Colorado Avalanche: 4 Prospects to Watch in Rookie Faceoff Game 2

Tonight the Colorado Avalanche will play Game 2 of the Rookie Faceoff tournament in Vegas. Here’s who to watch.

The Colorado Avalanche prospects started out the Rookie Faceoff in Vegas with a fizzle. I had thought they were too young to get into trouble in Vegas, but maybe they’re too young to stay out of trouble.

No, jesting aside, the group that took to the ice last night was filled with fresh faces who’ve spent very little time together. They had a hard time finding their hockey legs in the first period, though they found the heck out of their penalty legs. Colorado took four penalties, and the Knights scored on three of them. Ouch.

That said, the Avalanche prospects mounted an impressive comeback. They went into first intermission down 5-0. By  the end of the game, they lost, but it was 7-6. What started as a rout turned into a one-goal game. It was a high-scoring one-goal game, but that’s ok.

It helped that the prospects only took two more penalties the entire game. Vegas scored on one of them. So, you know, the kids need to stay out of the penalty box tonight.

The Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights are both streaming the game through their websites. The stream cut out for a while last night. However, if you’re catching the stream tonight, here are five prospects to watch out for.

Justus Annunen

Bad news for Petr Kvaca — he looked very unimpressive in last night’s loss. He allowed six of the seven goals.

The goalies swapped out midway through the second, which was a planned move. This year’s third-rounder, Justus Annunen, fared far better. As the skaters got their penalty-taking under control, he saw less action that his counterpart. However, he looked solid and confident in net.

The 18-year-old Annunen doesn’t have his pro contract yet. He looks like he’s challenging for that. I imagine the Avalanche might do the planned swap again. If it was up to me, I’d have Annunen start this time.

Logan O’Connor

Speaking of someone gunning for a contract, Denver Alumni Logan O’Connor has his, being an undrafted signee this summer. However, he looks like he wants to prove he’s got some NHL chops.

The 22-year-old center had no quit last night. His team was down 5-0 going into the second period, and he opened up scoring early on. He also got the last Avalanche goal of the game.

Here are his two goals, courtesy of Nathan Rudolph of Burgundy Rainbow:

Ty Lewis

Who was O’Connor’s partner in crime for most of the game? Another undrafted free agent of the Avalanche’s. Colorado signed Ty Lewis last fall to an entry-level contract. He spent the season in the WHL, but he’s looking to make a space for himself at least in the AHL this season.

Ty Lewis had a goal and an assist. His assist was on one of O’Connor’s goals, and Logan assisted on Ty’s goal. In other words, the linemates found chemistry. We’ll want to keep an eye on whether that continues — that was integral to a lot of Colorado’s game at the NHL level last season.

Martin Kaut

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Colorado’s first rounder from this year, Martin Kaut, got two penalties in the first period. Vegas scored on one of them. And that was Kaut’s game. He pretty much did little else.

Kaut looked very good in Prospect Development and Rookie Camps. He’s skating well, and he looked confident. Hopefully the 18-year-old’s confidence didn’t take too big a hit last night.

Yesterday’s Rookie Faceoff was Martin’s first-ever game on NHL ice, unless you count the exhibition 3-on-3 tournament in Loveland over the summer. Regardless, he has to re-adjust a lifetime of spatial awareness on the ice. That’s going to take a minute — the NHL game is much faster because of the smaller ice.

We’ll want to watch him adjust. And, like I said, hopefully he builds his confidence back up, if he lost any.

The second game of the Rookie Faceoff is tonight at 6 PM MT. The Colorado Avalanche prospects are facing the Annaheim Ducks’ prospects. Their rookies soared to an 8-3 victory over the Kings last night. We may have another high-scoring game on our hands.