Guelph Storm’s best player Jett Luchanko isn’t the only top OHL player to have made his NHL team’s opening night roster. Oshawa Generals’ number-one center Calum Ritchie has made the Colorado Avalanche’s roster to start the 2024-25 NHL season.
“It still hasn’t really hit me,” he told the Colorado media following the team’s practice on Tuesday. “It’s obviously been a dream of mine since I was a kid and my family’s coming down (to Vegas) so it’ll be awesome to share that with them.”
The Avalanche are one of many teams in the NHL who are close to the cap limit and having an extremely talented young forward on his entry-level contract come in and play a top-nine role is something they are hoping Ritchie can provide this season.
Not to mention the injuries to former Kitchener Ranger Gabriel Landeskog, Artturi Lehkonen, and Valeri Nichushkin still away from the team in the Players Assistance Program.
As per The Hockey News’ lineups page for Colorado, Ritchie is slotted to start the season on the team’s second line on right wing with Nikolai Kovalenko and Casey Mittelstadt. He is expected to make his NHL debut Wednesday night at the fortress as 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 that next step forward and play in the NHL, as you could tell by his insane fake and goal in the video below.
“I’m pretty confident myself, but I think even if I would have said this would happen like a couple of months ago, it still would’ve been pretty hard to believe,” Ritchie said.
“I think I play a smart game and I think I’ve shown my offensive instincts,” Ritchie continued. “But I needed to work on the defensive side through camp and pre-season and I think I did that and got better at it. It’s still a work in progress but I’ve been improving slowly.”
Related: Guelph Storm Forward Will Start The Year With Philadelphia Flyers
If Colorado’s top prospect wants to stay up with the big club and avoid being sent back to junior, he will need 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 regardless, he understands the skillset that he has. Sometimes probably a little too confident,” said Bednar regarding Ritchie.
“The decision-making part of it for me is an area he needs to improve. He has the ability to make plays all over the ice and I want to give him the freedom to do that. But, if it’s a 1-on-3 and running out of room, not trying to make something out of nothing, play for possession at the offensive zone blueline, and make smart decisions to get pucks deep.”
Bednar noted that Ritchie was probably able to make a lot of plays in uncomfortable situations while playing in the OHL, but the NHL is a different beast, and his time and space will close much quicker. However, he believes his rookie can learn quickly as an intelligent playmaking forward.
This is a massive loss for the reigning Eastern Conference Champions. The Generals are without their three top centermen 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 playing designation for the 2024-25 season is still in question. The team’s lack of depth down the middle of the ice showed when they moved newly acquired winger Colby Barlow to center in their game against Barrie on Sunday.
Related: Oshawa Generals Complete Massive Deal With Owen Sound, Acquire Winnipeg Jets First-Rounder Colby Barlow
As it stands today, Oshawa’s top two centers are second-year forward Owen Griffin and I guess Colby Barlow. There’s a lot of pressure on the shoulders of 2025 draft prospect Griffin now who needs to show that he has taken that next step forward in his development and can be trusted as a top-six center on a team with Championship aspirations.
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