Avalanche Training Camp Observations: Optimism unchecked

It was an early morning at the rink today as the Avalanche kicked off their training camp with an invigorating 30 minutes of goaltender drills.

The large crowd on hand was treated to extremely technical work with goalies Philipp Grubauer and Hunter Miska before any other skaters took the ice.

Once the sessions were actually off and running, however, the pace of camp mirrored the style the Avalanche expects to play this season: fast and faster.

Let’s get to some of the highlights of the day.

New guys dazzle

After a busy offseason, there were plenty of new guys I could have picked here but I thought both Nazem Kadri and Joonas Donskoi stood out playing together on a remade second line that included Tyson Jost.

The trio had instant chemistry and it will be interesting to see just where Donskoi fits in once Mikko Rantanen inevitably joins the team. For one day, however, they did a little show-stealing of their own.

But the guy I really found intriguing was Andre Burakovsky. Coming off back to back 25-point seasons, seeing him take Rantanen’s place alongside Gabe Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon really drives home just what the Avalanche believe they have in Burakovsky.

Understanding his situation, Burakovsky was sure to note his presence as the third banana on what was the NHL’s best line last season.

“Obviously [MacKinnon and Landeskog] two of the best players in the league,” Burakovsky told BSN Denver. “For me, I don’t want to take up too much space from them, but at the same time, I want to have the puck a lot and do my thing. I think it would be fun playing with those guys. We can be a real threat.”

You can read more about Burakovsky’s day here.

Lack of goaltending drama

As someone in the business of writing about the big stories of the day, I find it amusing how I find the lack of a goaltending battle to be interesting but the organization is clearly set at the position this season.

Colorado has decided to go with the rarely-seen three goaltender approach. That’s not three goalies in the NHL but just three on NHL contracts. The hierarchy is clear, however, as Grubauer is the man for the Avalanche and Pavel Francouz is his undisputed backup.

From there, Adam Werner (on his ELC) will split time with Hunter Miska for the Colorado Eagles. Rarely has the Avalanche entered training camp in recent years with essentially zero question marks about who is doing what this year.

The only questions that remain surrounding this group pertain to how they perform. Of course, that’s true of all goalies for every franchise. You’re just never quite sure what you’re going to get year-to-year from the position. Colorado seems to be taking more chances this season.

Through the first day of training camp, I felt Miska and Francouz were the guys who looked the best. Of course, trying to judge goalies based on limited practice is a landmine of problems so I’ll leave it there.

Colorado – Home of great defense?

For seemingly the entire time since Rob Blake left the Avalanche, Colorado has been trying to build a championship-caliber defense. They’ve not come particularly until last year’s middle of the pack group came along and gave the Avalanche some quality defending.

This year’s group, however, is teeming with the kind of potential that has the front office dreaming about raising a Stanley Cup. Not only do veteran stalwarts Erik Johnson, Ian Cole (eventually), and Nikita Zadorov return, but Mark Barberio is finally healthy once again to go along with the additions of Kevin Connauton.

Ryan Graves returns after an unexpected promotion last year went so well the Avalanche was afraid to lose him on waivers at the end of the season. The acquisition of Calle Rosen as part of the Barrie-Kadri deal gives them another smooth-skating rearguard to compete for time.

But the real spice of this group comes from the quarter of young talent that could realistically be the backbone of a Stanley Cup-winning defense in a few years. Sam Girard is the veteran of the group but Cale Makar will join him on Colorado’s likely top pairing this season.

Beyond the ‘Turn and Burn’ pairing, Bowen Byram was drafted fourth overall and Conor Timmins is back to being healthy. Byram and Timmins combined for a dominant showing in the Anaheim Rookie Faceoff and each is fighting for NHL time immediately.

It certainly won’t happen right away but Colorado’s defense is no longer a hope and a prayer of competence. Byram and Rosen skated together while Timmins paired with Zadorov. That goes to show how seriously the coaching staff is taking their chances of making the team.

They could legitimately be dominant.

And soon.

Other Notes

• Some injury notes here: Erik Johnson and Colin Wilson each are healthy from their offseason shoulder surgeries but both are experiencing other minor ailments that kept them from joining their groups today. They could each appear in non-contact jerseys during the rest of training camp.
• Valeri Nichushkin was a no-show on day one as he was getting his passport issues worked out. With immigration no longer an obstacle, he was expected to arrive in Denver tonight and take his physicals tomorrow. He is expected to be on the ice on Sunday at the earliest.
• Each session today concluded with an endurance test that the players were aware of beforehand. This has historically torn up players in the past and today was no different. Martin Kaut received the lion’s share of attention because he was so exhausted he just laid on the ice for a few minutes but he certainly wasn’t alone. A number of players, including Burakovsky and Alex Beaucage, also camped out on the ice as a means of rest when they were finished. Bednar said after it the point of the test was for the players to push themselves to their limits and beyond. As in, stop making a story out of a non-story. Message received.
• The lack of Rantanen continues to be a story. There is good news on that front, however. Mitch Marner signed a six-year deal with Toronto and was considered the high-end of the market this year. The Avalanche and Rantanen were already making progress towards a deal. The Marner situation getting wrapped up should not upset that progress in any meaningful way. It would not be a surprise to see Rantanen get six years, as well.