The Colorado Avalanche may want both tangible and intangible contributions from Colin Wilson this season.
Colorado Avalanche forward Colin Wilson is looking forward to the upcoming season. That’s to be expected — pretty much every player in the NHL (except maybe the Ottawa Senators) are looking forward to the fresh start.
However, as the players keep working through training camp, Colin Wilson talked in his post-practice presser about some of the particulars he can contribute.
Let’s start there — contributing. Wilson didn’t do a whole lot of that last season. His 18 points (6 goals, 12 assists) in 56 games weren’t exactly what we were all hoping for. Sure, he missed a fair amount of time with injury, but Wilson was coming in hopefully as a second-liner. I guess we were expecting him to do better than rookies. And defensemen. And rookie defensemen.
Indeed, Wilson remarks upon his focus during summer training, which was to stay “light and fast.”
Well, we know the Colorado Avalanche want to be a fast-skating team. However, there’s no point in zooming around the ice if that’s not going to actually lead to production. Wilson knows he has to contribute more than he did last season. His goal is to contribute more offensively. He adds:
"“I think I have more game I can bring. I certainly worked on it this summer, so I just want to contribute more.”"
The hope is that the long, intense training camp will help prepare Wilson and all the Avalanche players to contribute more throughout the season.
Wilson appreciates how intense this year’s training camp is. Like pretty much every other player, he mentions speed, talking about how a lot of this year’s camp has been about “getting acclimated to the speed out there.”
Indeed, Wilson adds that the Avalanche camp is a “faster pace” compared to other camps he’s attended. Wilson, of course, came over from the Nashville Predators. He continued:
"“Everyone is pushing it. A lot of up and down the ice, a lot of skating. I think it’s only going to benefit us — we’re a very fast team. So, to start out that way in training camp is going to be vital.”"
That said, one of the things that Wilson talks about in his presser is the recovery room, which is different from other camps he’s attended. They have a massage therapist — I’m guessing the one Alexei Mironov eschewed — and other tools to help their bodies recover from intense workouts.
Moving on to his mentorship role, Wilson laughs about whether he has to guide some of the younger players in taking advantage of all the facilities, including the amenities. “With the training now, everybody’s pretty into recovery — although maybe too obsessive with everything.”
To give Wilson credit, he didn’t really have a regular role last season. Though it’s early days yet, so far he still doesn’t have a defined role on the ice. In training camp, he’s been skating with Sven Andrighetto and Vladislav Kamenov. That’s a hodge-podge line if ever I saw one.
I think Colin Wilson is going to have to impress in the preseason to earn a spot on opening night. The Colorado Avalanche do need him to contribute more if he wants to earn playing time.