Evan’s NHL Daily: MacFarland Interview, Ruff Grills Reporter

Last week, we were promised an interview with Colorado Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland was coming, and it dropped on Wednesday. MacFarland discussed some of what they’re looking for prior to the NHL Trade Deadline, and really went into more detail on what he thinks a good workload for Alexandar Georgiev would be over the course of a full season. It’s safe to say a goaltender is on his checklist before the deadline.

In New Jersey, it wasn’t quite on the level of what John Tortorella has done in the past, but Lindy Ruff did not like a question he received after their loss.

At CHN, I spoke to an OHL scout who had a glowing report on Calum Ritchie, the first round pick from the Avalanche last summer.

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

Colorado Hockey Now

A peak at Instagram this morning shows Nikolai Kovalenko is on the ice with his team, but even if he doesn’t play today, he’s nearing a return in the KHL.

Looking back at the Ottawa win and the impact Miles Wood had in his return.

Talked to an OHL scout and he explained why the Avalanche and their fans should ecstatic about the development of Calum Ritchie.

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MacFarland Interview

In a talk with Frank Seravalli, Chris MacFarland made it pretty clear that a priority before the NHL Trade Deadline for his team is finding another goaltender. Georgiev is on pace for over 65 games, and MacFarland said he would prefer to keep it down around the 55 game area.

He also discussed other things, such as the injury to Pavel Francouz and how it impacted the team, Gabriel Landeskog, and more. It’s about 25 minutes, so I’d recommending giving it a watch/listen.

Around The NHL

If the New Jersey Devils are going to crawl their way back into the playoff hunt in the Eastern Conference, they’ll need to beat teams like Montreal. On Wednesday night, they couldn’t, so maybe that explains why Lindy Ruff wasn’t in a great mood. After all, some people thought he might have one of the better teams in the NHL prior to the season, and now, they’re clawing to stay alive.

After the loss, a reporter asked about the ice-time (or lack of) for former first round pick Alexander Holtz, who scored one of their two goals. I guess he wasn’t happy with the question, because Lindy Ruff grilled the reporter.

National Hockey Now

There have been no trade talks regarding Jake Guentzel…yet.

Is Patrice Bergeron actually going to make a comeback this year?

Grades for a better-than-expected Flyers team at the halfway point. (+)

The Blackhawks are pivoting on their rebuild.