Guelph Storm’s best player Jett Luchanko isn’t the only top OHL player to line up for his NHL team on opening night. Oshawa Generals’ number one center Calum Ritchie has been named to the Colorado Avalanche roster to start the 2024-2025 NHL season.
“It still hasn’t really sunk in,” he told the Colorado media after the team’s practice Tuesday. “It’s obviously been a dream of mine since I was a kid and my family comes to Vegas, so it’ll be great to share that with them.”
The Avalanche are one of many teams in the NHL that are close to the cap and having an extremely talented young forward on his entry-level contract who plays a top-nine role is something they hope Ritchie can provide this season.
Not to mention the injuries to former Kitchener Ranger Gabriel Landeskog, Artturi Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin are still away from the team in the Players Assistance Program.
According to The Hockey News’ lineup page for Colorado, Ritchie will start the season on the team’s second line on the right wing along with Nikolai Kovalenko and Casey Mittelstadt. He is expected to make his NHL debut at the Fortress on Wednesday night when the Avalanche take on the Vegas Golden Knights
The 27th overall pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft certainly has the skill level and confidence to take the next step forward and play in the NHL, as you can see from his crazy fake and goal in the video below.
“I have a lot of confidence in it myself, but I think even if I had said this was going to happen a few months ago, it would still have been pretty hard to believe,” Ritchie said.
“I think I’m playing a smart game and I think I showed my attacking instincts,” Ritchie continued. “But I had to work on the defensive side during camp and pre-season and I think I did that and got better at it. It’s still a work in progress, but I’m slowly improving.”
Related: Guelph Storm Forward starts the year with the Philadelphia Flyers
If Colorado’s top talent wants to stay with the big club and avoid being sent back to the juniors, he will have to earn the trust of his new Head Coach Jared Bednar on the defensive side of the puck.
“I think he’s a confident player anyway, he understands the skills that he has. Probably a little too confident at times,” Bednar said of Ritchie.
“The decision-making part for me is an area that he needs to improve on. He has the ability to play all over the ice and I want to give him the freedom to do that. But when it’s a one-on-one, 3 and no more space don’t try to make something out of nothing, play for possession on the blue line of the offensive zone and make smart decisions to get the pucks deep.”
Bednar noted that Ritchie could probably take a lot of action in awkward situations while playing in the OHL, but the NHL is a different beast and his time and space will close much sooner. However, he believes his rookie can learn quickly as an intelligent forward.
This is a huge loss for the reigning Eastern Conference champions. The Generals are without their three top men from last season: Calum Ritchie, Dylan Roobroeck and Rasmus Kumpulainen.
Kumpulainen has returned home to play in the Finnish Elite League Liiga and Roobroeck’s player status for the 2024/25 season is still under discussion. The team’s lack of depth in the middle of the ice was evident when they moved newly acquired winger Colby Barlow to the center in their game against Barrie on Sunday.
Related: Oshawa Generals Complete Huge Deal With Owen Sound, Acquire Winnipeg Jets First-Rounder Colby Barlow
As it stands now, Oshawa’s two best centers are sophomore forward Owen Griffin and I suspect Colby Barlow. There is now a lot of pressure on the shoulders of Griffin, who must show that he has taken the next step forward in his development and that he can be trusted as a top-six center on a team with championship aspirations.
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