I'm not really worried about that stuff. Like you said, it's preseason. Secondly, I do believe our locker room is strong enough to remind him of lazy attitude should one emerge. I'm not suggesting we can totally transform him, but at push him in the right direction and that's probably good enough. At least before the playoffs.
At RyJo's age, this is just who he is. He's not going to change here. Gotta deal with the laziness he normally plays with. It usually isn't a huge deal in the regular season and when he cares he does usually play well. More of the question is does he still have his high level of play in him?
My general thoughts:
OO - I'm not as high in my praise. His best game I've seen in an Avs uniform, that's absolutely the case. I saw some laziness, bad reads... and probably the most frustrating thing... his puck fumbles. In a regular season game, those are turnovers and kill momentum. He's gotta clean up his puck handling as he won't make it as a pure shooter. He showed off his cannon though.
Hanzel - Very solid game. He looks pro ready to me. There really isn't a ton of room in the AHL, but I'd probably try to find some for him.
Achan - If he was 5'10" he'd be an NHLer. He wasn't perfect, but his skating is a thing of beauty and he's going to get a shot at some point this year. This is a guy who might be able to add 90% of what G does and for a bare minimum price.
RyJo/Drouin - Lumping them together as they had the same sorts of games. Flashes of their talent, especially on the PP... but some brutally lazy and soft plays. It is tough to glean anything from a meaningless preseason game, but this line with Poulin was pretty bad 5v5. They gave up a ton of chances and 3 really prime ones.
Ivan - He should be very close to earning an ELC. I don't think there is a ton of NHL upside as an impact guy, but he plays the right way with a good amount of effort. He was the best player on the ice last night.
Byram - Had a good game despite Aamodt being terrible. He needs more reps as a PP QB to make that a bit smoother. Would like to see him play in the preseason a lot in that role to solidfy him as the pointman on the #2PP.
Annunen - Scares the shit out of me. His movement is so poor that it will be exposed greatly. Avs are going to have to play perfect defense in front of him and really break up every seam pass. You might be able to win a few games here and there with him, but once the tape is out for a few weeks, he's going to get ate alive.
Jedlicka - Did enough to earn more preseason games. He flashed a few times and played good defense.
Fairbrother - He had a good game. I didn't see any love, but I was very happy with how he played. Some physical bite. Solid positioning. Skating was better than I remembered. If he plays like that, he could be a nice add to the Eagles.
Comier - Vegas has a gem. G with an actual shot.
Aamont is 6'/6'1" 205... you're not thinking of him if you think he's small.
