The puck slammed harmlessly off the glass behind the net, but the sequence preceding it was more important anyway.
With a burst of speed that didn’t exist a year ago, Taylor Makar powered through the middle of the ice, through defenders and into the offensive zone for a self-created breakaway. The 22-year-old forward with the familiar name just happened to miss the shot.
But that had been common enough throughout the week as Avalanche prospects converged in Centennial for 2023 development camp. Glass had shattered multiple times already due to off-target shots. It was Makar’s skating improvement that mattered.
“Certainly learning a lot more how to use my body as a big guy,” he said after a four-on-four scrimmage marked the end of camp Wednesday night.
The brother of Colorado’s Norris Trophy winner was one of the more experienced faces at development camp this year, as an influx of new organizational depth skated at the three-day event. The Avs have been replenishing their farm system in 2023, being especially active on the college free-agent market and using two first-round picks instead of trading. So there were higher-regarded prospects on display as the front office looked on — yet the UMass center might have been deserving of a Most Improved award.
“Lot of growth. He’s just moving quicker,” Avalanche director of pro scouting Brian Willsie said. “He was at the end of a shift there and he won a foot race. I watched him a lot at UMass.”
“Just knowing what’s gonna come your way, knowing the little things we work on and stuff like that is a huge difference,” Makar said of his second development camp. “And maturing as a person and everything changes it. It’s good to walk around the room and let all the new guys know what’s going on. Be there. Be a guy they can open up to, stuff like that. So it’s a good change from that perspective.”
Makar, who at 6-foot-3 has a completely different player profile from his brother Cale, led the Minutemen with 10 goals and shot 19.6% last season. He’ll be a junior in 2023-24.
Ritchie injury update, scrimmage notes
Among the camp rookies Makar was overseeing this week: new draftees Mikhail Gulyayev and Jeremy Hanzel, plus out-of-college signees Sam Malinski, Jason Polin and Ondrej Pavel.
Not among them: No. 27 overall pick Calum Ritchie, who is recovering from a shoulder surgery and didn’t participate in the scrimmage.
“He was here all week, got in on all the meetings and sessions, and he’s been with the trainers the rest of the time, doing therapy and getting on the right track,” Willsie said. “That takes time. … Not sure when the return to play date is, but it’ll be in the fall.”
In the meantime, the other first-rounder was a standout. Gulyayev, despite speaking barely any English, seemed to endear himself to teammates as much as anyone, earning a round of high-fives in the locker room after the scrimmage. The No. 31 pick from Russia didn’t do interviews because there wasn’t a translator available, but having him at development camp taught the Avs something they hadn’t even realized about him previously. His skating is the main attraction, but his body control became more evident up close.
“The way he gets around — Mikhail, just really solid and stocky,” Willsie said. “A really strong base, strong on the puck. That doesn’t come through on video often, and that’s all I ever saw of him. But just seeing him here in person, you can see that he has that strong frame.”
The burgundy team won the scrimmage 5-0 over the white team, with two 25-minute, running-clock periods. Hanzel, the Avalanche’s sixth-round pick last week, scored two goals 90 seconds apart during the same shift. He showed off a versatility in his finishing, sniping to the far post for his first goal, then sliding the second through the goaltender’s five-hole. Willsie was impressed with Hanzel’s ability to perform well on a short turnaround from a Memorial Cup run without much training between.
All CHL junior players (WHL, OHL and QMJHL) who were in attendance for development camp will also be at the Avalanche’s rookie tournament in the fall, with the addition of entry level contract players such as Oskar Olausson and Jean-Luc Foudy, according to Willsie. College players won’t be back in Colorado for that, nor will European league players, whose seasons have started by then. Foudy is also dealing with an injury currently, but “our hope is that they’re all healthy for training camp,” Willsie said.
Want more Avalanche news? Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis.
