Film Room: The Emergence of Ryan Graves

Well, who saw this one coming?

Picked up in a deadline day swap back in 2018, Ryan Graves was looked at purely as a depth defenseman who would hopefully regain some of that promise he had after putting up 30 points in the AHL as a 21-year-old. He didn’t exactly light the world on fire in Colorado, as he put up 15 points in his 53 AHL games in the organization.

In December of 2018, he got a chance with a call-up as the Avs were in need of someone to fill in on the blue line. Although he was sheltered in the 26 games he played for the Avs that season, he made an impression on the coaching staff that more or less made him a lock coming into the 2019-2020 campaign. To the surprise of a few, Jared Bednar already had plans for him to be a big part of the penalty kill back in training camp.

“Ryan Graves is the first guy that comes to mind for me,” Bednar said before the regular season got started. “He’s got a great willingness to block shots and get himself in the right position to make defensive plays. I see him a lot like Nemeth was for us last year.”

From the moment the regular season kicked off, Graves was on an upward trajectory with the staff. After starting the year on the third pair, he quickly earned a shot playing with Cale Makar, and from that point on, never looked back. His smart and efficient play earned him more minutes, to the point whereby December, he was more or less a lock to hit 20 minutes every night.

Let’s take a look at some of the things he did this year that allowed him to earn that trust from the coaching staff.

THE GRAVY TRAIN

When Patrik Nemeth was let go via unrestricted free agency, the Avs were looking for a heavier body to replace him as a regular in the lineup. Graves stepped up and filled in immediately.

This was a game in late November where the Avs were trailing after a period and didn’t have a ton of life in the first. With Erik Johnson out, Graves got to play a little bit more, but this play really helped change the game and momentum a bit.

If you watch the play, two Avs forwards are going for a line change, but because the two Oilers defenseman are deep in their zone and not moving, there’s no advantage here. Matt Nieto stays out and hangs back to help prevent any sort of odd-man rush.

Here, Graves recognizes that not only are the defensemen not moving their feet for the Oilers, but there’s a huge gap between them and the forwards. Even the forwards, for the most part, are standing still. That allows Graves to step up on the forward receiving the puck because he knows he has Nieto back to avoid any sort of odd-man rush. The timing on this one is perfect, as Graves arrives just moments after Chiasson catches the pass and eliminates him, turning the puck over immediately.

The Avs didn’t score or anything right after this, but it gave them a shot of energy, and they would score four straight goals to win the game.

PERFECT READ

Nobody could have predicted Ryan Graves would have scored nine goals this year in his 69 games. While quite a few of his goals were big bombs from the blueline, he had a few of them where he just made the smart read and snuck in past the unsuspecting opposing teams forwards. This was one of them.

On this play, Graves recognizes that MacKinnon has floated back to the point, and Donskoi is headed that direction as well. With Makar already back there, there’s only one forward down low, and with a shot headed towards the net, support was needed. Graves quickly realizes that Brandon Saad is paying no attention at all to him, and slides in past him to pick up the rebound and put it in the net.

Let is also be known that this is no easy shot to make. That’s a bouncing, unpredictable puck and Graves times his snapshot perfectly and even was able to place it in a great spot where the goaltender couldn’t reach for it. Just a smart play all around.

FEED MAKAR

When all else fails, just give it to Cale Makar with time and space, right?

It’s not always that easy, but on this one, Graves makes the smart read. One issue I had with Graves as the season went on was that he was launching the puck at the net no matter what. It led to a lot of his shots getting blocked and going nowhere.

On this play, he has his head up and sees that there are three Blue Jackets players in the shooting lane, with another headed that way. Because he has his head up, he’s able to see that and realize that no one is covering his defensive partner. He sells the shot, which gives Makar even more time and space to do his thing and score the game-tying goal. This was in early November when Graves was really starting to ramp up and gain the trust of the staff. Helping create goals for your defensive partner never hurts.

SHOT BLOCKING

Right from training camp, the Avs envisioned Graves taking on a big role on the penalty kill, as Bednar mentioned his willingness to block shots being one reason why. After Erik Johnson, no Avs skater played more on the PK than Graves, and his 150 blocked shots put him far and away above any other Avs skater.

There’s nothing fancy about this play. Graves takes a look at Roman Jost and sees he’s committed to taking the shot, as Nieto has taken away the passing lane. He puts his big body in front of the shot, and from there, Compher does the rest. Not bad to get an assist with your right quadriceps (shout out leg day).

SMART STICK

Here we have another play on the penalty kill that leads to an easy assist (with help from Devan Dubnyk). Graves steps up at the defensive blue line and recognizes that with Matt Calvert’s help, they’ve got Eric Staal outnumbered. He doesn’t back off and keeps his stick in the lane where Staal wants to dump the puck down low. Because Graves stood his ground and used his stick effectively, it turns the play the other way, and the Avs pick up a gimme shorthanded goal

PINCHING AT THE RIGHT TIME

One of the things I felt Graves did consistently well this year was making smart pinches to keep plays alive in the offensive zone. More often than not, he made the right play and kept things going. There’s nothing fancy about this one. On the first shot, he just beats his forward to the puck and uses his long reach to poke the puck down for more zone time. That leads to another chance, and here, Graves recognizes his forward isn’t paying any attention to him at all and sneaks around him. It doesn’t lead to a goal but led to the Predators icing the puck due to the chaos. These are little things that may go unnoticed, but the staff certainly keeps an eye on.

Graves is up for a new contract this summer, and he certainly did everything possible to earn a nice extension when they get around to doing business. This is just a glimpse into some of the things he did to earn that inevitable extension.