled to find his rhythm at even strength as he moved around the lineup a little bit. The ups were up and the downs were down, so I have him breaking dead even on this one. Limit the mistakes and this was an easy “A”.

Ian Cole – C

This has always been my neutral grade for players who I didn’t notice very much and this is the case with Cole. Given his role (apologies for the rhyme), not noticing him strikes me as a good thing.

J.T. Compher – C+

I loved his speed in getting back on the PP and drawing the penalty that put Colorado on the five-on-three where Landeskog scored. That was a great effort from him and his biggest contribution in this one. He looked completely lost on the PK when it was four-on-three and it wasn’t a big surprise when Minnesota scored in a matter of seconds.

Joonas Donskoi – B

Donskoi scored right off the hop and got the ball rolling on a very entertaining first period before the teams settled down and started to sink their teeth into the game. I liked him throughout as he was solid carrying the puck through the neutral zone and helping gain entry into the offensive zone.

Kevin Connauton – C

Up and down game for Connauton as there were some very good moments and some real mishaps along the way. I think it broke even for him but outside of the Timmins penalty, I’m not sure Connauton has a case for having outplayed his young teammate as they continue vying for spots on the depth chart.

Matt Calvert – B+

Calvert’s energy was apparent today and he was excellent on the PK, especially as the Wild got more and more opportunities and things settled down for that unit. Calvert was his usual disruptive self and I’m giving him this grade solely for his work down a man.

Matt Nieto – C

Some nice moments on the PK. The big thing Nieto did was he avoided making any big mistakes. In his battle for the last forward spot, he let his opponent self-inflict wounds and he just did his thing.

Mikko Rantanen – B

Loved his game today. He was dangerous with the puck and had a couple of great scoring chances, one on a backdoor tap-in that he just missed and another as he cut to the middle and fired just wide. A few inches were the difference between the game he had and a two-goal game and the Avs walking out with a relatively easy victory. As it is, still a fine opening performance from Rantanen.

Nathan MacKinnon – A

If you were paying attention at all to our training camp coverage, you knew MacKinnon was already going 100% and taking this quite seriously. That translated today as MacKinnon scored a spectacular goal and was involved in multiple dangerous scoring chances. Hot fire: he spits that.

Nazem Kadri – A-

I loved Kadri’s game today. He could have had three points pretty easily and outside of MacKinnon and Rantanen he had the most dangerous looks offensively. He did all of that while managing to incite Marcus Foligno into anger and what looked like, at least in slo-mo, a tender moment as Foligno grabbed Kadri’s face with both hands. Adorable, and classic Kadri. No idea what he said but…say it again.

Nikita Zadorov – C+

I dinged him for that penalty right at the start of the game that got the initial penalty parade going but I also liked how settled in after that. He made a few smart plays with the puck and, as he does, used his size effectively to make zone entries hard on puck carriers. It was a fine debut for Big Z.

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – C-

Didn’t have a ton to do with the game and was solid on the PK but brutal at even strength. He wasn’t quite as on top of the Wild PP as Calvert was so that’s why the disparity in grades. Loved Calvert, didn’t love Bellemare.

Ryan Graves – B

Liked Graves a lot in this one. I might even venture far enough to say he was my favorite defender in this one because he did what he does well and avoided the big mistakes. Continues to show that smarts can take a player a long way in a career. Very little rust on the Gravy Train today.

Tyson Jost – C-

There were some things I really liked from Jost. That bullet he fired at Nieto could (should?) have been an assist.  After getting hit in the face in the corner, he responded by high-sticking someone at center ice in front of everyone while his team was protecting a one-goal lead. For a guy fighting for a roster spot, that was a brutal decision and that undid a lot of the positive he brought to the table.

Valeri Nichushkin – B+

All he needed was a little finish. I loved Nichushkin’s game today. He was physical and all over the ice. He pushed play offensively, he came back hard defensively, and he was among the best forwards for the Avs in this game. If you’ll allow a venture into adult language, he kicked ass.

Vladislav Namestnikov – B

I really liked Namestnikov, too. Got the assist when he did the pass off the pads early in the game, a smart play, and was one of the more willing shooters among Colorado’s forwards. He used his speed effectively and showed nicely on the PK in the chances he got there. He’s an x-factor for the Avs and his line really had a nice showing today.

Philipp Grubauer – B-

I didn’t have much problem with Grubauer in this one. He looked a little scrambly at times but kept his team in it when they were getting caved in early on despite the Avalanche getting the early lead. The two goals against weren’t really goals he would do a lot differently on as one was a royal road pass on the PP and the other a fortunate puck that bounced its way to Staal’s stick in the right spot. I don’t have much criticism here.

Pavel Francouz – B+

Grubauer saw the harder of both quality and quantity of shots but Francouz wins simply by the default of him not letting any goals in and Grubauer had two get by him. When you’re a goalie, the bottom line is usually what does the walking and talking. For Frankie, that means zero goals against should get him the start on Sunday against St. Louis. Regardless, there wasn’t enough separation here to decide which guy is the surefire starter moving forward so there’s more work to do!