The Colorado Avalanche made two selections in the first round of the 2023 NHL Draft in Nashville on Wednesday night. The Avs originally had the 27th overall pick and opted to keep it. For their first selection, they chose right-shot centerman Calum Ritchie from the OHL’s Oshawa Generals.
The 6’2” forward brings undeniable size and a keen hockey sense that is a stylistic fit few need to be talked into. Early projections had him going a bit sooner than 27, so it makes a lot of sense.
Later at pick 31, a selection acquired through the trade which sent Alex Newhook to the Montreal Canadiens, the Avs chose left-handed defenseman Mikhail Gulyayev. Coming in at 5’10”, the defender has a profile familiar to Avalanche fans.
This guy can skate, especially in open ice with speed, and he’s an adequate handler. Gulyayev is signed to a contract with Avangard Omsk through 2025, so there’s time for Gulyayev to hammer out some of the details in his game.
To the surprise of some, Colorado kept both of their first round selections. It was speculated that they would leverage one or both in a trade. Following day one, Avalanche General Manager Chris MacFarland addressed the media to discuss a few things.
Chris MacFarland’s overall thoughts on Colorado’s selections:
Calum Ritchie has good size – (a) 6’2”, right-handed centerman with skill that our guys were really excited about. He played hurt for a chunk of the year, so I think that shows what kind of kid he is. Centermen are hard to get – as we all know – so we’re very excited that he was there at 27.
Mikhail Gulyayev is that electric, skating, puck-moving type D that is made for the game and especially the way we want to play. We were pleasantly surprised to see him there that late in the round.
Did you explore trading either pick for more immediate help?
Teams poke around to try and move up, and of course you gauge it. It’s moreso if you’ve got a bunch of guys in your cluster, it was pretty easy to see that we were gonna have guys that we had higher on our list. It wasn’t something that we spent a whole lot of time thinking about.
(On potentially adding a winger) Is that something you plan to address in free agency?
We have to fill out a roster, right? We’ll assess and see what the market holds, but it’s got to make sense. We’ve got limited cap space, and we’ll attack it the best way we think come the weekend.
Any internal options that you think would step into that role (specifically second line wing)?
We got Oskar Olausson and Jean-Luc Foudy that we think have a chance, but it’s probably still a little early on that. Their development will dictate when they’re ready for something like that. We’re excited to see them at camp, that’s for sure.
What do you like about Ross Colton?
We like a lot about him. We like his competitiveness. We like his versatility. He’s a guy that can score. He’s a guy that plays physical, he plays around the net. He comes from a team that’s been at the top for a very long time. That pedigree is going to fit seamlessly into our room. We’re very fortunate to be able to add him to our mix.
How quickly did that trade come together today?
We’ve talked to them the last little bit. It just got confirmed today, but it wasn’t like we made a call and they accepted it. It’s something that we’ve been (working on) over the course of a few days.
Have conversations about signing RFA Ross Colton already begun?
We’re focused on the draft today and tomorrow, and then when we get back to Denver, we’ll attack that.
How would you evaluate the Alex Newhook trade and the return?
Alex is a really good hockey player. He’s young, he’s got a lot of runway left, he’s on an affordable contract. He’s a former first round pick (and) Stanley Cup champion. He’s a good player. He’s gonna be really good in Montreal. You got to give to get. We wanted to get more draft capital and getting a first and second was a good swing which allowed us to make the move that we made this morning with Tampa.
How important is it to acquire players like Ross Colton without giving up a player or prospect?
It just made sense for us. It was pick 37 which is gonna be a really good player. Ross fits perfectly into our lineup. He’s 27, he’s a guy that we’re really excited to add that helps us immediately. We felt it was a good swing to make and his character and his competitiveness – I think our guys and coaching staff are going to be really happy with him.
How would you assess Newhook’s time in Colorado, and just how hard is it to move on from a young player like that?
It’s hard to move on from any of the guys that (gave) blood, sweat, and tears through the last few years. We won last year, and Alex was a big part of that. That’s always the tough part of the business. We will definitely miss him, and (we’re) thankful for what he did for us. He’s a good hockey player and a really good person.
Is it safe to say all of the pending UFA’s are going to go to market? Are there still deals that can come in the next few days?
I would say there’s a chance that deals could come in a few days, but it’s so close now that it’s their CBA right. We obviously have tomorrow and Friday to kick things around. We’ll try to get with Ross Colton’s agent right away on Friday. We got Bowen Byram, which is an important one, so we’ll continue to chip away at that and then see what’s left. Sometimes those deals can take some time. We may not do A, B and C in this order. We got to attack it and be patient, but we’ll get right at it on Friday.
Do you like having free agency this close to the draft, or is it a little chaotic?
We’re back to the July 1st calendar. There have apparently been a lot of flights canceled, (so) hopefully we get out of here tomorrow night and can have the day to prep on Friday properly. We’ll be ready to go – a lot of the work is done. We’re excited.
Do you have a timeline on the Eagles coaching vacancy?
We’ve been chipping away. We’ve had some productive chats going on this week with a bunch of guys and I would say it’s another one of those things on the priority list. I would say within the next week hopefully.
Greg Cronin stopped by Colorado’s table, what was it like catching up with him?
It was awesome to see Cronin. Really happy for him. For all of us, certainly for me, it was a dream come true. For Cronin to become a head coach, something he’s worked towards for a very long time, we’re very proud of him. He did a great job for us. You like to see good things happen to good people and Cronin certainly fits that narrative. Really happy to see him get this opportunity.
