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Calum Ritchie

Central Notes: Utah, Blackwood, Ritchie

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The Utah Hockey Club is in an unenviable position right now with two top-four defensemen out long-term in the early days of the regular season. On the ALL Utah Hockey Podcast, Craig Morgan suggests the team will seek outside help rather than rush defensive prospects to fill the void.

Reports yesterday indicated that defenseman John Marino was “months” away from returning while Sean Durzi is headed for a similar trajectory. The team is keeping pace with the rest of the Central Division through the first two weeks of the regular season but will face increased difficulty the further they go without a complete blue line. Luckily, if Utah wants to be one of the few teams looking to be aggressive on the trade market early in the season, they have some options.

Shortly before the start of training camp, a report from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman indicated the Anaheim Ducks were willing to explore trade options with veteran defenseman Cam Fowler. Utah has plenty of capital to send the other way with the financial flexibility to take on all of Fowler’s $6.5MM salary for the next two years. The hurdle to clear regarding Fowler is the four-team trade list attached to his contract. Fowler would have to waive his protection if Utah isn’t one of the four teams or a trade won’t get done.

A short-term option is David Savard of the Montreal Canadiens. Montreal would be better served by holding on to Savard for the trade deadline in the hope of sparking a bidding war but could be enticed out of Utah’s desperation. Savard doesn’t have any protection attached to his deal and he’s not expected back in Montreal next year thanks to several defensive prospects in the system.

Other Central notes:

  • Subpar goaltending has been a major storyline for the Colorado Avalanche early in the 2024-25 NHL season. On his ’32 Thoughts’ podcast, Elliotte Friedman reported the Avalanche had previous interest in San Jose Sharks’ goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood and may circle back should their goaltending woes continue. Blackwood has struggled to start the season with a .875 save percentage through three games but is an obvious trade candidate on an expiring contract for a rebuilding organization. There’s no deal expected soon but don’t be surprised to see Colorado make a major push for Blackwood by American Thanksgiving if they can’t get their goaltending straightened out.
  • Sticking in Colorado — Evan Rawal of The Denver Gazette reports the Avalanche are undecided on returning forward Calum Ritchie to his junior team in Oshawa to save a year on his contract. Ritchie is five games shy of burning the first year of his entry-level contract and has scored one goal on the season. His -7 rating through five games doesn’t invoke positive thoughts but much of that can be laid at the feet of the goaltending with Ritchie managing a +0.7 E+/- according to Hockey Reference. Re-ignite.

Avalanche Sign Calum Ritchie To Entry-Level Deal

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The Colorado Avalanche may have found an answer to their lack of depth up front as they’ve announced a three-year, entry-level contract with forward Calum Ritchie. The deal carries a cap hit of $950K and an AAV of $1.19MM including bonuses, per PuckPedia. The organization selected Ritchie as the 27th overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft with their highest selection since the 2020 NHL Draft.

During his draft year, the assistant captain for the Oshawa Generals of the OHL scored 24 goals and 59 points in 59 games while collecting another two goals and six points in five postseason contests. Ritchie also performed markedly well during the under-18 World Junior Championship on Team Canada as he scored three goals and nine points in seven tournament games en route to a gold medal.

While retaining the ’A’ on his jersey for the 2023-24 OHL campaign, Ritchie took a big step forward offensively. After missing the first 17 games of the season due to a shoulder injury the young forward rebounded with 28 goals and 80 points in 50 games. He was also one of the best players in the postseason for Oshawa as he scored eight goals and 30 points in 21 games but ultimately failed to help his team get past the London Knights in the OHL Finals.

The biggest asset in Ritchie’s game, which may allow him to crack Colorado’s roster out of training camp, is his ability to play off the puck. The Avalanche have several players able to drive singularly drive the play on their roster and Ritchie could act as a solid complimentary piece to those players. He also carries a physical edge to his game which Colorado has been looking for from their forwards for the last several years.

Avalanche Notes: Landeskog, Nichushkin, Lehkonen, Mittelstadt, Ritchie

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Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog isn’t retiring after missing a second straight season with knee injuries, he confirmed to reporters Thursday (via Aarif Deen of Mile High Sports).

It remains to be seen whether Landeskog will be ready for training camp in the fall but he’s planning on returning sometime during the 2024-25 regular season, he said. He’s had no setbacks in his recovery for the last two months while slowly ramping up his on-ice workload (via Deen).

While it’s fortunate news for general manager Chris MacFarland that his captain will likely be back on the ice next season, the lack of a real update today muddies his offseason planning. He can operate under the assumption that Landeskog’s $7MM cap hit can be placed on offseason long-term injured reserve for additional flexibility, but with an in-season return expected, he’ll need to leave enough space under the $87.7MM upper limit to activate Landeskog at some point down the line.

Including the cap hits of Landeskog but not Valeri Nichushkin (more on him in a few paragraphs), the Avalanche have $15.9MM in projected cap space next season, per CapFriendly. That’ll evaporate quickly, though, as they only have 13 roster players signed. They’ll need to fill seven to nine spots with that money, plus leaving $6.125MM to activate Nichushkin once his six-month suspension is lifted. That’s an average of around $1.25MM per unsigned player.

Their core remains intact, though, with their top skater unit of Artturi Lehkonen, Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Devon Toews and Cale Makar all signed through next season.

More out of Colorado:

  • Speaking to reporters today, MacFarland called it “plausible” that Nichushkin would suit up for the Avalanche once he exits Stage 3 of the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program in November at the earliest (via Deen). Nichushkin does not count against the cap during his suspension, but MacFarland cannot trade, buy out, or terminate the six remaining seasons of his $6.125MM AAV contract. The Russian winger had 53 points in 54 games this season, limited by an earlier stint in the Player Assistance Program.
  • Unfortunately, Landeskog isn’t the only important winger whose status for the beginning of training camp is in doubt. Lehkonen needs offseason shoulder surgery, MacFarland said, and may miss the beginning of preseason activities. His absence isn’t expected to stretch into the regular season, though. The Finnish winger missed nearly half of 2023-24 with a neck injury, but managed 16 goals and 34 points in 45 games when healthy. Trade deadline acquisition Casey Mittelstadt was also dealing with an injury during the postseason, but it won’t require surgery and “isn’t a long-term issue.”
  • The Avs hope to get 2023 first-round pick Calum Ritchie signed to his entry-level contract this summer, MacFarland said. Ritchie, 19, finished sixth in the Ontario Hockey League in points per game with 80 in 50 appearances for the Oshawa Generals. Likely to slot into a middle-six center role long-term, Ritchie is Colorado’s best forward prospect by a wide margin. He would need to return to Oshawa next season if he doesn’t crack the NHL roster, however. His 20th birthday doesn’t fall until after New Year’s Day.

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