Prospect Report: Ty Lewis hits the century mark

One of the newest Avs prospects makes his debut on the BSN Avalanche prospect report. Ryan Graves was acquired at the trade deadline in exchange for Chris Bigras.

Both guys were once top level prospects within their respective systems, and have just seemingly taken a step back in the last 12 months or so and were in need of a change of scenery.

Graves was drafted in the fourth round of the 2013 NHL entry draft by the New York Rangers after his second season in the QMJHL. Graves would bounce around the “Q” the next couple of seasons before landing on the Quebec Ramparts and having a breakout season scoring 15 goals and 39 points from the blueline.

He made the jump into pro hockey the following season and made an impact with the Hartford Wolfpack right away. Graves collected 21 points as a rookie, and 30 points in his second season.

After getting his pro career off to such a strong start, the Rangers really looked for him to take the next step and be able to step into the NHL. However, the Rangers are always competitive and near the top of the eastern conference standings (present season excluded), so it’s a tough blue line to crack. This wouldn’t have been the worst thing ever had he continued to progress in the AHL. He did not. He’s been trying to get his game back to the level he has shown he can play at since.

“He’s got size, he’s got good reach,” Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic said in a press conference hours after acquiring Graves. “He can shoot the puck, he can move the puck, we think he’s a good a pretty good long, lanky [guy] with a good reach and is a good defender.”

Nick Leivermann (43GP – 10G, 27A/3 GP – 0G, 4A) – 2017 Round 7, Pick 187 (Defenseman, Penticton Vees – BCHL)

Nick Leivermann’s Penticton Vees are through to the second round. They currently hold a 2-1 series lead even without Leivermann in the lineup. Leivermann left game three of the first round series against the Coquitlam Express after being hit from behind into the boards. Even though he hasn’t played again since, the Vees are saying he was able to avoid serious injury on the play.

 

We have received word that Nicky Leivermann has avoided a serious injury after being pushed into the boards tonight. He won’t play tomorrow but should have a speedy recovery.

— Penticton Vees (@PentictonVees) March 7, 2018

Conor Timmins (36 GP – 8G, 33A) – 2017 Round 2, Pick 32 (Defenseman, Soo Greyhounds – OHL)

Apparently all Conor Timmins needed was to get a couple games under his belt after coming back from injury to return to his dominant self. Timmins ran the table this week, picking up points in all four games his team played as they finished off the regular season. The Soo Greyhounds start their Memorial Cup run this weekend.

Mar. 11: @ Owen Sound Attack

L (SO) 6-5 – 1G, 1A

Mar. 14: vs Saginaw Spirit 

W 8-1 – 1G, 0A

Mar. 16: vs Flint Firebirds 

L (OT) 4-3 – 0G, 1A

Mar. 18: vs London Knights 

W 6-3 – 0G, 2A

Travis Barron (67 GP – 21G, 36A) – 2016 Round 7, Pick 191 (Left Wing, Ottawa 67’s – OHL)

Travis Barron has really finished the season nicely. His team got into the playoffs, and he’s been absolutely on fire. I don’t know how deep this team can go, but any kind of success they have will be on the back of Barron.

Mar. 11: vs Mississiauga Steelheads

L 5-1 – 0G, 0A

Mar. 15: @ Barrie Colts 

W (OT) 5-4 – 2G, 1A

Mar. 16: @ Mississiauga Steelheads 

L 5-2 – 1G, 0A

Mar. 18: vs North Bay Battalion 

W 5-0 – 0G, 1A

Ty Lewis (68 GP – 43G, 54A) – Undrafted (Left Wing, Brandon Wheat Kings – WHL)

100 points in 70 games. Enough said.

Mar. 11: @ Moose Jaw Warriors

L 5-3 – 0G, 0A

Mar. 13: vs Saskatoon Blades 

W 5-3 – 1G, 1A

Mar. 16: @ Moose Jaw Warriors 

W (OT) 6-5 – 0G, 1A

Mar. 18: vs Moose Jaw Warriors 

W (SO) 5-4 – 1G, 1A

Nick Henry (59 GP – 14G, 19A) – 2017 Round 4, Pick 94 (Right Wing, Regina Pats – WHL)

Nick Henry finished the regular season pretty strong. This season has been such a battle for him after coming back from offseason surgery and his point totals are down from 81 last year, to just 29 this season (19 fewer games played in 2017-2018). I’m anxious to see how he performs in the postseason.

Mar. 14: vs Prince Albert Raiders

W (SO) 3-2 – 0G, 1A

Mar. 16: vs Swift Current Broncos

W (OT) 3-2 -1G, 0A

Mar. 17: @ Swift Current Broncos

L (OT) 3-2 – 0G, 0A

Josh Anderson (62 GP – 3G, 11A) – 2016 Round 3, Pick 71 (Defenseman, Swift Current Broncos – WHL)

The Broncos have been in cruise control for a while now as they gear up for what should be a lengthy playoff run. I have high hopes for Anderson, I think he could become what Siemens was supposed to: A reliable shutdown guy who can play solid minutes. Not going to be a No. 1 guy, but solid.

Mar. 14: vs Saskatoon Blades

L 5-2 – 0G, 0A

Mar. 16: @ Regina Pats

L (OT) 3-2 -0G, 0A

Mar. 17: vs Regina Pats

W (OT) 3-2 – 0G, 0A

Nate Clurman (46 GP – 1G, 1) – 2016 Round 6, Pick 161 (Defenseman, Sioux City Musketeers – USHL)

While you’ve done a lot of reading about teams gearing up for the playoffs, Nate Clurman and the Sioux City Musketeers are not postseason bound. Somewhat just playing out the last couple of weeks, Clurman has picked up a few more points with his new team. He’s giving himself something to build on heading into his first year at Notre Dame next season.

Mar. 4: vs Sioux Falls Stampede

L 6-3 – 0G, 1A

Mar. 9: @ Sioux Falls Stampede

W (SO) 4-3 – 0G, 1A

Gustav Olhaver (48 GP – 6G, 7A/6 GP – 0G, 0A) – 2015 Round 7, Pick 191 (Center, IK Oskarshamn – Allsvenskan)

Mercifully, the season is almost over for Olhaver.

Mar. 12: @ I Pantern

W 5-2 – 0G, 0A

Mar. 13: @ IF Björklöven 

L (OT) 3-2 – 0G, 0A

Mar. 16: @ AIK 

W (SO) 2-1 – 0G, 0A

Mar. 18: vs Almtuna IS 

W 6-0 – 0G, 0A

Adam Werner (47 GP – 2.34 GAA, .915 sv%) – 2016 Round 5, Pick 131 (Goaltender, IF Björklöven – Allsvenskan)

A report came out today that Adam Werner is hoping to sign his ELC with the Avalanche soon. The initial word is that he will remain in the SHL next season before potentially making the move to North America. Werner has been fantastic in the back half of the season for IF Björklöven and was an absolute horse for them all season, starting in 47 out of 52 games.

Petr Kvaca (32 GP – 1.75 GAA, .923 sv%) – 2017 Round 4, Pick 114 (Goaltender, ČEZ Motor České Budějovice – Czech 2)

After carry the full workload the previous week, Kvaca got the night off as his team only played one game in a seven day stretch.

Igor Shvyrov (30 GP – 1G, 0A) – 2017 Round 5, Pick 125 (Center, Metallurg Mg – KHL)

You know the story here. Three games, didn’t get in any.

Cam Morrison (34 GP 7G, 13A)- 2016 Round 2, Pick 40 (Left Wing, Notre Dame – NCAA)

Cam Morrison scored the overtime winner to help the Notre Dame Fighting Irish capture the Big Ten championship and the #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. After this season wasn’t really what people had hoped for out of Morrison, a moment like this helped.

 

Another at Cam Morrison’s championship winner! pic.twitter.com/wV8sF4K61L

— Notre Dame Hockey (@NDHockey) March 18, 2018

Mar. 17: vs Ohio State

W (OT) 3-2 – 1G, 0A

Denis Smirnov (28 GP – 15G, 12A) – 2017 Round 6, Pick 156 (Winger, Penn State – NCAA)

N0 games for Penn State this week. They’ll take on the defending champion Denver Pioneers in the first round of the NCAA tournament this weekend. There’s a good chance Smirnov’s season is over on the 24th.

Shane Bowers (34 GP – 16G, 11A) – 2017 Round 1, Pick 28 (Center, Boston University – NCAA)

After a down season for the program, Shane Bowers and the Boston University Terriers won the Hockey East tournament. Normally an elite program, BU was largely average all season but played their best hockey at the right time. Bowers picked up the assist on the game winning OT goal that pushed his team to the finals before they eventually shutout Providence.

Mar. 16: @ Boston College

W (OT) 3-2 – 0G, 1A

Mar. 17: @ Providence

W 2-0 – 0G, 0A

Cale Makar (32 GP – 5G, 15A)— 2017 Round 1, Pick 4 (UMass Amherst – NCAA)

Well Cale Makar stands a chance to be the only storyline potentially just as interesting as the Avs’ unexpected push for the playoffs. After being (unsurprisingly) swept by Northeastern, the Minutemen from UMass saw their season come to a close. It sounds like the Avalanche want Makar in pro hockey next year, but the word out there right now is that Makar is leaning towards a return to the NCAA. We’ll most likely have an answer sooner rather than later. Makar would be eligible to go finish the year with the Rampage.

Mason Geertsen (62 Gp – 3G, 3A) – 2013 Round 4, Pick 93 (Defenseman, SA Rampage – AHL)

After breaking a relatively long point drought last week, Geertsen picked up his third goal of the season when he opened the scoring in an eventual overtime loss to the Manitoba Moose. Just not enough offensive upside from Geertsen for my liking.

Mar. 11: @ Ontario Reign

W 4-0 – 0G, 0A

Mar. 13: @ San Diego Gulls

L 2-1 – 0G, 0A

Mar. 16: vs Manitoba Moose

L (OT) 3-2 – 1G, 0A

Julien Nantel (47 GP – 6G, 2A) – 2014 Round 7, Pick 204 (Left Wing, SA Rampage – AHL)

Nantel was held out of the lineup this week. Not surprising given how the season has gone for him

AJ Greer (24 GP – 6G, 5A) – 2015 Round 2, Pick 39 (Left Wing, SA Rampage – AHL)

Hurt again. Greer has always had so much upside, but just can’t seem to stay healthy long enough to get even close to his ceiling.

Nicolas Meloche (48 GP – 4G, 8A)-  2015 Round 2, Pick 40 (Defenseman, San Antonio Rampage – AHL)

Nicolas Meloche has been nothing short of awesome this season for the Rampage. At the beginning of the year, the coaching staff was reluctant to give him a regular role and eventually made the decision to send him to the ECHL. Ever since, his play forced the coaches to put him in the lineup every night, and even moved him to the top pairing

Mar. 11: @ Ontario Reign

W 4-0 – 0G, 1A

Mar. 13: @ San Diego Gulls

L 2-1 – 0G, 0A

Mar. 16: vs Manitoba Moose

L (OT) 3-2 – 0G, 0A

Rocco Grimaldi (42 GP – 14G, 11A) – 2011 Round 2, Pick 33 (Right Wing, SA Rampage – AHL)

Grimaldi was not very happy last summer when the Colorado Avalanche gave Matt Nieto a more lucrative contract than they gave him. He’s followed that up by having a really down year. Injuries have been an enemy of Grimaldi’s this year, and it looks like he’s going to finish the 2017-2018 season with fewer than half the amount of points he piled up last season.

Ryan Graves (57 GP – 4G, 7A) – 2013 Round 4, Pick 110 (Defenseman, San Antonio Rampage – AHL)

I’m going to give Graves the benefit of the doubt here given how good he’s been at different levels throughout his career. A lot of times a change of scenery and a new season does wonders for a guy. The real assessment of Graves will start next season in Loveland.

Mar. 11: @ Ontario Reign

W 4-0 – 0G, 0A

Mar. 13: @ San Diego Gulls

L 2-1 – 0G, 0A

Mar. 16: vs Manitoba Moose

L (OT) 3-2 – 0G, 1A

Spencer Martin (31 GP – 3.05 GAA, .895 sv%) – 2013 Round 3, Pick 63 (Goaltender, SA Rampage – AHL)

Martin has been with Colorado for a little over a week now, not getting in any games. He’s garnered plenty of attention during his time with the Avs thanks in part to what is maybe the best set of pads I’ve ever seen.

Still nerding-out hard over @spencermartin30’s newest @bauergoalie kit and mask. : @doncarlson4524

A post shared by Goalie Gear Nerd (@goaliegearnerd) on Mar 21, 2018 at 10:13am PDT

Injured Reserve

Boikov has yet to play in any games this year as his injury was sustained in training camp.