Calum Ritchie earns roster spot, blows the league away
The Colorado Avalanche selected Calum Ritchie near the end of the first round of the 2023 NHL Draft. He will get a nine-game tryout for the team this season to see whether or not they feel he can do what is asked of him and play a sound game. My prediction? He does it, and he does it well.
If all things go well for Ritchie early on, and as I would think the Avalanche would hope, Ritchie will play a significant amount of minutes for the team this season. If Ritchie blows the Colorado Avalanche away with his performances, this team could have a huge year, especially if Valeri Nichushkin and/or Gabriel Landeskog return to the ice.
We want teams to fear the Avalanche. They’ve shown at times that they can be a dangerous team. Although it’s no guarantee Landeskog does return this year, that has been his hope and he sounds confident that it will happen. Perhaps Ritchie and Landeskog can play on the same line together at some point. That would be a lot of fun to see, in my opinion.
Ritchie will get some time to shine during the preseason, whicih begins on Monday for the Avalanche. It will be fun to see him play for the first time (not counting the training camp games).