The Avalanche took the ice on Tuesday with the groups already split between NHL and AHL players.

The early group consisted of the NHL team, with line combinations already starting to take shape for what we could see on opening night.

The latter group also had an intense session, which, unfortunately, also resulted in an injury to defenseman Connor Kelley. The 23-year-old was helped off the ice after suffering a lower-body (I think knee) injury in a non-contact play.

Here are some quick hit thoughts from today’s practice.

1. Before the second session took the ice, Mackenzie Blackwood was on the ice by himself, working with some of the coaches. He took slight shots while in a butterfly stance but nothing crazy.

Still, it’s the next step in his rehab and progress. It sounds like things went well enough for him to be able to take that step.

“It’s going well, for sure,” Bednar said on Blackwood’s recovery. “He’s doing more and more every day.”

Bednar also said the target is still for Samuel Girard to be ready for opening night. But, “I don’t know about Blackwood.”

2. We finally have power-play units! The first unit had Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Valeri Nichushkin, Martin Necas, and Brock Nelson.

The second unit was Gabe Landeskog, Artturi Lehkonen, Victor Olofsson, Brent Burns, and Devon Toews was the fifth piece, but he was alternating shifts with Ross Colton along the wall.

3. I like what they’re doing with the talent split. I think Nichushkin is the better choice right now in that net-front spot ahead of Landeskog. But it’s nice to know they finally have options.

Bednar said he loved how they looked, given that it was the first day they practiced special teams.

4. Landeskog is basically the only notable faceoff option on that second pair. It makes me think that if they were to swap Landeskog and Nichushkin, they might also benefit from swapping Nelson and Olofsson to give the second unit a center to take draws (if they’re ever even on the ice for a faceoff).

5. I liked Colton more than Toews on that second unit. But again, options. It’s great. Having Burns running the point on that unit will be a nice and different change from past years.

6. I honestly wonder how much of an adjustment we’re going to see with Dave Hakstol running the PP. I don’t think he’s going to reinvent the wheel all that much. He’s got a lefty on one side in Nelson (or Olofsson), he’s got Makar at the point, Nichushkin in front of the net, and both Necas and MacKinnon along the half wall opposite Nelson blasting one-timers.

I guess his biggest task will be finding the best way to utilize those two righties. They both command the puck and they’ve both ran their own PP units in the past. Finding a way to maximize both of them on that top unit should be interesting to watch for a full camp and regular season.

7. During one of the PP drills, MacKinnon shouted “f*** this dogsh** ice!”

The ice around the net was pretty torn up after about 15–20 minutes of PP drills at that point.

8. I like seeing Gavin Brindley sticking around with the NHL group. He earned it. That’s a player that I’d like to see take advantage of Logan O’Connor’s early absence.

9. It was nice to see both Burns and Makar back on the ice. Burns missed one training camp day but looked great today. Makar was fine after catching an elbow to the face on Sunday.

10. Bednar has liked Jack Drury at 3C so far, but also noted that Colton will get a look at center at some point during preseason/camp.


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