Cal Ritchie flashes NHL skill at Colorado Avalanche development camp scrimmage
[Music] welcome in to the Toyota Lounge for the dmvr Avalanche podcast powered by your Front Range Toyota dealers ship why not it’s Friday there’s no rules I can do whatever I want it’s my podcast can’t stop me Dev Camp officially over for the Colorado Avalanche including a scrimmage from today we will get on to all of that and the prospects a little bit later first off right like literally 2 minutes after Dev Camp ended the ABS get the uh Jared Poland contract done we literally watch I say Jason Poland not Jared Poland Jared Bednar was on my mind I was thinking about his flow I’m not even going to lie uh Jason Poland gets signed yeah you you you literally did see CAC signing the papers yeah he was sitting there he signed a bunch of paperwork and I was like is he signing a I was like is he trading somebody or signing somebody I was like he’s trading somebody and then it was Jason Poland deal and I was like that’s super cool it’s done that’s super cool what do we think think about Poland like right now the fs haven’t signed a UFA 4C we had kind of Wagner slotted into that spot for the moment is is Poland in that mix in training camp or or down the line this season as a 4C or just in a yeah no not at all no not even going to try it no okay I mean they did it with trenin so like it’s Andre pavel’s job you think so it’s Andre really it’s Cal Richie’s job but we’re going to get there yeah we’ll get there okay Jason Poland no uh could he be in the mix as one of those depth forwards yeah he should be okay sorry I was trying to transcribe some audio like on the five which is poor timing um it’s all good I don’t think so just based on how they utilized him even last season that trust just wasn’t there yeah there’s Intrigue though I think that this is a player they like obviously but just based on the rookie tournament showing I think that he plays hockey in a way that intrigues them enough to consider him but I don’t think it’s for a fourth line Center position fulltime on an NHL roster fair enough man here’s what I’ll say say what you said in the car yeah I I liked him I I liked him last year remember and then he got hurt right after like you know I think he could have gotten a shot like I don’t care how many goals you scored in college hockey it’s it’s awesome good for you it’s over cuz he did score a bunch right yeah his last he like a 30 goal score in college right I mean it’s all give and take like he’s you got to be a good player to do that now at the NHL level it’s out the window nobody cares like oh great you are awesome at you were awesome in Junior’s at you were awesome are you awesome today you know and that’s what Jared vard cares about right because at the end of the day if this guy wants to play here’s my suggestion for him if he’s listening if he’s watching you know definitely is loyal listener awesome don’t have an identity problem like you know what I mean crisis like know what you are know what you can be in this league and go back and look at Ryan lomberg I’m just telling you Ryan lomberg was a good college player you know you got to have gas you got to have energy you might be asked to play three minutes you might be asked to play 10 minutes you got play 10 minutes you got to go you got to be an Energizer Bunny last I checked Ryan lomberg signed for two million bucks times two in Calgary pretty freaking good so is it like sexy is it like no it’s not but if you want to be something that’s what he’s going to have to be I think I saw some of that last year in development Camp I saw not development Camp rookie face off whatever it’s called called and then you know I saw some stuff like but you got to do it and you got to make sure you do it when you got to be noticeable and you got to do and it’s hard and it’s freaking hard because it’s you don’t get a lot of ice and it’s not like like I said it’s not glorifying you know but I think he’s the type of guy that can do it now I hope that he comes in it’s not new this year because last year was New he comes in and then all of a sudden he can be that guy I me Ryan lomberg in Calgary back then like you got lost a little bit you know what I mean like you know said we didn’t resign him let him walk to you know Florida and then Florida called him up and then next thing was like I’m a junkyard dog like I’m never going to go back and he never went back Stanley Cup champion he’s body Ser whatever you call that crowd surfing last week and you know so if I’m Poland I’m all I’m all messed up right now with Jared bnar but if I’m Poland look what you’ve done I ruined what you’ve done if I’m him I come on a mission and if you decide to do that because you do have the tools to be able to keep up with the you know cuz he’s a 30 goal scorer you know whatever it is it’s all about wanting to do it if you want to do it I think there’s a space for him in this sleep I do I really I really believe it same really believe it I think he’s got the goods he just has to win the job kick down the door you got to kick the door down Bedner’s got to not bolt that thing on there quite so hard it’s all right make let a guy win a job damn he’s like sealing in the cracks with his safety blanket of yo konto I hate that you’re correct about this that’s okay then go after him in Camp this is how it works yeah smoke that guy in Camp be better than him can’t play if he’s hurt he got hurt last year time to hurt his competition please don’t hurt each other you know what I’m saying in all seriousness all seriousness don’t do that oh shoot my fault sorry I didn’t not I thought I that is my phone I’m telling you every 35 seconds I know usually I’m usually good at that I put it on vibrate I’m excited because we’re going to get an idea of how often your phone rings in this show I will say no cuz when it goes to a single like I’m going to go switch number one sign that you’re a boomer this ringtone this ringtone he just never changed it Jason calling he’s listening live Po’s like that’s I’m coming that’s right he’s like I’m going to take that guy out put me on the air I’m gonna take him out put me on the air I think bnar is a tough cookie to crack but I think there are types of players that can endear themselves to him and I think Jason Poland is one of them but so is Andre pavl so there’s still some competition to beat out pavl maybe has the inside line there with the center abilities but they may both be behind the guy that we’re about to talk about maybe not I don’t know I don’t know who Jared bedar likes I do know Jared bedar did talk to one of those guys for about 10 minutes the other day and he initiated it yeah they’re Cal Richie uh as we move on to like actual Dev Camp conversations he ends up picking up three assists in the dev Camp scrimmage which was four on four fast and loose all the normal caveats don’t take a whole lot out of this but it was at least gamish situations there were goalies in the Nets Richie there were goalies in the Nets good y i i when you put him in game situations it was obvious that Richie was seeing the ice better reading plays better and adding to the yeah he’s just more skilled than everyone else on the ice yeah but he he plays uh he thinks the game at a certain Pace that none of the other guys that were involved in this for sure could even come close to not any of them yep not Sean Baron’s not pickup invite any of that yep that’s the only guy out there that looked like he was within a thousand miles of the NHL agreed he’s the closest one by far it did feel like there was a slant between team white and team burgundy burgundy just had an advantage in their makeup and a lot of that felt rooted in KY Richie and his ability to see the ice because some of the plays that they were able to create only were possible because of his involvement in them but to other players credits there were others I found that seemed to read off him pretty well Boston buckberg y Jake fiser and Chad hillbrand uh on team burgundy but for Cal Richie that was obviously the separation in his game you could watch him wait for a better option like he’d have a guy in the middle and wait for another guy coming in and it was the kind of thing like ah he could have taken that but that was obviously the better option and it led to a better scoring chance and those were the types of decisions that made Richie stand out to the point that by the end of it it was almost insulting what the burgundy team was doing like Tory pittner stretch pass to Cal she just waiting at the blue line was almost offensive at that point yeah and it didn’t result in a goal but it was audacious that they even did it and it was just kind of the leg up that KY Richie provided the whole of Team burgundy that allowed them to be kind of bold with it he also wasn’t afraid like this isn’t a really physical setting just to be clear but he wasn’t afraid to close space and make guys feel smothered by him he’s very opportunistic in how he played which you have to be in this environment you know that’s probably I don’t know how deep we’re going to get into these conversations about other players but there are guys there clearly trying to seize the opportunity and K Richie was one of them for sure I mean yeah he’s I always say there’s such different like stages of where you’re at in your development you know when you’re a first-rounder usually you’re 18 whatever you know 19 and you’ve developed faster than some of those guys you know what I mean because that doesn’t mean you’re a first-rounder that you’ll be better than any anybody else that you know will actually become a prospect on that team now with that said today is that far ahead of everybody else it’s not even close different I mean it’s not different planet again I said it yesterday I’ll say it again you could take a guy that’s never seen hockey in his life or a gal or anybody a kid and you say hey are you smart yes then you okay pick the guy that’s the best player it’s easy to figure out they they they jump at you and if you don’t jump if you don’t pop Ray Bor says that all the time if you don’t pop buddy you’re in trouble like because you should pop he is by far the best prospect there and he did pop today it’s like I said it’s a different freaking planet um now with that said that’s what you’re supposed to do right so I don’t give you cookies for that it’s like you should be the most dominant guy there that’s why I always say you can’t really help yourself you’re going to only hurt yourself he passed the test with flying colors right he did like you know what I mean and then the next stest will be for him will be the rookie face off and then it will be preseason games and then it will be you know like we talk about all the time but yeah he was on a different hemisphere like this guy is so much better than the other guys and you know and it’s and it’s fun to watch them you know what I mean cuz I know you guys have follow him more you weren’t too pleased last year with the selection but you know what I’m saying he’s done nothing but proved me wrong so far that’s what I’m saying which is fine you know we’re not always right and then but he’s fun to watch he he a big guy and he’s going to fill in more and obviously he’s this is not the finished product it’s just the start of of his Ascension to the NHL and but yeah if I’m if I’m a Avalanche staff member like I feel good about what I saw this weekend from well this week whatever it is so I think only more exciting and it’s amazing at that age what two months can do too you know from July August you know what I mean like it you’ll be a different guy like September if he puts in the work right and it sounds like he’s been putting in the work and it’s amazing what you can do each summer you know what I mean to to get yourself ready for those grueling Seasons but no I I I really like what I saw I mean he was again he was he’s Elite you know not not to bash the other guys but he was Elite compared to everybody else two questions I’ll give him cookies have all the cookies you want man number one keep the cookies number one question is it weird that his deal isn’t signed yet I think it’s a little weird yeah you know he’s going you know you’re going to give him an ELC at some point you know that your plan is to play him either this year or next in Pro Hockey y what’s the issue I these are the things where I’m just like elc’s should be so easy you would think yeah like you have to to work out the structure and the bonuses and the what’s going to apply and what’s not you know we got Walmart money what’s 50k here 50k there right like it’s it’s really just I know the ABS are up against it so they should they have to be careful but it’s like this it’s your first round pick yeah just sign it’s a guy on an ELC just what are we doing here he’ll be signed he’ll be signed I think he will it’s not like I’m worried about might be sign to and there just waitting this is not I’m worried about him not signing and then re-entering into a draft no it’s something like that just what are we doing here that’s the that’s the side of the business that I just don’t understand I’m sure there’s a reason it could just be like hey they’re all going on vacation and they just didn’t get to this business yet but they all expect that they will at some point okay sweet could be that yeah could be like doctors involved making sure everything’s good and you know I mean all that kind of stuff and again like I said you might even be signed by now you just it’s a summer you got to Poland today can release the you know him in three days full Lillo and wait till September to announce him yeah I mean I’m not don’t do that but I’m sure there’s no worries there he’ll be signed or he’s already signed the commitment that he’s shown to getting NHL ready in rehabilitating from the shoulder and then entering back into game action from the start of the year to July putting on 10 lbs of muscle is not an easy defeat for a player that was also rehabilitating an injury at some point earlier in the year and I think it is where the as should meet that level of commitment with some commitment of their own and I expect that to happen so question two and this is the uh harder one today October 9th C Richie on the lineup card hell yeah one emphatic yes I mean today or October 9th I mean there’s two different dates yeah that’s what I you don’t get the uh you don’t get to see rookie Camp you don’t get to see training camp from your instinct is there more guys sign or no do we know your instinct today is Cal Richie in the lineup opening night okay I’ll go for I mean if there’s no more guys signed these these are cop-outs yes or no no no no that’s but yeah but I mean like no context yes or no well there’s got to be a context decision today yes hell yeah that’s all we were looking for but October 9th there might be like four different freaking guys signed you know on on a million dollar deals that are NHL players then the answer might be no but today I told you guys I I got no problem with playing young guys like and if they’re ready and if they can be there and you got nine games and I know we make a lot of you know whatever about this nine game thing whatever but it is it’s nine free games then you get to decide like do you want to be you know this guy guy ready not ready at the end of day we’ll see but I think from what he’s trending and again he has to be that much better than everybody else today and he was so then my answer is yes because I’ve done it before I’ll do it again Ryan O’Reilly same thing you know I oh he supposed to go back to Junior says who like but then again you got to be ready you got to show that you’re you know what I mean okay but that team was bad and didn’t have anybody well yeah but we made the playoffs so it’s not that bad um just saying and but come on no but if you’re ready you got nine games to figure it out yeah it’s got NHL skills yeah you can see it it’s not hard to see you know I’m about to sneeze so it might come in the middle of the answer but is that a sign it’s a yes because of the sneeze no I think that it’s a yes there will be a lot of things that are true of 19-year-old Cal Richie in NHL role and there’s going to be the unique situation of he’s going to look raw in that role because he will be but I also believe he’s mastered what he can at the junior level and it puts him in a really challenging place that I don’t know that it would necessarily harm but perhaps stagnate his development to keep him in juniors for another year whereas there’s this opportunity if NH CH minutes can be allotted for him to to grow so if you’re the ABS organization I think you want your prospect to grow and I think they have to water that seed by giving him that opportunity in the NHL lineup at the start of the year at least to see what they have in him especially in that environment I think it will be more revealing but with the understanding that he will look raw but you’re you have to make decision and then there’s World Juniors there’s you know what I mean like there’s a lot of opportunities for you know I me whether you like the tournament or not like it’s still an opportunity to go and lead and be against the best in the world you peerwise and you know an opportunity to to go and then come back I mean there’s a lot of opportunities to see you know and then I don’t know what his Junior Team looks like next year or whatever it is although maybe you get traded to a team that’s going to you know aspire to the Memorial Cup right like all those guys do usually every year and you know so that would be opportunities to if he’s not ready for the NHL if if he’s not if he isn’t great awesome here’s the optimal timeline all right starts the season with the ABS gets nine games maybe a scratch here or there to get him to December he can go join the World Junior Team he gets injured at World Juniors so he can go do a conditioning stint in the AHL oh yeah and then you can make that decision in like February a scratch here here or there yeah to get him to December yeah I know that’s true you could get to Mid November really but U my question he’s not allowed to play in the HL he is on a condition conditioning stint but on a conditioning stint so if you sit him for the first 10 you conditioning stint him for a week and then you bring him up and then you start the N game clock yeah sure then he goes then you sit him for another couple here and you get him on another conditioning stint now you’ve ruined his entire season yeah now he’s not developing cuz he’s not playing at all oh oh I I agree with you it’s a slippery slope you can mess up someone up yeah I mean you can you know what I mean and that’s that’s the key for me with this year for got have a plan whatever the ABS are doing they need to have a plan exactly and it needs to involve him playing hockey ideally that would be good yeah usually it’s better don’t don’t do this [ __ ] with Ian pros vop of why is this happening okay it hurt everyone it hurt used to sunon who was also injured for part of it so I understand that but just like it hurt everyone involved yeah I play with a guy back then named Manny MRA oh still coaching now right great hey one of the best human beings ever in the National Hockey great he had a really bad eye injury yeah he had yeah he almost lost an eye right um I think he’s related to Steve Nash now I think he married Steve Nash’s sister something like that um Steve Nash the Phoenix son yeah oh nice and then Manny was like sixth overall I want to say and then wasn’t ready for the NHL wasn’t a New York Rangers and he ended up doing exactly what you just said you know like oh being a scratch you to hang out with Jill in the green room like I swear you know every game but you’re 18 years old you should be playing and you know and then next thing you know like you went to World Juniors you know came back and then didn’t play then he went to you know uh American League in Hartford right and came back and and it was just it was detrimental to his development looking back at it like I look back and I always use that as an example like he wasn’t ready it was a wrong thing to do where I used Ryan earlier Ryan was ready you know what I mean for whatever reason his game was more mature he was ready Ryan was willing to do the little things too right hey oh you need this I’ll go do it you need to get a guy win a I’ll go do it you know I don’t know where Cal Richie’s game’s at I don’t think none of us know cuz we’ve never seen him in that environment which is an NHL training camp trying to make and win a job so I think we’ll see what he’s capable of but yeah there’s always those options but yes you got to be I agree with rudo I agree with Megan everybody like you got to be careful CU if you don’t have a right path or right plan it can be bad and it can be detrimental to the kids’s development yep for sure uh moving past Cal Richie as previously mentioned it was a scrimmage today and as is usually happens when you get it guys into scrimmages when you get guys into game situations some of the guys who maybe don’t look the best in drills start to look better in an actual game if you want to call it that and any uh any standout names that maybe we haven’t talked about that much so far this week Brett link Brett link yeah I did he was not that visible during the skills portion of the camp and popped obviously today what team was Brett linol in the it must have been the losing team no was he was on the winning team I’m trying he was on Cal’s team oh okay yeah I was going to say I thought he was on the the colors the home team I guess I don’t know what to call him burgundy burgundy yeah it was burgundy it was this is the version of burgundy and white game now I can confirm there’s more blue on that Jersey than burgundy I’m just saying he it it was burgundy yeah anyway he scored the last goal in the shootout oh yeah scored the last goal in the shoter also scored in the actual game as well so and you know guy leading the rush the guy that gets set up by some of those Richie plays Richie the second assist in a couple of cases but still a guy jumping up into the play and making things happen I don’t know with a guy like that did he do enough to maybe get another look next year or did he do enough to get himself to the rookie tournament something like that is what you’re realistically talking about I have no idea man his I want to say CC I had so much information overload on the guys I don’t know he might be oh on my phone as you guys know it’s over there as you heard it earlier I like that you muted it and then didn’t bring it with you well I was trying to charge it oh I see no he played at CC last year okay that’s what I thought yeah had some notes about him from before was it Fargo before CC d Force yeah the force 63 he was on their top line as a freshman yeah that 15 points in 35 games not anything spectacular but as a freshman but to earn top mine minutes as a freshman is pretty big yep what is he 19 20 22 Old freshman old freshman okay that does add some color yeah that tippers my excitement a touch but a guy plays well a guy plays well it’s okay man said earlier the development everybody’s in the different you want a guy to play well versus not playing well you don’t care about his age that much yep doesn’t matter he played with more effort effort’s not the right word it was clear he was trying to stand out in this setting it’s like there are guys there who have contracts or some kind of path to the organization Y and he stood out more and I I feel like that reflects maybe poorly on the other people but it also bolsters the case for Brett link because that is exactly what you have to do in that environment 100% yeah might be a guy that like that everybody’s after next year you never know yep the sophomore nobody cares that he’s 22 you know be 23 and then all of a sudden he’s got 10 offers and then the ABS are in the mix and that’s why you invite a guy like that for development Camp because you’ve developed a relationship now you’re like Hey where’s the love sign with us we had you here last summer you know what I mean and that’s how it works and that’s why you do those moves you know and can you hit on all of them no it’s impossible but if you hit on a few pretty good not that he wasn’t a guy that didn’t stand out in the earlier parts of camp but if we could Implement that role in the NHL of a guy that you hire entirely exclusively for shootouts Kobe Ambrosio is that guy he’s really good at it he’s really good at Sho he’s really good at it just just thought I’d throw it out there change that in the next CBA when’s the 27 is that one the next negotiation 26 DH there you go I have long advocated for that exact thing just having a shootout specific guy that you could just he sits he doesn’t he’s not allowed to play in your game but if you get into a shootout he’s allowed to do that sits next to the ebug in the stands hell yeah you get into the shootout you get into overtime he’s got to go down and get dressed I’m here for it uh there are a couple another other names that stood out to me but I’ll let you guys fire off your names first Megan’s got seriously like four pages of notes so oh you know what stinks to us is like this is my team white side this is my team burgundy side and one side’s a little bit Fuller yeah there’s just not really F uh it sucks but I loved Boston buckberg out of this c not officially an ABS Prospect in any capacity but it was hard not to notice him he’s a little bit of a menace it seemed like he kind of developed a little brief beef with Taylor M and what I liked about this is there is a size difference between these two players Boston buckberg Berger is like 5’11 Taylor marar is 62 63 he’s big um he looks huge as hell out there against some of these smaller guys they have and in going toe-to-toe with him buckberg wow I’m gonna need a nickname for this kid emerges with the puck and this frustrates Taylor marar on more than one occasion and it just you know despite the size difference between both players y he was not going to let that hold him back buckberg that is um and I I liked though his instinct to contribute offensiv offensively in this setting too you can abandon a little bit of defensive responsibility so I want to be careful in how I talk about that side of his game but his drive to get to Middle ice and be there to help create for team burgundy obvious viously lended itself to some of the success they had even plays that didn’t necessarily result in goals they had the better scoring opportunities between the teams I felt like Buck burger was a part of that and being able to rotate and move to Middle ice to help allow some of these plays to unfold and he’s a little bit of a menace out there I really liked what I saw in every day of camp you know in the skills and the drill sessions he looked good and in the game setting he looked good as well we will not be calling him Bucky refuse no I got a new nickname for him I mean first of all he’s got the best name in all of hockey Boston bubger it doesn’t get better not College hockey hockey he’s got the best name in hockey and his new nickname is I want to be guess what he just wants to be a be terrier and then he had to settle for du so best of luck Boston I want to be you is still a mouthful is nickname is I want to be you you know what I mean that’s it Boston he wants to be a terrier I vote for Boss Berger or buckton those are my votes beown i’ be calling him beown buy cuz he has such a great name that’s such a lame a nickname no no it would be Beantown that’s how I’d be calling him I mean you have to Bean Boston’s his name best I’m not making fun of his name it’s his best I told you it’s my favorite name in hogy I’d be calling him Beantown or cheese cheese cheeseburger I’m not calling him any of these things can I can we call his pairing mate buns I like that he’s the burger yes I don’t like that no but I liked him I I liked his um I’m making fun of his name I’m not I like his name no I liked him too you know what he seems to be a kid that’s always alive and wants to you know bring a little bit of energy and and I did like him in college hockey this year so I like guys like that you know so it’s I do he’s been productive in the ajhl been productive in the USHL he’s been productive in college hockey the guy he was a Brooks Bandit right he was yeah a good it’s a good Junior the guy just he’s just good I mean I’m I’m we’re watching him and I I turned to rudo like I don’t know like 5 minutes left to go and I was like he’s he’s everywhere every time he’s on the ice he’s the guy everywhere oh hell no that was close hell no tou that’s a pretty big moth too hell no I don’t like it my last show is going to be me running in Terror from a moth hell no you stay over there no no NOP uh-uh aren’t they shouldn’t they be like attracted to the lights isn’t that the thing I’m going to say something you want something spicy I’m going to say something spicy Buck burger you know what he reminds me of Nate schmith always remember what I just said okay I will foret it immediately look like a good team what’s that already forgotten don’t forget no I won’t forget schi no exactly but he’s playing the NHL for a while now and it’s Schmid was a guy that was like lay Bloomer and I like him I always remember that he can skate he want he personality he’s got life I do like describing him as a life I do think that suits him he had a smile almost every day of camp he he loved being there I like that please fly through that go on rud I mean go exactly look at him he’s scared of a moth he’s struggling out here do we all have a thing don’t judge I’m judging he’s scared of a moth while AJ freaks out about the moth uh Tyler Mo Tyler m is who he reminds you of hell no Tyler buddy I’m French I don’t throw hes in there buddy no no [Laughter] no I don’t like this this is this isn’t this is fantastic I love this hell no let’s turn off all the lights there you go it flew off to the bright lights all right we’re good for them no they smell fear buddy they smell fear anyway like well AJ’s freaking out about the moths mm when you’re going down the list of other guys that stood out I’m more Curious on your thoughts on uh Jake fiser he a guy who was playing a lot with Cal Richie on that burgundy team had some nice finishes can you talk yourself into this guy obviously a ways off I’m not trying to say he’s gonna make the NHL tomorrow or anything but can you talk yourself into the skills this guy has good defensive Acumen can you live with the skating though the skating wasn’t good he showed almost negative playmaking every decision that he tried to make with a puck that was not shooting was poor sure so uh this is not the that’s not the fastest game in the world it is not you’re making bad decisions and the burgundy and white for V4 scrimmage that makes me nervous yep skating’s not great Pace isn’t great it’s tough my notes from the drills and skills session maybe showed that offensive Instinct a little better than in that setting cuz I will say in the scrimmage he was great to receive a pass he read off of you know in in anticipation read off of players like hillbrand and Richie very very well and he was positioned well to receive them and in the skills in drill’s days I have just a note that he he was able to find a seam upon entry pretty quickly and the instinct to be a strong defensive player and quick to jump up and defend against the rush that kind of thing uh the kind of player to quick to go to that the dangerous areas behind the net and engage players take away space all of it is really good it’s not to say that there aren’t parts of his games that need to improve but I I think the defensive instinct is what’s going to give him a path to Pro Hockey through the ABS because that is exactly the type of habits that a depth player will need to have sure to get that opportunity I don’t I don’t know I don’t know that I agreee that it was like the the playmaking ability was that big of a hole in his game but I would need to see more of it especially coming into his next year a du yeah I mean I’m not familiar with his game so it’s I mean I did watch him because of you know I know he’s going to Du and you know so I I kind of pay more attention to him um I I you know he’s intriguing you know what I mean like he’s intriguing to me I I you’re not going to see him in Camp CU he’s going to college right you know but I’m intriguing to I’m intrigued to to watch him at du though see how he re I mean College hockey is a tough League too it is a freaking tough League D is a tough lineup it’s a tough lineup to crack so so we’ll see what they have in in the cards form and you have to make your way and you have to dig in and you know I mean again somebody just said that I don’t know who said it but about the pace like so you got the NHL Pace right you got which is real high Pace then you got like you know medium pace and then slow pace and then you got real slow pace then you got like slow like molasses pace and then yet today’s scri I mean that’s it’s not it’s not very high paac you know it’s not um and it shouldn’t it’s July 5th uh you know with guys that have been sitting at home working on a gym and I mean it’s not for what it is it’s perfect you know what I mean but yeah it’s it’s a tough way to you know and again what do I tell you all the time four on four oh here comes a goal you know what I mean because it’s not hcky right it’s not you know it is what it is but then you play the whole time that and you know it’s you you start to cheat a little bit you could see it you know what I mean like it is what it is you know but again it’s suited its purpose I’m not being negative you know but yeah like I’m I’m intrigued to watch fer a d this year yeah I am but I we’ll see what he truly is you know I like that you brought up the fouron four component because even the guys who I think you saw some pretty darn good passing out of someone like a Christian humph in this game yeah there were some good passes there it’s also four on four at five on five there’s another dude in the middle of the ice there and it’s a whole different animal yeah so another take it with a grain of salt moment there either way do you want me to give you a name I’ll give you a name do you want a name name for what a name you say cluch again cluch fren you guys stick with the French guys um no I’m GNA give you a name and I told you guys like I watched him play twice this year but I didn’t I watched his team play I didn’t I’m being honest I didn’t notice him that doesn’t mean that he’s bad player or he didn’t you know Chas Chase Bradley right the Yukon they just signed them yeah right all I’m going to give you a little spicy thing here and what I saw today take Barons um Richie take those two guys out they don’t exist they’ve been erased and I’m not even going to say NHL games I’m going to say American League games he’s going to end up having the most out of I would tell you probably over 99% of the guys that you saw today the most American League games I’m not touching like career career American League games he can skate I’d put a steak dinner on you’re wrong all right that’s fine that’s why I said give you some spicy we won’t know for a decade that’s okay tip will go back and tell us um about how many games 10 years I’m just saying I saw him skate I’m like okay again you want to be a junkyard dog go ahead is it in him I don’t know I told you I watched this team play this year I didn’t really notice him but taglia those guys must have seen him they gave him a freaking contract right so must have saw something I did see something today like he’s older he’s faster and then in real hockey which is five on five you know I’m I want to see this guy play we’ll see what happens n again if you go watch him in the skills drills like great awesome he probably not in the top like you’re not even discussing him wi in a real hockey game we’ll see in September there I didn’t think he I didn’t think he was great in the four on four either to be honest with you that’s not it’s not hockey you’re not see him in ay yeah again I don’t know what does he think he’s a freaking goal scorer I don’t know you need to get slaps on times like told you Mark Crawford slapped me and said I thought I was a skilled guy and then I was like I walked out of there and I yeah I wasn’t a skilled guy you know I kind of put Bradley in this cluster of guys with Conor and hillbrand these kind of older college guys and that’s sort of the lens that I’m evaluating all of them through and AJ you must love Connor he’s a Connecticut guy I love Connors and hillbrand you know he made the leap over on an at with the Eagles last year so he has that inside track of looking a little more advanced and it showed I personally felt like I thought it was solid yeah day one into this scrimmage he’s had the best shot of Camp I will say that I think Bradley uh has some power behind his wrer and close but other than that it lacked finish for a lot of guys it’s not exclusive to just Bradley so it was hard for me to really be enchanted by that by itself I thought that Connor’s did more Blue Collar things in the scrimmage than a Bradley did I thought that he showed better and I hate pitting them against each other because I think they profile very similarly and to Bradley’s credit I asked wiie about him and what it was about the college career so far that attracted the organization in the first place to Grant him a contract at a college and they feel he’s a mature player and so that is not something I can measure having just watched him for 3 days I think that maturity is going to be something that with the test of regular games in the American compared to the NCAA you really start to see the maturity how that’s tested so I will agree that I don’t think this is the best environment to evaluate a player like Bradley Connor or hillo Brandon but of those three he just didn’t jump off the page and because he’s the one with the contract the NHL contract I thought he should yep and so I’m just reserving too much thought and criticism until I see more of him because wiie talked about the grit as a play a player as well and the anticipation of being a full-time Eagles player I think that’s realistic I I can accept that he is going to get an opportunity in the Eagles forward group and assume a role there I just feel like this left me wanting and I was a little underwhelmed in this environment specifically and I just need to see a little bit more this Conor’s is freaking RI too like holy crap he reminds me of Logan o Conor so much not is ripped just to be clear Connecticut boy AJ your new best friend sorry I was just going to Hype up Connors for a second he he stays on pucks there’s the Instinct for that two-way game and I just thought that there was more snarl in you know it’s a scrimmage it’s not that intense of an environment I thought there was more snarl though to his game comparatively same with Hill brand I mean he was barreling over people accidentally um he’s a large yeah big boy uh did want to jump over a little bit and talk about some more guys on team white Nikita prischepov I don’t know that he did anything truly great at this Dev camp but he kind of just kept doing good things day in day out through the across the three days he scores a goal in the scrimmage today I really don’t know what his path is as a 20-year-old already does he do an overage year in in the queue or does he end up in a professional role somewhere I’m not sure but for a guy with virtually zero expectations going into this thing I thought he did enough things right to stand out a little bit uh he looked smooth to me but if you’re not really really talented you have to be a tryhard wasn’t either one of those things which means he’s nothing it’s fair and that’s the impression I walked out of there with from this environment was he’s the guy with the turtleneck right mm yeah I want to see I want to I want to see all these guys in five on five but I I didn’t walk out of it feeling like wow he’s really bad yep or wow he’s really good I thought he’s kind of a smooth player everything that he does there’s little good things all over the place that you see him do but in terms of translating it to Pro Hockey in terms of translating it to the NHL we’re so far from an NHL conversation with 90% of these guys yeah like it’s just he’s just some of these guys though that you can you can look at a buck bger and you can say look the energy that that he brings and the way that he plays the game that’s translatable sure you look at Kobe Ambrosio and you say he has to be in a skill role but he’s not big enough or physical enough or grindery enough to really feel comfortable that as the levels get higher I mean he couldn’t hack it at BC yeah totally fair the thing that’s not translatable with christov I don’t I don’t know what translates right now here’s what I would say to that you talked about him doing a lot of little good things around the ice doing the little details is translatable to the NHL in the sense that if you’re not doing them you’re not going to make it and I’m not saying that’s true I’m not saying the rest of Chop’s game is necessarily good enough to be an NHL player but he was a guy that stood out to me that did a lot of those little things right even if you know what maybe he never gets a pro contractor maybe he ends up an AHL guy who knows but something to pull out of that similar to what a lot of Shawn Barons did it really did not have a good day today in my opinion but a guy who has a lot of to his game does or at least attempts to do a lot of the little details and and that stuff is a base to work off of you’re right if Chris chopov never finds a motor to really go balls to the walls and and run into stuff he’s probably not going to make it yeah but if he can find that motor he does a lot of the other things right yeah I just you know you kind of are who you are sure and you know when we talk about a guy like Jake fiser at we want to get a good defensive Center out of him who can who has a good shot and we worry about we we’ll see how the rest of that game develops but like that’s the skill set right yep Shawn Baron’s really smart smooth skating defenseman whose defense is underrated good Puck mover MH that’s his skills like that’s who he is yep with pris chov I’m watching him going just who is he sure and I just didn’t I don’t have that answer after this week so I am left saying I’ll see you in Camp and definitely fair that there is a base here but where you really need to show out is in rookie camp in the rookie tournament for all of these guys really you know how would the elite prospects guide for the prospects there’s the category like physical hockey sense and then the handling components across the board it just registered as like a 4.5 in each C and that’s not a bad place to be that means you are in it’s like a you know an unmolded clay slab to AJ’s point he just didn’t have a thing that separated him but he also didn’t stand out in a negative way there wasn’t anything that he was doing that made me go yeses and so I don’t I’m very neutral on prerov and I think that’s actually a great place to come out of you know the the dev Camp feeling about somebody too is it can only go up from here and I don’t think anything negative of him yep real easy to especially in the team’s eyes as the guys who are watching I guarantee you they wrote a handful of dudes off at this Camp I don’t think they decided to give a lot of dudes a contract at this Camp yeah Crossing off names circling Boston buckberg I’ll say how do you say his name the Russian dude chov whatever great Chris chip off okay he plays in the queue right yeah talk to Phil sa at the when he got drafted I was sitting with Phil he’s a GM in that leag said he’s an excellent player like he’s he’s like oh I like that pick now tonight I give my usual hug to Jay the team ofus that’s been there since 1990 freaking five Jay the Russian dude he’s like oh that kid’s awesome he’s telling me about him he’s like he’s awesome he wants to be a player he goes I really like this kid you know he goes we’re going to stay in touch and I guess he trains in the summer in the like in Quebec he doesn’t you know what I mean he’s trying to get himself North Americanized you know what I mean because he wants to be a player so I like that and I’m going to give you what he reminds me of because I saw the guy that I’m going to say right now that I have in a blank so you going to help me saw him in the que then I saw him in Rockford for a long time and I was like this guy’s going to play and then sure enough he signed a pretty big deal with he played a lot with Bard this year give me a name forward Rush name Blackhawks it’s exact path go give me the Blackhawks roster I’m say the name you’ll be like again he’s not a freaking top six guy in the NHL because the Blackhawks had a bad roster but that’s exactly a bad guy can be him and there’s a lot of him that reminded me today of of that guy I’ve never seen him play uh give me the leading score of the Blackhawks go is he still on their roster of course K oh played in a que wanted to get North Americanized telling you kersha played in Quebec ramparts it’s a very similar background if they can find this freaking kers what pick was KV he was fourth uh 120th yeah so fourth round fourth round 27th pick this guy’s seventh it’s the same thing and from two to seven it’s the same right so I’m telling you they might have something there again your years with Ana right yeah we see I like when I hear guys want to be like they want to be players they want to you know they want to come over they want to do it I mean here’s it’s all there for you go do it here’s the reality of this Camp if the ABS get three NHL players out of this Camp it’s an absolute home run 100% like yeah just the reality of what these things are mhm Cal Richie yeah he’s probably pretty sure fire to get NHL games everybody else we’ll see we’ll see you feel like Barons has a good shot you have another you probably have a couple of other guys that you like depending on who you are but besides the very tippy top of these things it’s really really really hard to make the NHL we call that Brian Brian well see we will see Brian will see that’s a guy who carved a roll out for himself eventually Wilson was like a fifth round if I remember God that’s a long time ago but seven six sixth close enough see two through Seven’s the same apparently so it is it it’s not but I get what you’re saying well on someone’s list you might have been freaking 90 whatever a give and take like and on someone’s list you might have been i’ I’d give you three through seven 3 through seven yeah 3 to seven yeah that’s what I meant like past the first I know what you meant first two are like yeah you know usually everybody you know there’s someone’s on everybody’s list give and take you know after that any other guys we want to talk about here we do not have any limits but we are was cool I liked him again in the game he’s a guy that I I want to see him do something in college y he has a good college season I’m in if he doesn’t they’ll be better this year har will be better I think I feel like that’s another guy where he has just enough skill if he can decide that he wants to be a grinder maybe well you see you you saw he his four checking today was really good he was a menace with this St he’s trying to pick pockets yeah the the especially the one right in front of the net where he gets the guy coming around the net and he just took take takes it right off of him nasty stuff he keeps doing things like that he’s going to find a job yeah Lindsay is delighted uh guv is still signed to his KHL contract so not he could he could have participated he just didn’t come across the only reason he did it the first year is cuz he was here for his the draft too so for yeah is what it is on that FR yeah I wish I wish we could have seen gulv and Nabokov here would have really liked to see Nabokov but also goalies at this thing is what it is cluch I actually liked cluch today the rest of the goalies I didn’t like tough one for Matt Davis giving up that uh shootout goal that just flips up over him yeah into the net but yeah bad bounce can’t win them all super chats or any others good good good super chats it is $20 from Zeke uh AJ although I don’t chat here as often as I used to I wanted to say thank you reigniting my love for the ABS in that brutal 48 Point Season you’re you’ve become a Cornerstone in my enjoyment of the game I wish you the best thank you I appreciate that uh $10 from UTF vet thank you AJ you made being an ABS fan so much more enjoyable with your dedication and hard work we’ll really miss hearing your voice but you have left us in great hands with the team you’ve helped build that is precisely how I feel $10 from Josh who says AJ thanks for all the entertainment the rler will have to come back each year it will be nice to have another ABS fan on the side of the country best wishes with everything can the rizzler also like get someone to build a new cat friendly for us I think that the rizzler is going to have to do the Kevin weeks thing and just be in different locations that is soing good that’s really really good yeah of course from the angle yeah absolutely I’m in the toilet I give this roster a two of 10 a two of 10 exactly I’m in the toilet I’m going to look at the roster I’m going to come back and it’s I’m just going to be in the bathroom and you’ll have to guess how I feel about a roster based on where the rler ends up that’s funny I’m in for that uh $15 from Joey who said so sad that AJ has moving when I am moving to Colorado next week will miss you you have done amazing work and you and rudo were the first pod I followed best of luck AJ love you all thank you thank you and thank you to everybody that came up uh over the course of this week and had kind words to say um you know it was very touching and meant a lot to me um it made it harder when the day ended today yeah I kind of hung around and watched the uh watched them Zam the ice a little bit just to listen to it and kind of Take It All In And You Know It uh it’s the right decision for me for my life but it’s definitely it’s you’re starting to I’m starting to feel it now that I’m getting there yeah it’s building so it’s uh we’ll see well I’ll tell you this we’ll see this is uh not the end of AJ Halley’s coverage here at dmvr he’s still going to write a ton of stuff and while he is going away for a while he will still be on pods from time to time and you know especially come playoff times and things like that you’ll still hear his voice on this thing so it’s not a goodbye it’s just uh things are a little bit different now yeah you’ll be back for training camp right I will be I will be here in September very nicely pointed out that it’s going to just feel like you’re in Winnipeg for a little bit Yeah cuz you’re going to be right back on in a couple is weeks time yeah for training camp coverage so yeah um yeah I will be back uh right around the LA trip rookie face off wherever whatever that ends up being that’s nothing um and then I’ll be here until start of the season and then I’ll then it’ll really hit yeah I’ll go back home to Connecticut and then uh that’ll be the last yall see me for a while I think that’s when we’ll really be hit with this a little hard yeah it does it does feel even to me it feels like like you just said like it’s just a brief yeah cuz I’m I move at the end of this month uh I’m going to spend the next couple weeks transitioning into my new role and kind of getting things going there packing my life up um which as I figured out yesterday isn’t much don’t own a lot of stuff so cool cool don’t know how how I feel about that but makes it easier but also where am I in life yeah as I as I move I think I’m uh one of my goals needs to be way more materialism more items sounds very East Coast to me more materialism all right I have to judge myself against others well when you were watching the Zamboni today I got news for you when you come back it’s still going to be around in circle it’s still going to be going around in circle buddy I know to that’s what zambonis do you know what I mean it’s more of it’s going to be like you just where you left off right it’s they’re still going to be going around it’s like a loading screen like going on a bike you know what I mean it’s like riding bike can we get uh some ajs and some clappy hands in chat don’t do that don’t do that get do do the ajs and clappy hands in I mean honestly though you’ve been doing this pod almost five days a week every week for what seven eight years yeah it’s been a it’s been a crazy long ride man yeah so I’m looking forward to what’s new what’s next lots of new stuff for you we will still be doing the podcast 5 days a week though so be sure to tune in on Monday where we’re doing winners and losers of free agency should be fun we’ve also got Prospect pyramids and other stuff coming your way plus uh you know a lot of a lot of guests from what I’ve heard from that guy over at the end of the bench there these all sound like fun shows maybe I’ll be back next week maybe who’s to say h you’re not actually leaving for a little you got a permission slip needed for that all right we are going to wrap up today’s show though AJ you want to send them off one last time no okay this is your job your pod buddy wow it’s like that huh all right see how it is I I turn the the con is yours we appreciate yall AJ appreciates y’all even if he doesn’t want to end the show we’ll be back on Monday and God do we all need a day off right now we’ll talk to you [Music] then like the May
Cal Ritchie notches three assists in the 4 on 4 scrimmage at the end of Avs development. Colorado also signed RFA Jason Polin.
Intro – 0:00
Quick news – 1:00
Cal Ritchie – 7:20
Boston buckberger – 22:11
Jake Fisher – 32:26
Prishchepov – 43:10
Superchats – 53:50
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