Martin Kaut sure looks like a man on a mission.

Coming into his second development camp, Kaut has been totally different than the player we saw at this time last year. There are several factors for that, of course. This time last year, he had just been drafted and was caught up in the whirlwind of the draft process, which frequently takes draftees off the ice for extended periods of time.

He also had the heart condition that caused him to leave the combine early and go back to the Czech Republic for surgery. It was corrected and hasn’t been an issue since. While it didn’t affect his stock come draft day when the Avalanche selected him 16th overall, it did play a role in his summer conditioning efforts.

Without all of those distractions this year, Kaut was able to immediately hit the gym and get to work on bulking up and conditioning following the first-round loss by the Colorado Eagles.

So far, so good.

Kaut has been the most impressive player on the ice through two days as his combination of physical maturity and skill has separated him from everyone else, even last week’s fourth overall pick, Bowen Byram.

Kaut’s rookie campaign in the AHL was solid but unspectacular. His 26 points (12g, 14a) in 63 regular season games certainly didn’t evoke images of Mikko Rantanen’s dominant 2015-16 season that saw him win the co-Rookie of the Year in the AHL. Kaut isn’t Rantanen and there should be no confusion there.

The number one thing we saw from Kaut during the season was his conditioning simply wasn’t where it needed to be yet. Given the tumultuous summer and length of the season, Kaut played nearly twice as much hockey as he played in his draft season.

After two days of development camp, it appears Kaut is prepared to make the Avalanche think long and hard about who they’re chasing in free agency and what his role in the organization is entering training camp.

Should Colorado chase multiple top-six forwards and not worry about their draft pick investments? Or are they keeping Kaut in mind and not overextending themselves in free agency because they know they have a recent first round pick as a safety net, albeit one who currently has zero NHL games played?

It’s a tricky game, this UFA business, but Martin Kaut is certainly giving Colorado something to think about.

Player thoughts

– Kaut has been a literal man among boys through two days. When he puts his shoulder down and drives to the net, it’s not difficult to envision his pathways to success in the NHL.

– Nick Henry might have been my top player of today beyond Kaut. His skating is strong but not excellent and his attitude is infectious. He’s a hard-working kid who carries an edge with him at all times. He’s going to be a very fun player to watch on the Eagles next season.

– Bowen Byram continued his excellent display of skills from day one as he handled the puck like a high-end forward. There were some drills where he did them with such ease it almost looked like he was bored. It was telling some of his fellow defensemen badly struggled in those drills.

– I don’t tend to comment on goaltenders much because these are situations where they aren’t meant to thrive in drills and I can’t make heads or tails of goaltender drills. That said, I’ve watched a lot of practices and the coaches were extremely vocal in their support of Adam Werner and the work he was putting in. More on him below as he prepared for his first pro season in North America.

– Sasha Mutala wasn’t on the ice for Day 1 but made it out there today and boy was he fun to watch at times. His shot really stands out and his skating is above-average. It’s enough to make you wonder why he dropped as far as he did in the draft. That’s why I always add the caveat that these are glorified skills competitions and not hockey situations. They can allow for a guy like Mutala’s impressive natural ability to shine through.

– Ever since his first development camp, I’ve been a fan of Nate Clurman. Despite a slower-than-expected development path, he just finished up a promising freshman season at Notre Dame. He still has serious development to get on track for an ELC someday but count me as a fan of the kid’s skills. He’s an intriguing player.

– Haven’t talked much about him so far but Igor Shvyrev is a guy who is downright shifty. I love his agility on his skates and he’s just so crafty in everything he does. The skill is obvious but not overwhelming. He stood out in some defensive drills today.

– I thought Drew Helleson followed up an uneven first day with a whale of a performance today. When asked to play defense, he finds a way. He also takes to coaching very well. I’ve seen him make mistakes, get some direction from one of the coaches, and immediately nail whatever drill they’re working on. Ability to learn is obviously a huge part of development. He looks like an information sponge during coaching sessions.

– If there’s a prospect I’m really keeping an eye on this next season in hopes of a major breakout, it’s Sampo Ranta. Just throwing it out there.

– In moments that made me laugh, Justun Annunen opened his warm-ups by practicing one-timers. It was a good bit of fun and he took about four clappers with that goalie stick before deciding to move on. You’ll see a brief video of it below, but Alex Newhook and Brandon Saigeon were standing on pucks passing to each other until one of them fell off. It was a good bit of silly fun to watch after practice had concluded.

Interview audio

First up on the interviews today, I chatted with Werner about his transition to North America and his career track so far:

Next, I talked with Sampo Ranta about his time at camp and his freshman season at Minnesota.

Videos

I promised more video yesterday and today I got more of it…lots more. Maybe too much.

First up is Byram doing some puckhandling

More defensemen drills here

Here we have Conor Timmins taking contact along the boards. Not cleared, eh?

Here Timmins and Samuel Regis defend without sticks. Interesting little drill.

Now, the Alex Newhook section!

Here begins our 1v1 battles with Newhook taking on Logan Barlage

Next is Kaut versus Navrin Mutter

Saigeon versus Henry

Entire group drills to finish it off