Not much has happened around the hockey world since more than $1.2 billion worth of contracts were handed out on July 1. The Colorado Avalanche’s quiet offseason has been well-documented and was expected coming in. But that doesn’t necessarily mean there isn’t news surrounding the team.
I wrote several of my offseason thoughts last weekend. You can find the article by clicking here. I’ll continue to write quick-hit pieces like this through the next two months before training camp is underway.
1: In his most recent recording of the Agent Provocateur podcast on the SDPN, Jonathan Drouin’s long-time agent Allan Walsh spoke about the $2.5 million contract that the 29-year-old signed with the Avs on the opening day of free agency. He also noted that he and Drouin hope to revisit extension talks with the Avalanche in January.
Walsh was very upfront about the understanding that Drouin, again, signed a bargain team-friendly deal to play with star center and old friend Nathan MacKinnon.
“I have a saying that I’ve practiced for many years. And that’s, don’t f — — — with happy,” Walsh said on the podcast, hosted by SDPN’s Adam Wylde. “You find a great fit, and the relationship between Jonathan and Nate is well documented. It goes all the way back to junior. There’s a very special relationship between Jonathan and his other teammates. Jonathan and the coaching staff.”
Walsh also acknowledged the uncertainty around both Valeri Nichushkin and Gabriel Landeskog and how those scenarios could have an impact on Drouin’s role and salary with the team. This is something I spoke about last week in the aforementioned thoughts piece. And it makes all the sense in the world.
The salary cap is rising, and even if both Nichushkin and Landeskog are permanently back with the Avs, there is still a scenario where Drouin becomes a core piece of this team alongside the star-studded group. It’s anybody’s guess how any of these scenarios are going to play out. But I for one think general manager Chris MacFarland should do what he has to do to lock up Drouin to a team-friendly deal as soon as he can — assuming Drouin continues on the same trajectory he was on last season.
After all, Drouin’s camp is very much aware that ‘messing’ with happy might not be the best decision.
2: Walsh also commented on the possibility that the NHL will switch to a decentralized draft starting next year. NHL GMs voted 28-4 in favor of this in March but Walsh noted that several of those GMs had told him they didn’t prefer it but they voted for it because they believed “this is what Gary Bettman wants.”
That in itself is troubling — and speaks volumes to how this league is run behind the scenes. But anyway, the 2024 NHL Draft at the Sphere was the first one I’ve ever attended. It was outstanding and very well done. The league did a great job of utilizing the venue and making it as entertaining as possible. If anything, the only thing I’d recommend they focus on if they were to do this again is how long the first round takes. Four hours is still insane.
Oh, and as for the relevance of all of this? Walsh also mentioned that before the vote for a decentralized draft, there were talks that the NHL was planning to host the 2025 NHL Draft in Colorado. Which, I would assume would’ve been at Ball Arena.
3: The Avalanche announced earlier this week that 2023 No. 27 overall draft pick Calum Ritchie had signed his three-year entry-level contract.
Ritchie is stuck in a weird place right now given his age. He’s unable to play in the AHL because of an agreement between the NHL and the Canadian junior leagues. So for the 19-year-old, his options are a full-time NHL spot with the Avs or a return to juniors for another year with the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League.
Ritchie is coming off an exceptional season in the OHL. He led the Generals with 80 points despite playing 18 fewer games than second place. Oshawa finished first in the Eastern Conference in 2023-24 and made it to the championship before getting swept by the London Knights in four games. Ritchie had 30 points in the postseason, which was second in the league.
I think a strong training camp could and should allow Ritchie to play up to nine games with the Avs. Given the suspension of Nichushkin and the possibility that Landeskog might not be ready to start the year (we genuinely don’t know and neither do the Avs), it opens the door to a potential opening night roster spot for Colorado’s top prospect.
Ritchie can play nine games before being returned to Oshawa without burning a year of his ELC. This is standard practice in the NHL and the Avs previously did this with top prospect Mikko Rantanen in the 2015-16 season.
It’s up to Ritchie to earn the spot at training camp.
