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Colorado Avalanche Sign Zach Parise

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Shortly before their game tonight against the Los Angeles Kings, the Colorado Avalanche announced they have signed veteran forward Zach Parise to a one-year contract. Frank Seravalli of the DailyFaceoff reports that the one-year contract will be worth a pro-rated $825K for the rest of the season.

Even after seeing the return of Artturi Lehkonen back into the lineup, the Avalanche are still without some of their high-level forward depth since Valeri Nichushkin left for the NHLPA Player Assistance Program. In Parise, Colorado will likely not be able to replace the production left by Nichushkin with the 39-year-old fully. Still, it should create a formidable top-nine forward unit upon his return to the organization.

Historically, the story of Parise is known well, being one of the better players in the league for the New Jersey Devils in the late-2000s and early-2010s. Scoring 410 points in 502 games for New Jersey, as well as leading them to the Stanley Cup Final in 2012, Parise famously joined the Minnesota Wild as an unrestricted free agent before the 2012-13 season, signing an identical 13-year, $98MM contract as defenseman Ryan Suter.

Much to the dismay of both player and team, some injury-riddled seasons, as well as a dire need for cap space, led the Wild General Manager, Bill Guerin, to buy out the contracts of both Parise and Suter after year nine of the 13-year agreements. It wouldn’t take long for Parise to find a new home, however, Lou Lamoriello would quickly ink him to a one-year contract with the New York Islanders, being the executive that originally drafted Parise into the NHL.

Returning to much better health with the Islanders, over two separate one-year contracts with the organization, Parise would play in all 82 games in both the 2021-22 and 2022-23 NHL seasons. Over the course of those two contracts, Parise became a quality auxiliary scorer for New York, putting up 36 goals and 69 points over 164 games, with 21 of those goals coming last season alone.

Having not played in an NHL game since late April of 2023, it will undoubtedly take some time for Parise to make his return to any NHL contest, especially with the speed at which Colorado plays the game. Nevertheless, as an effective scorer and veteran presence on a recent Stanley Cup Champion team, the marriage between Parise and the Avalanche should prove valuable to both sides.

Afternoon Notes: Panthers, Myers, Johnson

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Top Florida Panthers centerman Aleksander Barkov will be a game-time decision for the team’s Wednesday night game against the Arizona Coyotes, per head coach Paul Maurice. Barkov has missed the last three games with a lower-body injury. Maurice also shared that defenseman Gustav Forsling is expected to make his return from a personal absence that held him out of Monday night’s game.

The Panthers performed admirably despite Barkov and Forsling’s absence, beating the Nashville Predators 4-1, bringing an end to a four-game losing streak. Interestingly, the losing streak came immediately after a nine-game winning streak that dated back to the holiday season. Florida will look to get back to their festive feelings with the return of both their second-highest-scoring forward and defenseman on a point-per-game basis.

Centerman Nick Cousins also made his return to Florida’s practices on Monday, wearing a no-contact jersey. Cousins has been out since January 2nd with a concussion. He’s appeared in 37 games this year, netting five points, 20 penalty minutes, and a -10.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Tampa Bay Lightning have sent defenseman Philippe Myers to the AHL. Myers has been with the top club since January 1st, appearing in five games and failing to score a point. He’s spent the majority of his season with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch, where he’s managed a team-leading +20, in addition to nine points and 43 penalty minutes, through 28 games.
  • Colorado Avalanche defenseman Jack Johnson will miss the team’s Wednesday night game with a nagging lower-body injury, per head coach Jared Bednar. He’s been designated as day-to-day. Johnson has played in 47 games this year, netting nine points, 34 penalty minutes, and a +6 – though he’s averaging just under 15 minutes of ice time, a step down from the 17 minutes he averaged last season.

Avalanche To Activate Artturi Lehkonen

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The Avalanche will activate winger Artturi Lehkonen off long-term injured reserve before tonight’s game against the Capitals, head coach Jared Bednar said on Altitude Sports 92.5 FM (KKSE-FM) on Wednesday. Both he and defenseman Bowen Byram, who the team activated from injured reserve Tuesday, will return from multi-week absences tonight, per Bednar.

Lehkonen has not played since sustaining a neck injury against the Kraken on Nov. 9. His return ends a 35-game absence over the course of two and a half months.

The 28-year-old’s return to play comes soon after Colorado’s other major source of secondary scoring, Valeri Nichushkin, entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. The Avalanche have a 3-2-0 record and a +4 goal differential in their last five games without either Lehkonen or Nichushkin, importantly keeping pace for second place in the Central Division ahead of the Stars, who are only one point back of Colorado and are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games.

Lehkonen shouldered major minutes for the Avalanche through the first 12 games of the year, averaging 18:29 per game, including his injury-shortened outing against Seattle. The Finnish winger posted three goals and five assists for eight points, a slight dip in pace from last season’s career-high 21 goals and 51 points in 64 games.

His return will help shoulder the indefinite loss of Nichushkin and will provide a needed boost to a middle-six that’s struggled to produce much offense. While Colorado’s 179 goals lead the league, a disproportionate amount of that has come from Nichushkin, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. Notably, Ross Colton and Logan O’Connor each have six points in their last five games and are hovering around a 41-point pace.

Now, the Avalanche hope Lehkonen can stay healthy until the postseason, where he’s done some of his best work. He posted 14 points in 20 games en route to 2022’s Stanley Cup win and had three goals and six points in last season’s seven-game loss to the Kraken in the First Round.

Bowen Byram Activated Off Injured Reserve

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  • The Colorado Avalanche have activated defenseman Bowen Byram off on injured reserve. The 22-year-old defenseman has appeared in 39 of Colorado’s 47 games this season, netting 12 points split evenly. He’s managed the scoring while serving in a top-end role, averaging over 20 minutes of ice time – though it’s a step down from the nearly 22 minutes of ice time Byram averaged in 42 games last season. Caleb Jones and Sam Malinski will likely step out of the lineup to make space for Byram, though one of the two could still see ice time as the Avalanche have opted for seven defensemen recently.

Colorado Avalanche Send Down Jason Polin

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Earlier today, the Colorado Avalanche reassigned forward Jason Polin to their AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles, per a team announcement. Polin was originally recalled on January 8th via an emergency loan and factored into six games for the Avalanche, scoring only one goal.

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Snapshots: Jenner, Schiefele, Annunen

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have activated forward Boone Jenner off of injured reserve. This move confirms team reporter Aaron Portzline’s earlier report that the team captain would make his return on Friday.

Jenner is in his 11th season with the Blue Jackets and his third season as the team’s captain. He’s spent all 686 of his career games with Columbus – beating out Rick Nash for the most games in club history. Jenner has managed 347 points in those games, good for third in club history. Jenner had a career year in the 2015-16 season, managing 30 goals and 49 points in 82 games, while boasting a fairly meager 13.3 shooting percentage. He struggled to replicate that scoring ability for much of the subsequent years but has found a newfound finishing ability over recent seasons – netting 23 goals and 26 goals in the last two seasons respectively.  Jenner has 13 goals and 18 points in 29 games this season.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Mark Scheifele is expected to miss the Winnipeg Jets’ Saturday matchup against the Ottawa Senators says head coach Rick Bowness. He is battling a lower-body injury suffered on January 11th. He will be reevaluated ahead of the team’s Monday game against the Boston Bruins. Scheifele was placed on injured reserve on January 16th – with the placement retroactive to January 12th – making Saturday the first game that he could have returned for. His absence corresponded with teammate Kyle Connor’s return from injured reserve, helping to keep Winnipeg’s offense alive while their leading-scorer Scheifele misses time.
  • The Colorado Avalanche have sent 23-year-old goaltender Justus Annunen to the minors. He was recalled on January 13th and made his season debut, saving 36 of 40 shots in a 7-4 win over the Ottawa Senators. He’s now up to five career NHL games spread over the last three seasons, boasting a 3-1-1 record and .871 save percentage in them. Annunen returns to the AHL, where he’s already managed a 9-5-4 record and .908 save percentage in 18 games this season.

Bowen Byram, Artturi Lehkonen Will Return Within The Week

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Avalanche defenseman Bowen Byram and winger Artturi Lehkonen will make their returns to the lineup within the next week, head coach Jared Bednar said on Altitude Sports Radio (KKSE-FM). Both players, who are on IR and LTIR, respectively, will be activated by next Wednesday’s game against the Capitals at the latest. They’ve been ruled out for tomorrow’s game in Boston, however. Byram will have missed at least seven games with a lower-body injury sustained Jan. 4 against the Stars, while Lehkonen has been out for over two months with a neck injury and will miss his 34th game tomorrow. The Avalanche will either need to assign one contract to the minors or move Valeri Nichushkin to LTIR while he completes treatment in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program to clear up the cap space for Lehkonen’s $4.5MM cap hit to come off LTIR. They’re currently short about $500K in space to execute the transaction, per CapFriendly.

Valeri Nichushkin Enters NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program

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Avalanche winger Valeri Nichushkin has entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program and will be out indefinitely, the league announced today (via NHL.com’s Ryan Boulding). Independent Avalanche reporter Adrian Dater reported the news earlier Monday.

Nichushkin will be stepping away from what’s been a very productive season. The 28-year-old currently ranks fourth on the Avalanche in scoring, with 22 goals and 42 points in 40 games. His point-per-game scoring has been shadowed by his linemates, though, with Nathan MacKinnon boasting 69 points, Mikko Rantanen with 55 points, and Cale Makar currently sitting on 48 points. These four, including Nichushkin, lead the Avalanche in average ice time alongside Makar’s defense partner Devon Toews.

Nichushkin is in his fifth season with the Avalanche, managing 189 points in 275 games with the club. That’s a 0.69 points-per-game pace, a large step above the 0.33 points-per-game that Nichushkin averaged in four seasons with the Dallas Stars. Dallas selected Nichushkin 10th overall in the 2013 NHL Draft, only a few picks after now-teammates MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin went in the top-three. Nichushkin made his NHL debut in the following season, scoring 14 goals and 34 points in 79 games as a rookie and ranking 12th in Calder Trophy voting.

But the next few years were inconsistent, as Nichushkin bounced between the Stars’ NHL and AHL lineups. He even left North American hockey altogether for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons, opting instead to play with the KHL’s CSKA Moscow. The winger returned to Dallas for the 2018-19 season but failed to produce, netting only 10 assists and a -4 through 57 games. The Stars opted to buy-out his contract following this slow season, effectively shipping him off to the Avalanche, who signed Nichushkin to a one-year, $850K contract two months later.

Josh Manson Returns To Lineup, Artturi Lehkonen Could Play On Road Trip

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  • Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson has returned to the lineup tonight against the Maple Leafs, as initially reported by The Denver Post’s Corey Masisak. The 32-year-old, who’s no stranger to injuries, missed the last two contests for undisclosed reasons. He’s taken a major step forward defensively in his second full season with Colorado, posting a 53.4% Corsi share at even strength through 37 games this year. He’s supplemented that with five goals and 12 points, playing his best hockey since coming to Denver via trade from the Ducks at the 2022 trade deadline.
  • Injured Avalanche winger Artturi Lehkonen is nearing a return from his neck injury that’s kept him out since the beginning of November, head coach Jared Bednar said earlier this week (via Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now). Bednar said Lehkonen could return during the Avs’ lengthy road trip, which has four games remaining after tonight and wraps up on January 20 in Philadelphia. The 28-year-old would be a huge boost to Colorado’s top six and had eight points in his first 12 contests. Now in the second season of a five-year, $22.5MM deal, he would presumably help anchor a second line that, at least tonight, currently features no players with over half a point per game this season with Valeri Nichushkin out with illness.

Avalanche Recall Justus Annunen

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The Avalanche have recalled netminder Justus Annunen from the AHL’s Colorado Eagles, according to a team announcement on Saturday night.

The news doesn’t indicate an injury to either of the Avalanche’s two rostered goalies, Alexandar Georgiev and Ivan Prosvetov. Instead, head coach Jared Bednar told the team he prefers to have a third option in the mix for time in the crease during the team’s upcoming back-to-back set of games against the Canadiens and Senators, a team spokesman told The Denver Post’s Corey Masisak.

Annunen, 23, was signed to a one-year, two-way deal last summer after reaching RFA status upon the conclusion of his entry-level contract. This is the second recall of the season after he was rostered for the first week of the campaign to provide competition for the backup job with Prosvetov, a pre-season waiver claim. The 2018 third-round pick has a .908 SV% in 18 games with the Eagles, posting a 2.62 GAA and 9-5-4 record.

He has four games of NHL experience, coming in the form of two appearances each in the last two seasons. Through a small sample size, he hasn’t impressed, posting a .859 SV% and 3.92 GAA. He’s allowed 4.8 goals above expected in only 214 minutes between the pipes (equivalent to 3.57 60-minute games), per MoneyPuck, although he has recorded a 2-1-1 record.

A decent start in the AHL has kept his development on track, and he remains a future option as a potential tandem netminder for the Avs. Expecting Annunen to be a long-term starter is likely too optimistic, but the 6-foot-4 Finn has shown enough improvement at the minor-league level this season to earn a qualifying offer when he reaches RFA status again next summer. He will be eligible for salary arbitration.

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