Breaking Down Tyson Jost’s stint with the San Antonio Rampage

One of the most common questions posed since November 16th, when Tyson Jost was sent down to the AHL to play for the San Antonio Rampage, was “well, how is he looking?” As Jost was just called back up to the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday evening, here is now the answer to that question.

Jost was a member of the Rampage for five games, as what was hinted at as the plan and logically expected given the end of the Rampage road trip coinciding with the Avs having a three day break in advance of their game on Wednesday, November 29th against Winnipeg. In those five games Jost contributed a goal and an assist, was a +1 and fired 16 shots on goal.

Looking at the games individually, the first was certainly the roughest for Jost as he didn’t have a shot on goal and looked like a guy who hadn’t played in a month. He wasn’t skating well and seemed tentative. The AHL doesn’t provide time on ice statistics as it’s considered secret information but the eye test says he played about third line minutes in that contest.

The following two games Jost looked like he was getting back into the swing of things. He started getting shots on goal, averaging four per night. His ice time increased and played on one of the “top” lines with Rocco Grimaldi and Samuel Blais, who was recently called up to St. Louis, and also saw a few shifts with AJ Greer.  Here is Jost’s gorgeous primary assist on a Jordan Schmaltz goal.

Jost really didn’t make real progress until the two games over this weekend. He looked a lot more comfortable and dangerous in the offensive zone. He was digging in hard against the boards and down low in the zone where he took contact well. His skating looked more fluid and natural. Jost continued generating shots and chances plus work on both special teams units. He played with Andrew Agozzino some this weekend and just about everyone when line blendering began but it was certainly in a top line role. Here’s a nice goal Jost converted on with his quick release in the dying minutes of his AHL stint and maybe career.

The questions still linger about what’s best for Jost right now and long term and this visit to the AHL really didn’t provide much clarity on the situation either. Jost looked like a very talented albeit young player getting used to the game and league, much like he does in the NHL. The progress he made to a much more healthy status was evident over the ten days. The production was about as expected and the consistent shot generation minus the first game was nice to see.

Jost still has some development to do and more AHL time plus a trip to the World Junior Championship wouldn’t be the worst idea. However, the Avs wasted no time in bringing Jost back up to the NHL as he’s clearly a big part of the still continuing youth movement plan. Hopefully they’ve decided to put Jost in a consistent role moving forward as to ease that development.

All in all the stint for Jost in San Antonio was successful.