Top Pair Reunited, Other Stories From Day 2 of Avalanche Camp

The second day of Avalanche camp has come and gone. And things are slowly starting to take shape for what should be a fun day of hockey during Sunday’s doubleheader of preseason games.

Here are my quick thoughts from Day 2 of training camp.

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1. Mackenzie Blackwood skated alone with goalie coach Jussi Parkkila ahead of the second on-ice session. Bednar said on Thursday that he’ll continue on this track for seven day before they reassess his status. He’s basically working through the rehab plan to see how it goes.

He’s not taking shots. I’d assume that could be an option after the seven days if all goes well.

2. After playing apart on Thursday, Cale Makar and Devon Toews were reunited for the second day. This is obviously the plan all along, but I’m always fascinated at how quickly the coaching staff has their roster start to take shape.

It’s not like Makar and Toews need to play together now to develop chemistry or anything. It’s still worth noting.

3. Another solid day of camp from Ivan Ivan. I’m really liking the urgency he’s playing with to earn a roster spot. Bednar was asked about Ivan and noted that he was impressed with the strong games he had early last season, but was honest about how he flopped big time after getting sent down to the AHL.

I still believe Zakhar Bardakov will get the first look as 4C because KHL players don’t often come to North America for AHL time. But Ivan is likely right there if the fourth line needs a shake up early on.

4. I like Alex Gagne getting a day to skate with Josh Manson, for development purposes. That’s a guy he should be leaning on all week.

5. Jack Drury, Ross Colton, and Victor Olofsson were electric together on Friday. Those three guys, that line, are going to determine a lot of how this season will go. If they can get some chemistry going it’ll help an already solid top six, and a fourth line that still has Logan O’Connor, Parker Kelly, a young center and eventually Logan O’Connor on it.

If that line flops? It’ll be another year of finding depth pieces. More of the Lars Eller, Yakov Trenin, Charlie Coyle types. And more of overplaying the top stars for the first 60 games of the regular season until that happens.

I also liked Bednar noting that he wants to try Olofsson in the top six to further spread the offensive talent among the top three lines.