SALT LAKE CITY - The Colorado Avalanche had nine games to decide, but they needed just seven.
On Thursday, just as yours truly was boarding a flight to Utah, the Avalanche announced that they had made the decision to re-assign top prospect Calum Ritchie back to the Ontario Hockey League and the Oshawa Generals.
And ultimately, that was the right call to make.
In seven NHL games this season, Ritchie had just one goal and was sitting a team-worst -7. While his start to the season was fine, it became increasingly more obvious that the speed of the NHL looked to be a bit too much for the 19-year-old. In his final two games, the Avalanche were out attempted 30-5 with Ritchie on the ice, and in Tuesday's game against the Kraken, Ritchie saw just three shifts in the final two periods.
Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar has often said that the NHL is not a development league. By sending Ritchie back to the Ontario Hockey League, they had to look at the bigger picture.
"(It's) just what's best for him," Bednar said after morning skate Thursday in Utah. "Great camp, obviously. Put in a lot of work over the offseason to try to get bigger, faster, stronger, to be able to compete at this level. He's an elite talent, and he brings a lot of things to the table, but ultimately we have to do what's best for his development, and for him, at this point in his career, it's play a lot."
While his play on the ice was uneven, this was always the best path for Ritchie to take this season. Injuries forced the Avalanche into having to use him early in the season, but by being around NHL players for well over a month, he got a taste of what it takes to be a professional. That will likely be better for him in the long run than if he had spent the last month in Oshawa.
"He's learned a lot," Bednar said. "He's got a lot of information on things that he can go back and work on. He'll not only have the plan for what he needs to do for Oshawa, but also what he needs to do on top of that to keep pushing his development forward."
There's a slight chance Ritchie comes back to Colorado this season, but it's highly unlikely. Oshawa went all the way to the Ontario Hockey League final last year and looks to be stacked again, especially with their leading scorer from last season returning.
Whether it's the end of this season or next year, Colorado still has high hopes for Ritchie, as they should. He just needs a little more time in the oven before he's ready.
"Right now, it's about the reps and being put in all those offensive situations so he can continue to develop and go to work on his overall game, so he's able to come make a big impact next year."
What I'm hearing
Your daily report on everything sports in Colorado - covering the Denver Broncos, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, and columns from Woody Paige and Paul Klee.
-- Valeri Nichushkin is back in Denver skating at the Avalanche practice facility. It's a strange situation, because he's allowed to skate where the team normally skates, but he can't be around the team. Either way, once he's reinstated by the NHL, he could enter the lineup almost immediately. That's what Bednar told the ESPN broadcast Tuesday. Nichushkin has always kept himself in great shape, so it makes sense.
-- Nikolai Kovalenko made a big mistake on the only goal Seattle scored Tuesday, which resulted in his ice-time being cut back significantly in the third period of the game. One of the leaders on the team, Logan O'Connor, said he takes it upon himself to chat with young guys to try and keep their confidence up.
"Mistakes are going to happen," O'Connor said. "You can't play perfect in an imperfect game. Especially for rookies or younger guys, you want to try and get that out of their head as soon as you can and move them on to the next shift."
What I'm seeing
-- Artturi Lehkonen is another guy who could return as soon as he gets clearance, and according to Bednar, he's just sick of wearing the same red non-contact jersey he's been wearing for two months. On Thursday, he skated in white just to change things up.
-- The NHL couldn't wait to get out of Mullet Arena, and having been there I understand why, but the Delta Center has a long way to go before it's a perfect NHL arena.
After hearing a lot about the "obstructed view" seats in the arena, I had to see for myself. I ventured up to the top level of the arena, and yes, there are entire sections where you can't even see the net closest to you, even if you stand up. Not exactly ideal, but people aren't paying full prices for these seats. This shouldn't really come as a surprise. This is an NBA building that they had to fit the NHL into in just a few short months. All things considered, they've done a great job, but it'll likely be a few years before it's fully ready to go.
What I'm thinking
-- Phoenix wasn't exactly far away from Denver, but a team in Salt Lake City is a big win for the Avalanche when it comes to travel. That's a 75–80–minute flight tops, so the Avalanche will get home quickly after the game. As a member of the media, I don't hate it either. This is my first time visiting Salt Lake City and it's very pretty. I also appreciate that there's finally another NHL team in the U.S. that is in the mountain time zone.
-- The Avalanche assigned Kaapo Kahkonen to the Colorado Eagles on a conditioning assignment Thursday. Kahkonen hasn't played a game in almost a month, so it makes sense to get him some action before giving him a start at the NHL level. According to NHL rules, he can stay there for up to 14 days, although most teams don't usually use that time.
This allows the Avalanche to kick the can down the road a bit longer before deciding what two goalies they want to carry. Would they have made this decision if Justus Annunen had come in and struggles? I'm not so sure, but his strong play over the last two games gives them the opportunity to be a little bit more patient.
