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Colorado Avalanche Place Cale Makar On Injured Reserve

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In order to facilitate today’s call-ups from their AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles, the Colorado Avalanche placed defenseman Cale Makar on injured reserve, according to CapFriendly.

This move comes as Makar has dealt with concussion issues, something that has kept him out of the lineup since a February 18th contest with the St. Louis Blues. In that game, Makar collided with Blues forward Alexey Toropchenko, and he entered concussion protocol. That game had been his first since February seventh, when he was also sidelined with concussion symptoms.

While this placement on injured reserve is more about clearing a roster spot than anything else, it is an indication that Makar may still be a ways away from returning to the ice. It was not made clear if the IR placement was retroactive to the date of Makar’s last game, as the Dallas Stars did with today’s placement of Luke Glendening on injured reserve, but regardless one has to assume that Makar’s return to the ice isn’t imminent.

While the Avalanche have remained in the playoff hunt despite Makar’s absence for most of this month, this injury means the Avalanche remain without someone who is arguably their best player. The 24-year-old has shouldered an increasingly demanding defensive role this season and has scored 45 points in 46 games.

The reigning Norris and Conn Smythe Trophy winner is widely considered to be the best defenseman in the NHL, and his return to full health would do wonders for the Avalanche’s odds to repeat as Stanley Cup champions. But concussions are an extremely tricky issue, and the best course for Makar’s long-term personal health, as well as the long-term interests of the Avalanche, may be to be as patient with Makar’s timeline as possible.

Now, with Makar on injured reserve and his roster spot opened for another player to occupy, the team is free to give him as much time and space he needs to recover without the pressures of nightly games and roster math playing a major role.

Avalanche Recall Brad Hunt, Ben Meyers

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  • Forward Ben Meyers and defenseman Brad Hunt have been recalled from the AHL’s Colorado Eagles to their NHL affiliate, the Colorado Avalanche. Hunt will be paired with Jack Johnson on coach Jared Bednar’s bottom-pairing, while Meyers will likely be a healthy scratch, according to a team release relayed by The Athletic’s Peter Baugh. Meyers, a top college free agent signing last spring, has scored just one point in 32 NHL games this season (he has nine points in 17 AHL games) while Hunt, 34, has six points in 32 games this season and 21 points in 24 games at the AHL level.
  • With Anaheim Ducks prospect Calle Clang set to cross the Atlantic for next season, Rogle are finalizing negotiations to find a new goaltender. Per a report from SportExpressen’s Johan Svensson, they are set to bring in 2017 Colorado Avalanche fourth-rounder Petr Kvaca, an accomplished three-year starter in the Czech league. Kvaca was named the Czech Extraliga’s best netminder in 2020-21, when he posted a .924 save percentage in 41 games. He has a .925 in 41 games this season, and is a promising investment for a Rogle team looking to return to the top end of the SHL standings.

Colorado Avalanche Acquire Lars Eller

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The Colorado Avalanche have added some more forward depth, as they try to go on another long playoff run. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that they have acquired Lars Eller from the Washington Capitals. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic adds that the Capitals will receive a 2025 second-round pick in return, and retain 31% of Eller’s contract.

Like they did last season, Colorado is focused on experienced, versatile forwards to help lengthen their lineup, and Eller fits that bill perfectly. The 33-year-old center was a key factor in Washington’s 2018 Stanley Cup run, leading the playoffs with three game-winning goals that spring, and collecting 18 points in 24 games.

That’s more than he has this entire season, though, as Eller’s best days are clearly behind him. With just seven goals and 16 points through 60 appearances in 2022-23, he comes to Colorado as a bottom-six option that shouldn’t be relied on for much offensive production.

Still, he is a very capable defensive center, who still logs significant time on the penalty kill and is good (if inconsistent) in the faceoff dot. That doesn’t really answer Colorado’s second-line center question mark, but does give the group some more stability down the middle.

Eller is in the last season of a five-year, $17.5MM contract extension he signed just before that Stanley Cup run, and carries a cap hit of $3.5MM. That means he’ll cost the Avalanche a pro-rated $2.415MM through the end of the season.

For Washington, landing a second-round pick seems like a big win, given the lack of real impact Eller would have on any future contending club. The Capitals are focused on surrounding Alex Ovechkin with another winner next season, and trying to pull off a “rebuild-on-the-fly” by selling off veterans in a season that obviously isn’t headed toward the Stanley Cup.

They showed their intentions yesterday by flipping the pick they received for Dmitry Orlov, landing Rasmus Sandin from the Toronto Maple Leafs. This second-round selection could suffer the same fate, traded before the Capitals ever actually take the podium to make a pick.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Avalanche Recall Justus Annunen

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  • The Colorado Avalanche have recalled Justus Annunen again, as they prepare for a back-to-back this weekend against Dallas and Seattle. The 22-year-old netminder has appeared just once this season, stopping 19 of 20 shots to secure a victory over the St. Louis Blues earlier this month.

Colorado Avalanche Recall Three From AHL

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  • The Colorado Avalanche announced the recalls of Brad Hunt, Jonas Johansson, and Ben Meyers from the Colorado Eagles of the AHL. All three have been shuffled to and from Denver all season, as the Avs have tinkered with their lineup all year due to injuries. The Avs have made multiple recalls of goaltenders from the AHL in recent days, in addition to adding Keith Kinkaid from the Boston Bruins. Hunt has six points in 31 games for the Avs this season, Meyers has one goal in 31 games and Johansson has played in one game for Colorado this season.

Colorado Avalanche Acquire Jack Johnson

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The Colorado Avalanche are bringing back a piece of their Stanley Cup roster, re-acquiring Jack Johnson from the Chicago Blackhawks. Andreas Englund will be the player going back to Chicago.

Johnson, 36, certainly isn’t the player that went third overall in 2005, or even the one that scored 40 points in 2014-15 with the Columbus Blue Jackets. But given his familiarity with the Avalanche organization and success last year, it is a nice reunion for the veteran defenseman.

Colorado is missing Erik Johnson and Cale Makar, considerably limiting their defensive depth. Jack Johnson will slide into the depth chart in a similar role as he did last year, playing limited minutes whenever needed but not making much of an impact one way or another.

Giving up Englund means almost nothing for the Avalanche, and shows there wasn’t really a market for Johnson around the league. The 27-year-old has played 36 NHL games this year and 69 in his career, but is still looking for his first goal. As a pending unrestricted free agent, Englund doesn’t represent much of anything for the Blackhawks moving forward.

This effectively boils down to doing Johnson a favor, sending him back to a great team that he is comfortable with after logging some difficult minutes this year. The veteran defender was playing nearly 20 minutes a night for Chicago, more than he has since 2017. He won’t get anywhere near that much playing time in Colorado, but now has the chance to go for another long playoff run before his career winds down.

Kevin Weekes of ESPN broke the deal on Twitter.

Avalanche Reassign Hunt, Annunen

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  • The Colorado Avalanche have sent Brad Hunt and Justus Annunen back to the minor leagues, as they await their game tomorrow night against the Vegas Golden Knights. Despite having Gabriel Landeskog on LTIR, the Avalanche have set their cap up to accrue extra space in the meantime. A goaltender will be recalled tomorrow at the very least, though it could be Jonas Johansson if it’s just as a backup.

Colorado Avalanche Extend Keaton Middleton

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The Colorado Avalanche have signed Keaton Middleton to a contract extension through the 2024-25 season, according to Peter Baugh of The Athletic. PuckPedia reports that the two-way deal will carry an average annual value of $775K in the NHL, $250K in the AHL, and includes a minor league guarantee of $300K.

The 25-year-old was a fourth-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2016. At 6-foot-6 and 240 pounds, Middleton is a powerful, defensive defenceman who is currently playing for the Colorado Eagles. He has scored three goals and 20 points in 57 games this season, already setting career highs in assists and points in his fifth AHL season.

The Edmonton, Alberta native secures a two-year contract, giving him a bit of financial security and career stability as he continues to grind in the minor leagues. Middleton has played in three NHL contests in his career, suiting up for a trio of games late in the 2020-21 season with the Avalanche. He has become one of the most trusted defenders on the Eagles roster, and is just one point back of Brad Hunt for the team lead in points by a blueliner.

Given his age, Middleton would have qualified for Group VI unrestricted free agency this summer. Instead, he’ll stay with the Colorado organization and try to earn another chance in the NHL.

Avalanche Believed To Be Interested In Austin Watson

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The Senators have moved out a couple of veterans already recently in defenseman Nikita Zaitsev and forward Tyler Motte.  While they haven’t completely thrown in the towel yet on trying to make the playoffs, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that at least three teams have shown interest in acquiring veteran winger Austin Watson.  Those three are all Western Conference squads in the Stars, Kings, and Avalanche.

Bruins Acquire Shane Bowers

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The Bruins and Avalanche have swapped depth players as Colorado has traded forward Shane Bowers to Boston in exchange for goaltender Keith Kinkaid.  Both teams have announced the move and have confirmed that the players have been sent down to their respective minor league clubs.

Bowers made his NHL debut this season but it was a short-lived one as he was injured in the first period.  The 2017 first-round pick has spent the bulk of the year in the minors, picking up 14 points in 37 games with AHL Colorado.  Bowers is on a one-year, two-way contract that pays $750K in the NHL and just $100K in the minors and he’ll be a restricted free agent with arbitration eligibility this summer.  The subtraction of Kinkaid partially clears up a logjam between the pipes with AHL Providence who are now down to two goalies on the roster plus Michael DiPietro playing at the ECHL level.

As for Kinkaid, the 33-year-old is a veteran of 168 career NHL appearances over parts of 10 seasons.  However, he has just 11 of those over the past three years as he has settled in as a veteran third-stringer.  He has a 3.10 GAA with a .909 SV% in 20 games at the AHL level so far and will give the Avs some extra insurance between the pipes with Pavel Francouz currently out with a lower-body injury.  He’s also on a one-year, two-way deal worth the minimum in the NHL although his AHL pay is considerably higher at $450K.  Kinkaid will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

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