Colorado Avalanche announce they have cut 10 players from team
Photo credit: Evan Liu-Mile High Hockey
As the regular season draws nearer, teams are fine-tuning their rosters to be ready for opening night. The Colorado Avalanche have just cut 10 players.
With Monday night's roster cuts, the Colorado Avalanche have trimmed down to 30 players. The latest moves were made after a 6-1 preseason blowout loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. Going to AHL Colorado Eagles training camp are the likes of Sean Behrens, Jean-Luc Foudy, Jere Innala, Jayson Megna, Trent Miner, Jason Polin, and Matt Steinburg. The other cuts included Jack Ahcan, Matthew Phillips, and Calle Rosen, all of whom will have to clear waivers on the way to the Eagles.
With these moves, the Avalanche are down to 19 forwards, eight defensemen, and three goaltenders. Of those forwards, 16 are still in the mix for opening night as Valeri Nichushkin, Gabriel Landeskog, and Artturi Lehkonen all have either injuries or other roster-related issues that may put their status on October 11 in question. The rest of the lineup probably features Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Jonathan Drouin, Casey Mittelstadt, Miles Wood, Ross Colton, Logan O'Connor, Nikolai Kovalenko, and Joel Kiviranta.
This would leave only a seven-man roster of forwards: Parker Kelly, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Ivan Ivan, T.J. Tynan, Calum Ritchie, Chris Wagner, and Ondrej Pavel, for three more openings. Eyes are on the head coach's call, Jared Bednar, to make the final lineup of the Avalanche to get ready for this new season.
On defense, all currently remaining players are likely to stay on the roster since Bednar has said he will carry all eight to start the season. For now, not having Valeri Nichushkin's $6.125 million cap hit offers the flexibility to carry an extra blueliner; this allows the coaching staff some time to evaluate the newcomers and figure out which players are the best fit moving forward regarding what the team is trying to do.
In goal, Alexandar Georgiev and Justus Annunen begin the season as the primary tandem, picking up right where they finished last year. Adam Scheel remains on the roster as the third goalie, but his inclusion on the roster feels more procedural at this stage. With Trent Miner already assigned to the Eagles, Scheel hangs on for now but is unlikely to be the final selection as the team's depth goalie option. As opening night draws near, the Avs will be making their final cuts and locking in just who will take the ice to start the season.
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