Colorado Avalanche Place Chris Wagner On Waivers
Jan. 11: Wagner has cleared waivers and can be assigned to the Eagles, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports.
Jan. 10: Chris Johnston of TSN is reporting that the Colorado Avalanche have placed forward Chris Wagner on waivers today, which would suggest that the 32-year-old is fully recovered from a ruptured Achilles and is ready to be assigned to the AHL. Wagner suffered the injury before training camp and has missed the entire season thus far. He was signed by the Avalanche in the offseason after spending the past five years in the Boston Bruins organization.
Wagner was an NHL regular from 2016-21 and dressed in 360 games during that stretch, with his best season coming in 2018-19, when he had 12 goals and seven assists in 76 games. Over the course of his nine-year NHL career, Wagner has 37 goals and 26 assists.
Wagner has played just two NHL games since 2021 and has spent the majority of the last three seasons in the AHL. He has dressed in 62 AHL games in each of the last two seasons, tallying 27 points in 2021-22 and 31 points last year.
If he is able to clear, he will likely join Colorado’s AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles. While it is likely he will clear, given his recent injury situation, it is far from a sure thing as many teams are starting to deal with injury issues and could be looking for players to fill out their forward group for the rest of the season.
Avalanche Recall Sam Malinski, Jason Polin
02:20 PM: The Avalanche have also recalled forward Jason Polin from the Eagles, according to a team announcement. This recall should be seen as an indication that Wood is likely out for tonight’s game against the Boston Bruins. The 24-year-old will likely fill in for Meyers, who was sent down, as the team’s last healthy forward.
That would put Polin, a natural left winger, in Meyers’ spot as the team’s fourth-line left winger alongside Fredrik Olofsson and Kurtis MacDermid. While Polin was a top-end offensive player in his final campaign with Western Michigan University, he’s not found the same level of offensive success in the early days of his pro career. He has just two points in 20 career AHL games, but nonetheless he could end up getting the chance to make his NHL debut tonight against Boston.
10:29 AM: The Avalanche recalled defenseman Sam Malinski from the AHL’s Colorado Eagles on Monday, per a team announcement.
This is the 25-year-old’s fourth recall of the season and his first of the calendar year. His most recent stint on the active roster lasted over a month, heading up to the Avalanche on emergency loan on November 29 before being returned to the Eagles on December 30.
The Avalanche suit up tonight against the Bruins and, without a recall, may have only had 17 skaters available for tonight’s game. Winger Miles Wood is uncertain after missing Saturday’s loss to the Panthers with an illness, and the Avalanche were down to 11 forwards after returning Ben Meyers to the Eagles on Saturday night. Malinski’s recall may indicate head coach Jared Bednar is planning to use 11 forwards and seven defensemen against the Bruins unless an additional recall is made later today.
If he does play tonight, it will be the 15th NHL appearance for Malinski, both this season and in his NHL career overall. The Minnesota-born blueliner is in his first professional season after completing his collegiate career with Cornell University in 2022-23, where he recorded 26 points and a +10 rating in 34 games during his senior campaign, earning First Team honors on the NCAA’s All-Ivy League year-end squad for the second season in a row.
The Avalanche snapped up Malinski, who was not selected in any previous NHL Entry Drafts, as a free agent last March and signed him to a two-year, two-way deal. He began the season with the Eagles but has filled in for the Avalanche on numerous occasions this season when injuries struck, recording a goal and five points along with a +1 rating in 14 games. He hasn’t seen much in the way of heavy minutes, averaging 14:11 per game, and his 45.5% Corsi share at even strength does leave something to be desired. However, Malinski has still seen more NHL action than most expected this year, potentially serving as a precursor to a more lengthy stay in Denver as a sixth or seventh defenseman option.
Latest On Artturi Lehkonen
- Colorado Hockey Now’s Evan Rawal reports that forward Artturi Lehkonen is skating at Avalanche practice in a white jersey, meaning he has officially moved past the non-contact stage of his injury recovery. The 28-year-old Finnish winger had a breakout campaign last season when he scored at a 27-goal, 65-point 82-game pace and had scored eight points in 12 games this season before suffering his significant injury.
Avalanche Place Bowen Byram On IR
The Avalanche quietly placed defenseman Bowen Byram on injured reserve over the weekend, per CapFriendly’s transactions log. Head coach Jared Bednar confirmed the news yesterday after their 8-4 loss to the Panthers, saying that Byram’s lower-body injury isn’t considered severe and is expected to sideline him for seven to 14 days (via DNVR Sports’ Meghan Angley).
Drafted by the Avalanche with the fourth overall pick in 2019, Byram had a breakout campaign last season with ten goals, 14 assists, 24 points and a +7 rating in 42 games despite being hampered significantly by a lower-body injury that sidelined him for over three months in the first half of the campaign. After reaching restricted free agency last summer, that performance earned him a two-year, $7.7MM deal to remain in Denver.
For the first time since turning pro in 2020, Byram started the season by staying healthy for a long stretch, playing in every one of the Avalanche’s games until missing yesterday’s loss to Florida. While he isn’t producing as much as last season with 12 points in 39 games, his defensive game has taken a step forward. Per Hockey Reference, Byram has been on the ice for 0.76 expected goals against per game at even strength while logging 18:22 per game at 5-on-5 or 4-on-4, down significantly from his 0.85 xGA per game last season.
While the knowledge he won’t be out long-term is reassuring, it’s another tough break for a young player who’s already had his development significantly marred by injuries. The 22-year-old does look well on his way to being a bona fide second-pairing defender throughout his time in the NHL, but the likelihood of him reaching his top-pairing ceiling is diminishing. According to data from NHL Injury Viz, Byram has missed 126 regular season games due to illness or injury over his first four seasons.
After last night’s game, the Avalanche also reassigned forward Ben Meyers to AHL Colorado after bringing him up to play fourth-line duties the day prior while depth winger Miles Wood is sidelined with an illness. The two transactions leave the Avalanche with 21 out of a maximum of 23 players on the active roster. Thus, Meyers could return to the Avalanche before tomorrow’s game against the Bruins if Wood isn’t healthy enough to play. Including last night, the 25-year-old Meyers has one goal in nine NHL appearances this season, averaging a career-low 9:34 per game.
Should The Avalanche Look Into Extending Jonathan Drouin Now?
- After a rough start with his new team, Avalanche winger Jonathan Drouin has settled in nicely and is in the middle of a strong stretch where he has 17 points in his last 22 games. To that end, Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now evaluates the feasibility of trying to sign the 28-year-old to a contract extension. Drouin is playing on a deal worth $825K this season, opting for a short-term agreement in the hopes of establishing a better market next summer. His performance is worth a fair bit more than that but with Colorado’s cap situation, they’ll still be capped at a lower-cost offer. That said, if Drouin wants some stability and to stay in a good situation, he could be amenable to the possibility of re-signing now.
Colorado Avalanche Recall Ben Meyers
- The Colorado Avalanche have recalled forward Ben Meyers from the Colorado Eagles after sending him down yesterday, per a team announcement. It is unknown whether or not he will factor into the team’s lineup tomorrow afternoon against the Florida Panthers, as he has largely been used as an extra forward by the Avalanche this season.
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Afternoon Notes: Golden Knights, Puljujarvi, Meyers
Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy shared updates on the team’s long list of injuries, sharing that Daniil Miromanov is back on the ice, Keegan Kolesar is still out of the lineup with illness, and that starter Adin Hill has returned to skating on his own but isn’t quite ready to rejoin the team. Cassidy also shared that Shea Theodore is still a ways away from returning. The star defenseman is joined by Miromanov and Hill on injured reserve.
These injuries have underscored what’s been a battered Vegas lineup to start the year. The club currently has a top-six forward in William Karlsson, starter Adin Hill, and four different defensemen on IR. The only on the list to not yet make his season debut is NHL newcomer Miromanov, who is dealing with an undisclosed injury that’s held him out since the start of the year.
The amount of talent being held out of Vegas’ lineup is impressive. Karlsson ranks third on the team in scoring with 32 points in 38 games. Theodore still leads all Knights defenders in scoring, despite missing 18 games, with 18 points in 20 games. And Hill has returned to the impeccable goalie that made him an icon last postseason, boasting a .934 save percentage through 15 games this season. The Golden Knights will be in for a big boost when they’re able to get each of these players back, although how long that may take is still up in the air.
Other notes from around the league:
- The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have signed Jesse Puljujarvi to a professional try-out agreement, extending his time in the Penguins organization. Puljujarvi is working his way back from double hip surgery and has been skating with the Pittsburgh lineup at practices. And while his return still seems to be a ways out, this move helps set him up for an AHL conditioning stint once he’s ready to go.
- The Colorado Avalanche have assigned Ben Meyers to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. This is likely in an effort to maintain the young forward’s waiver exemption status. Meyers has played in a collective 58 NHL games since joining the Avalanche in 2021-22 and will lose his exemption once he hits 60 games. The 25-year-old centerman has totaled six goals and no assists through those 58 games, adding 37 points in 49 AHL games.
Gabriel Landeskog's Family Returns To Denver
- Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog returned to Denver from Sweden to continue his recovery from a right-knee cartilage transplant earlier this season, leading to increased hope that he could return for a potential 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs berth and suit up for the first time since Colorado captured the championship in 2022. The Denver Post’s Corey Masisak revealed last weekend that Landeskog’s family has now moved back to Colorado, furthering confidence that the long-time first-line fixture will resume his career at some point. The 31-year-old has now undergone multiple knee surgeries over the past three years and has not eclipsed the 70-game mark in a season since the 2018-19 campaign, five years ago.
Girard To Return On Sunday
- Samuel Girard is set to return to the Colorado Avalanche lineup on Sunday, after missing the team’s last 20 games for personal reasons. It was known that Girard would return soon, as the Avalanche anticipate the return of an option that averages over 20 minutes a night for the team. Girard has scored four goals in 15 games this season.
- Artturi Lehkonen has begun taking full practices with the Avalanche, after working independently for much of the week. Lehkonen is working back from a scary-looking neck injury that’s held him out since late-November. Lehkonen has scored eight points in 12 games this season. And while Lehkonen returned, Ross Colton did not skate on Saturday.
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Avalanche Assign Sam Malinski To AHL
Following their victory over St. Louis on Friday night, the Avalanche announced (Twitter link) that they re-assigned defenseman Sam Malinski to AHL Colorado.
The 25-year-old is in his first professional season after signing with the Avs as a college free agent back in March. Malinski had been up with the big club for the past month and had been a regular player for most of that stretch, suiting up in 14 games, including against the Blues. In those appearances, he held his own, picking up five points along with 15 blocked shots while averaging a little over 14 minutes a night. With the Eagles, meanwhile, he has three goals and six assists in 17 games.
With that in mind, it might seem a bit curious that Colorado would opt to send Malinski down. However, he was the only waiver-exempt blueliner on their roster, making him the logical choice to be sent down to ensure they keep as much depth as possible.
While Colorado didn’t announce a corresponding roster move, Malinski’s demotion likely will mark the return of Samuel Girard. He took a leave from the team last month to enter the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program but has since rejoined the club. Now, with a few practices under his belt, it appears as if he’ll be ready to return and be activated into the roster spot cleared by sending Malinski down.