What to watch for at Avalanche rookie camp

While it will be another week until the big boys put skates to the ice, the Colorado Avalanche open their rookie camp tomorrow morning before setting off to Las Vegas to participate in a six-team rookie showcase. The roster for rookie camp is expectedly littered with what the organization hopes are a handful of future Avalanche players.

The line for invitations to be part of the rookie camp process is typically first- and second-year pros, though there are always a few exceptions (such as Tyson Jost not participating and Vladislav Kamenev taking part in the fun). As we head into the weekend, here’s a primer of what to keep an eye on as the weekend progresses. Keep in mind there are no NCAA players here as they are not allowed to attend these camps if they wish to retain college eligibility. As such, top prospects such as Cale Makar and Shane Bowers are not on the roster.

The big guns

Conor Timmins – Arguably the most talked about second-round pick since Paul Stastny (or Ryan O’Reilly, whoops), the defenseman is coming off a draft-plus-one season to a remember. When he wasn’t starring for his OHL team in a deep playoff run, he was garnering significant attention for a sterling performance as a member of Team Canada at the WJCs alongside fellow Avs prospect Makar. The two won gold medals while also being named two of the top three players for Canada.

The question with Timmins here is health. He struggled with a lingering high-ankle sprain and then got a concussion. The frustrating combination kept him out of action at Colorado’s summer development camp. Is he ready for contact? His health will be a significant storyline throughout the weekend.

Martin Kaut – Another player attached to an injury, Kaut’s heart condition during the draft process served as more of a scare than a legitimate problem. A procedure corrected the issue and Kaut was selected by the Avalanche with the 16th pick in the first round. He’s a crafty two-player whose effervescent personality has already endeared him to Avalanche fans.

He participated in the summer development camp but here we will get to see him in real game action. If Kaut is going to make a push for the NHL roster right away, he needs a strong start against his peer group. If he’s unable to stand out in this setting, we may have to slow his hype train a bit.

Nicolas Meloche – Meloche has been overlooked a bit by the Avalanche fan base as he quietly excelled for various teams during his QMJHL career and was never given an opportunity to thrive on an international stage. In his first season in pro hockey, Meloche was arguably the top victim of last year’s disastrous split AHL roster with the St. Louis Blues. His slow start meant a constant uphill battle for minutes, including a stint in the ECHL, but a strong finish to the season gave plenty of reason for optimism.

Meloche isn’t going to do anything sexy but he possesses a nasty streak and he’s a very polished player. His best asset, his hockey IQ, isn’t going to jump off the ice the way great skating or a booming slapshot will but this is a player with a bright future who should push to make his NHL debut this season. He is a bit unique in Colorado’s system of all-or-nothing players in that he gets by with a little bit of everything in his game. He has offense, defense, and attitude to boot. This weekend represents a great opportunity for Meloche to get off to a stronger start in his second pro season.

Justus Annunen – The highest drafted goaltender in five years, Annunen was a player the Avalanche were very excited to select. They traded down from the bottom of the second round and picked up an extra fifth rounder in the process. Annunen’s selection represented a shift for Colorado, who had been using the middle rounds to select overage European goaltenders excelling at lower levels.

Annunen was a first-time draft prospect and he possesses great size. The Finnish netminder immediately became Colorado’s top goaltending prospect and this will be our first look at him in person. Given the lack of systems and wild variance in talent at these tournaments, I won’t draw any strong conclusions from box scores (unless Annunen puts up clean sheets, then the hype is on).

Vladislav Kamenev – One of the oldest players here, Kamenev was the victim of terrible luck last season. Minutes into his Avalanche debut, Brooks Orpik laid him out at center ice, breaking his arm and effectively ending his season. He did return near the end of the season but Colorado was in the heart of a playoff race and the coaching staff was not willing to go with the unknown quantity as they fought for every point.

Kamenev’s profile has been on an upward trajectory for the last couple years, culminating in a 50-point season in his last full year in the AHL. In limited appearances last year, Kamenev was a very impressive point-per-game player and looked beyond ready for the next step. Simply put, Kamenev needs to look far beyond the kids he’ll be competing against this weekend. He’s going to be in a dogfight to make the NHL roster and this weekend should get him amped up for a very important preseason for his career.

The mystery boxes

Ty Lewis – This time last year, Lewis was an overlooked player at Avalanche camp on a tryout contract. He was coming off a strong season but for the second time went undrafted. The Avalanche, using their connections to his WHL club, invited him to development camp and saw enough to justify a camp invitation as well. All he did was impress Avalanche brass enough to earn an entry-level contract and then proceed to rip up the WHL to the tune of a 100-point season.

Now, Lewis leaves behind the junior scene as he embarks on his pro career. Lewis comes in with plenty of hype after such a strong season and he’s a winger, a position of great question in the Avalanche prospect pipeline. Lewis was a scrawny, undersized kid in his initial draft year. Fast forward to today and he’s physically matured and is the very definition of a late bloomer. Given the success of Jonathan Marchessault in Vegas, the Avalanche are hopeful they have a diamond in the rough of their own with him. This weekend gives Lewis an opportunity to potentially leapfrog several drafted forwards in the pecking order for NHL call-ups.

Igor Shvyrev – The ultimate mystery box, Shvyrev was a player widely given a draft grade as high as the second round in the 2017 NHL Draft. The concerns he wasn’t interested in ever coming to North America caused him to slip to Colorado at the top of the fifth round, where they snatched him up and watched as his KHL team yanked him around. His close friendship with fellow Russian Kamenev and frustrating experience with his KHL club last year played a role in him making the leap far sooner than anyone expected.

Now that he’s here, it’s time to see what Shvyrev is made of. As a lanky center with silky hands, much has come to be expected of him thanks to high point totals in the MHL. Nobody is really quite sure what Colorado has in this kid and this weekend we’ll finally to begin opening this mystery box. If Colorado is lucky, he’ll be more than a boat.

Josh Dickinson – Signed after a freshman season at Clarkson University that saw him lead the nation in freshman goal scoring, Dickinson is the younger brother of Dallas Stars top prospect Jason. He’s a big body at center who has a strong two-way game. Like Shvyrev, he’s more of an unknown than anything else at this point. While he doesn’t come attached with the same kind of offensive upside as Lewis and Shvyrev, our first eyes on Dickinson will begin to give us an idea of who this kid is.

The other guys

J.C. Beaudin – It was a rough first pro season for Beaudin after a successful career in the Q. He never really gained any traction with the Rampage and his most notable contributions came during the Eagles’ successful Kelly Cup title defense. Beaudin is a crafty player who has been slow to adjust at every level he’s played so we’re not entirely writing him off after last year.

That said, Beaudin needs a strong sophomore season in order not to be lost in the shuffle of upcoming waves of forward prospects.

Nick Henry – He wasn’t healthy for the first half of last season but he got there for Regina and created some memories against fellow Avs prospect Josh Anderson in the Memorial Cup. He’s an interesting kid who is headed back to Regina for what should be his final season in juniors but he possesses an impressive swagger and intriguing skill set. Keep an eye on this feisty winger before he heads back to Regina in a few weeks.

Brandon Saigeon – An older CHL player, Saigeon was selected by the Avalanche in the fifth round back in June and it’s unclear what their immediate plan is for him. Saigeon doesn’t appear to be headed back to Hamilton for an overage season but he remains unsigned by the organization. What exactly is the plan with this kid? Either way, he’s a mature player whose goal-scoring outburst put him on Colorado’s radar. He’s a bit of a misfit in that he’s not as good a skater as the Avalanche have largely targeted in the draft recently but he’s a ready-made pro prospect…if that’s what Colorado wants. It feels like he’s headed to the Grizzlies in the ECHL but before he gets there, he has a chance to shine at this rookie showcase.

Logan O’Connor – Signed by the Avalanche after three years at the University of Denver and an appearance at Colorado’s summer development camp, O’Connor is a plug-and-play right wing for either the Grizzlies or Eagles this year. Where he ultimately ends up starting the season will in part be determined by his performance this weekend.

The guy you’ve never heard of

Cole Reinhardt – While he’s unlikely to offer to be the shield for any of his friends, Reinhardt is looking to follow in the footsteps of junior teammate Ty Lewis. A late-bloomer himself, Reinhardt is another undrafted Brandon Wheat King to be invited. He showed well at development camp and could use this look to secure himself an entry-level contract ala Lewis. Overall, it’s an unimpressive class of tryouts but he’s my guy to watch from the group.

There are plenty of other players to watch at these camps and we’ll be talking about just about all of these guys throughout the weekend. Stay tuned here at BSN Denver as we provide coverage from camp on Friday and in Vegas at the showcase throughout the weekend.