Colorado Avalanche offer their former player Pierre-Edouard Bellemare a professional tryout

According to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, Pierre-Edouard (PE) Bellemare is headed back to familiar territory as he's signed with the Colorado Avalanche on a professional tryout for training camp.

The 39-year-old center played with the Avs from 2019-2021 primarily as a fourth-liner and has since spent time with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Seattle Kraken. This past season in Seattle was a bit of an up-and-down one for PE Bellemare. He played in only 40 games, partly due to injury but also because he was often a healthy scratch.

PE Bellemare has been one of the more likable and accessible players in the NHL, always good for a quote. He even made an appearance this summer on his wife's YouTube series, chatting with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, which was cool to see that he remains close with at least some of the Avalanche stars. But the real question is, does he have any game left?

PE Bellemare has always been sound on face-offs and killing penalties, two areas in which the Avalanche could certainly use some improvement. Speed has never been his strong suit, and at 39, it's probably fair to question if he's slowed down even more. While his statistics aren't bad, the Avalanche could certainly find a more reliable fourth-line center than him, unfortunately. However, at this juncture in his career, offensive production isn't really expected of him either.

PTOs have sometimes worked out well for the Avalanche in seasons past, such as Jack Johnson and Gabriel Bourque, but not every tryout gets inked. The coaching staff knows PE Bellemare well, so it'll be interesting to see if they give him another shot or let him move on if he can't keep up with the young guns
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With media day just a week away, the hockey season is right around the corner, and fans are definitely excited to get things going.

Source:
Elliotte Friedman on X

Source: HockeyDB
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare Stats