Why Avs Would Be Smart To Give Calum Ritchie A Nine-Game Tryout

He can play up to 10 games and still have contract "slide"

PUTNEY, VT. - Hello from my dad’s house here in Putney. I’m on something of a vacation, with my son along for some of the ride. Last night, Tommy beat me in a form of cornhole, only where you toss washers into a coffee can, and crushed three home runs off me in whiffle ball, out into tall grass that allegedly could be tick-infested, so nobody has yet to retrieve the balls.

But we’re 1-1 against each other in putt-putt golf, at the legendary Twinkletown course in nearby Keene, N.H., a place that was like Disneyland to me as a little kid. The rubber match might happen today.

Let’s talk some Avs here now though:

• I think the Avs would be very smart to give 2023 first-round pick Calum Ritchie a nine-game tryout to start the regular season. While Jared Bednar can get a good look at him in some preseason games, the fact is NHL exhibition games are the most boring games on the planet and his skills can’t truly be measured until he plays against the big boys with guaranteed contracts.

• Ritchie just signed his three-year entry-level contract. Under NHL bylaws, if a player who is still junior eligible signs his ELC at age 18 or 19 (he’s 19), he can play up to 10 games to start an NHL season and still have his contract “slide” as far as the seven-year timeclock starts on him being eligible for unrestricted free agency. Once he plays in a 10th game, the clock starts on his UFA years.