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Colorado Avalanche: Pre-Hockey Hiatus Look at Ryan Graves

By Nadia Archuleta

TORONTO, ON - DECEMBER 4: Ryan Graves #27 of the Colorado Avalanche stretches prior to action against the Toronto Maple Leafs in an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on December 4, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Avalanche defeated the Maple Leafs 3-1. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - DECEMBER 4: Ryan Graves #27 of the Colorado Avalanche stretches prior to action against the Toronto Maple Leafs in an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on December 4, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Avalanche defeated the Maple Leafs 3-1. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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Colorado Avalanche defenseman Ryan Graves has been a delightful surprise this season. He makes valuable contributions.

The Colorado Avalanche, like the rest of the NHL, have put their season on pause. And that sucks because today they would have been challenging for the Western Conference championship.

Anyway, players are still in their home cities — those who left anyway — and have been advised they must stay in quarantine until April 15.

So, while the whole world seems like it’s on hiatus, we’re going to keep looking at how players were doing before the hockey pause.

Here are some of the players we’ve covered so far:

Next up is another defenseman, Ryan Graves.

Brief History of Ryan Graves

The New York Rangers selected Ryan Graves in the fourth round of the 2013 NHL Draft. At the time Graves, a Nova Scotia native, was playing in the QMJHL. He stayed in that league for two more seasons before he signed his entry-level contract with the Rangers.

Graves spent his entire Rangers career with their AHL affiliate. In the final year of his entry-level contract, 2018, the Rangers traded him to the Avalanche for Chris Bigras. At the time, we thought it was one of Joe Sakic’s characteristic AHL moves and, sure enough, he reported to the AHL.

That summer, the Avalanche made him a qualifying offer for one year, the 2018-19 season. And that was the year he finally broke into the NHL. This season, he played all but one of the Avalanche’s 70 games.

Ryan Graves Stats with the Colorado Avalanche

Graves played 26 games with the Avalanche last season. He recorded five points in that time — three goals and two assists. His first-ever NHL goal came against his draft team:

By virtue of one game, Graves is not considered a rookie this season. Nonetheless, it’s his first full NHL season. In those 69 games with the Avalanche, he’s put up some good numbers — 9 goals and 17 assists for 26 points. He’s spent most of the year paired with Cale Makar.

Evaluation of Ryan Graves with the Colorado Avalanche

This year represented a breakout season for Ryan Graves. The 24-year-old went from being a defenseman trying to crack the lineup to playing up to 26 minutes a night.

That one game that he didn’t play, he was a healthy scratch. No idea why. He’s been playing so much better than many people expected. He’s even a lead penalty killer.

Next. Graves Central to Avs Defense. dark

Ryan Graves is a restricted free agent this summer or… whenever contracts come up due with the hockey hiatus in place. I’m confident the Colorado Avalanche will make him a good qualifying offer — he’s earned it.

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