Evan’s NHL Daily: Avalanche Make A Trade, Bedard Makes His Debut

The highly anticipated NHL debut of Connor Bedard happened on Tuesday evening, and if you were playing a drinking game when it came to how often his name was mentioned, you probably aren’t reading this, because you’re down for the count.

With the Colorado Avalanche, they had their final team practice before flying to LA, and made a move to add depth to the blueline.

All that and more in this Wednesday edition of Evan’s Daily.

Colorado Hockey Now

Nathan MacKinnon isn’t the only former teammate of Jonathan Drouin. I talked to the Avalanche winger about Artturi Lehkonen, and whether or not he saw his big breakout coming in Montreal.

Caleb Jones was already on the Colorado Eagles, but now he’s a member of the Avalanche organization.

Colorado will be bringing three goaltenders on the road trip, but the only question at the moment appears to be the status of Andrew Cogliano.

By the time this posts, I’ll already be in Los Angeles. If you want more road coverage this season, please consider subscribing. The code “evan10” still works for the time being on a yearly subscription. Some have asked about a tip jar for road coverage, but at this point, I haven’t considered that. Maybe in the future.

Around The NHL

Connor Bedard. Connor Bedard. Connor Bedard. If you watched Tuesday night’s ESPN broadcast, you heard that name probably a billion times…but for good reason. He’s that good. The 18 year old made his NHL debut, and looked great, registering a whopping 11 shot attempts. Not bad for a debut.

And oh yes, the Chicago Blackhawks ended up beating the Pittsburgh Penguins, who certainly looked like a team made up of older players. Erik Karlsson spoke after the game about how the journey is just beginning for this team.

In Vegas, the Golden Knights got off to a strong start, with Aden Hill backstopping them to a 4-1 victory over the Kraken. For the record, I liked the slot machine thing. It’s Vegas, what else would you expect?

National Hockey Now

Former DU star Danton Heinen is still hanging around Boston Bruins practice, despite not signing a contract yet.

Bill Zito’s first free agent class is the cornerstone of the new Florida Panthers. (+)

Comparing the San Jose Sharks opening night lineup to last season’s. Spoiler: They won’t be good, but that’s probably for the best.

The powerplay for the New York Islanders is their biggest concern entering the NHL season, and they’ll get plenty of time to practice it before their season starts.

Another DU alum, Bobby Brink, has won a job with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Five hot takes on the Montreal Canadiens.

Three keys to the New Jersey Devils NHL season.