- A day after being papered down to the minors, the Avalanche announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled defenseman Brad Hunt from AHL Colorado. The 34-year-old inked a two-year deal with the Avs in the summer and has played in four games with the big club so far, collecting an assist while logging a little over 10 minutes per game. He has been quite productive with the Eagles though, notching six goals and 14 helpers in 22 games at the minor league level.
Avalanche Rumors
Colorado Avalanche Recall Jonas Johansson
The Colorado Avalanche have announced that goaltender Jonas Johansson has been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles.
The move comes after Avalanche backup netminder Pavel Francouz secured his team a 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers last night. As no corresponding move was announced regarding the Avalanche’s goalies, this recall adds a third name to Colorado’s situation in the crease.
The 27-year-old Johansson earns this recall on the back of his impressive AHL performance so far this season. Through 12 games Johansson has a .929 save percentage and 2.10 goals-against-average.
Over the past two seasons Johansson’s career has had quite the journey. He was traded to the Avalanche from the Buffalo Sabres in 2021, when the Avalanche were in desperate need of a goalie. The team surrendered a sixth-round pick to acquire him, and then lost him on waivers to the Florida Panthers in December of that year.
After a two-game stint in Florida that included a disastrous start against the Montreal Canadiens in their final game of the regular season, where he surrendered ten goals, Johansson hit unrestricted free agency this past summer.
He was signed to a one-year, $750k deal with a hefty $350k AHL salary, with the idea of him playing in a tandem in the AHL with Justus Annunen.
That idea was nearly blown up after the Arizona Coyotes claimed Johansson off of waivers in late September, but nearly two weeks later the Avalanche were able to re-acquire him after he was waived by Arizona.
It’s unclear at this moment if this recall is motivated by any injury developments to either Francouz or Alexandar Georgiev.
Evan Rodrigues To Return For Colorado
- Evan Rodrigues, who hasn’t played since November 23, is “ready to go” for tonight’s Colorado Avalanche game. The Avalanche have struggled with injuries throughout the year but are starting to get healthy again and have won two in a row. Rodrigues, who was brought in on a one-year deal in the offseason, had six goals and nine points in 18 games before getting forced out of the lineup.
Seattle Kraken, Colorado Avalanche Looking For Centers
As analytical models have gained in popularity, dissecting hockey into a series of micro statistics, the importance of faceoff percentage has declined. Don’t tell NHL coaches that, though. There’s nothing that makes a bench calmer than having a reliable option to take defensive zone draws, and at the very least avoid losing them clean.
When it comes to the trade deadline, relatively one-dimensional centers (often called two-way players, despite not having much upside in a rather important direction) are swapped regularly. So, while most will be focused on big names like Bo Horvat or Jakob Chychrun as trade season arrives, there should also be some time spent considering these depth additions, and which teams are on the lookout for help in the dot.
In his latest 32 Thoughts column for Sportsnet, Elliotte Friedman pointed out two clubs that are already poking around in this area. The Seattle Kraken, ranked 32nd overall in faceoff percentage, and the Colorado Avalanche, 31st, are looking for centers.
Seattle’s struggles there are to be expected. The pivot position was always going to be a weakness for the team as they started their NHL journey, as clubs were loath to leave centers exposed in the expansion draft. Add in the youth of Matthew Beniers, who has taken the second-most draws on the club, and you have a recipe for disaster on the dot. Young centers often struggle with faceoffs, as they try to learn the tricks and techniques that veterans use to get an advantage. Take Auston Matthews, for instance, who was a 46.9% faceoff man in his rookie year, only to reach 56.2% last season.
While Beniers will likely get better, the same can’t be said for Alexander Wennberg, who has been under 50% for every year of his career. Yanni Gourde has been up-and-down but is struggling with a 45.9% this season. All three of them are left-handed, leaving 24-year-old Morgan Geekie as the only right-handed option for them at the moment.
For Colorado, it really comes down to the fact that Gabriel Landeskog hasn’t been healthy this year. A winger by trade, he is the team’s best faceoff player and often takes the most important draws of the game. He has taken at least 400 faceoffs in each of the last five seasons, and won more than 54% of them. Without him, the team has to rely on Nathan MacKinnon, who has always been below average, and J.T. Compher, whose best season reached 51.4%.
Faceoff percentage isn’t as important as some believe. After all, a 40% player still wins four of every ten draws. But if you are trying to find trade targets that a club might go after, it still carries significant weight.
Colorado Avalanche Activate, Reassign Shane Bowers
The Colorado Avalanche have reassigned forward Shane Bowers after activating him from injured reserve, the team announced Wednesday night.
Bowers’ return comes ahead of schedule after the team gave him a six-week recovery timeline from an upper-body injury on November 12. He sustained the injury after skating just three shifts in his NHL debut two days earlier.
Now 23, the 2017 first-round pick finally seemed to be getting back on track in his development. He’d recorded single-digit point totals in the AHL in both 2020-21 and 2021-22, and his offensive ceiling was stalling quickly.
A strong camp propelled him further up the organizational depth chart. He managed six points through 10 games with the Colorado Eagles before earning a call-up to the injury-ravaged Avalanche. If he maintains that 0.6 points-per-game pace in the minors, he’ll be on track for a career year in the minors and potentially looking at cracking the lineup full-time in 2023-24.
That’s a long way from certain, though, as his professional career has been plagued by inconsistency. The team hopes that his lengthy absence was just a bump in the road and he can get back to building up confidence in the AHL.
Artturi Lehkonen Returning To Colorado Avalanche Lineup
After suffering a concussion on December 3rd, Colorado Avalanche forward Artturi Lehkonen is expected back in the lineup for this afternoon’s contest on the road in St. Louis against the Blues, says Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. Lehkonen was never placed on IR with the injury, missing three games and seven days total. At last report on Thursday, the veteran had been placed in concussion protocol. According to Durando, Lehkonen will skate on the top line this afternoon alongside Mikko Rantanen and Valeri Nichushkin.
Colorado’s injury woes this season have been well reported, the consistent and significant injuries sending the reigning Stanley Cup Champions into a fight for a playoff position even at the one-third mark of the season. After losing Nichushkin for over a month, the team then found out they’d be without perennial Hart Trophy candidate Nathan MacKinnon for four weeks, only compounding the issue. Beyond just their stars, which also includes Gabriel Landeskog, who has yet to play this season, Colorado has lost a number of secondary and depth options for small and large portions of the season.
Lehkonen has been one of the bright spots for the Avalanche so far this season, recording seven goals and 11 assists through 22 games, well on his way to a career-year. The team will need him to keep that scoring pace up in order to do their best to navigate other injuries, like MacKinnon’s, but it’s not yet known what sort of lingering effect, if any, will come with the concussion.
Staying on the injury front, Durando adds that Darren Helm and Evan Rodrigues are not yet ready to return to the lineup. Helm, who has yet to play this season, has been close to returning and was even a possibility to play this weekend, but will clearly need to wait a little bit longer to make his season debut. Rodrigues hasn’t played since suffering a lower-body injury against the Vancouver Canucks back on November 23rd, but had been a bright spot amid the injuries, with nine points in his first 18 games for Colorado.
Cal Burke Sent Back To AHL
- Following their game last night, the Avalanche announced (Twitter link) that they’ve sent forward Cal Burke back to AHL Colorado. Burke played just under seven minutes last night in his second career NHL appearance. The Avs are off until tomorrow and at that point, it’s possible that Burke will be recalled.
Valeri Nichushkin Activated Off IR
It has been a rough season when it comes to injuries for the Avalanche to the point where they have been without five of their top six forwards recently. However, they will welcome a key part of their attack back tonight as winger Valeri Nichushkin has been activated off injured reserve. He had missed the last month after undergoing ankle surgery.
The 27-year-old had a breakout year for Colorado last season, setting new career highs across the board offensively and becoming a legitimate impact power forward. The Avs rewarded him with a max-term extension to make sure he didn’t hit the open market as he inked an eight-year, $49MM pact two days before free agency opened up.
With Nichushkin only having that one breakout year, the move appeared to carry some risk but he got off to a blistering start this season before the injury as he had seven goals and five assists in his first seven contests while playing on the top line in Gabriel Landeskog’s absence. With Colorado still dealing with a long list of injuries, he’ll almost certainly be in a similar role right away.
Speaking of that injury list, the Avs are still without defensemen Josh Manson, Bowen Byram, and Kurtis MacDermid while Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, and Artturi Lehkonen highlight the list of six forwards that are still injured. Of those, Lehkonen is the closest to returning as he’s listed as day-to-day.
Five Players Clear Waivers
Dec 9: All five players have cleared, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Rooney, Benson, Kaut, and Carpenter can now be assigned to the minor leagues, while Berglund’s contract will be terminated.
Dec 8: It’s a busy Thursday on the waiver wire, as Kevin Rooney of the Calgary Flames, Tyler Benson of the Edmonton Oilers, Martin Kaut of the Colorado Avalanche, and Ryan Carpenter of the New York Rangers are all available for claim, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.
Boston Bruins defenseman Victor Berglund has also been placed on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a contract termination.
Rooney, 29, has not worked out quite as well as the Flames had hoped when they signed him to a two-year, $2.6MM contract in July. After scoring six goals and 12 points in 61 games last season for the New York Rangers, the depth forward has just a single assist in 17 matches for Calgary.
With today’s recall of Matthew Phillips, it appears as though the Flames will go in a different direction for their bottom six. Rooney’s contract will likely keep him from being claimed, though, meaning he can stay with the organization and try to get his game back on track. By moving him to the minor leagues, $1.125MM of his $1.3MM cap hit would come off the books.
For Benson, it’s not quite so rosy. The 24-year-old has played two games with the Oilers this season, barely seen the ice during them, and has no contract security past this year. The 32nd overall pick from 2016 has never been able to stick in the NHL despite strong numbers in the minor leagues, and appears to be a potential non-tender candidate next summer as an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent.
Kaut, 23, already cleared waivers at the beginning of this season, but had landed a regular spot in the Colorado lineup since and needed them again to go back to the minor leagues. The 2018 first-round pick has three points in 18 games this year, and was on the ice for multiple goals against in last night’s 4-0 loss to the Bruins.
The Avalanche haven’t been able to find any mix of depth forwards they are happy with, and continue to make changes on a near-daily basis. Kaut’s waiver placement doesn’t necessarily mean he’s headed back down, given all of the injuries they have. He also could be claimed, given his relatively young age and draft pedigree.
Carpenter, like Rooney, hasn’t been able to find the same level of play he had last season with his new team. The Rangers forward has just three points in 21 games and has become a fringe option, moving in and out of the lineup. Even with his familiarity with head coach Gerrard Galant, the Rangers can’t keep putting Carpenter out there without some more consistent play.
Berglund, 23, was picked 195th overall in 2017 and signed his entry-level deal in 2020. It is set to expire at the end of the year and he has barely played this season, meaning the two sides are just splitting a little early so he can chase a job somewhere else. The Swedish defenseman will be an unrestricted free agent and is likely headed back to Europe.
Colorado Avalanche Recall Brad Hunt
The Colorado Avalanche continue their daily roster changes, recalling Brad Hunt from the minor leagues. The veteran defenseman (who is no relation to Avalanche forward Dryden Hunt) will slot in on defense while Jacob MacDonald moves back to forward. After clearing waivers, Martin Kaut was sent down to make room.
Hunt, 34, has shown he’s still too good for the minor leagues this year, racking up six goals and 20 points in 22 games. This is his first time playing in the AHL since 2016-17, when he forced his way up to the NHL despite being an undersized, undrafted defenseman. There was no stopping Hunt in the minors; he has 229 career points in 309 AHL games, including 63 goals. Last season with the Vancouver Canucks, he added 17 points in 50 games, showing he could still be a capable offensive piece at the highest level.
This likely won’t be a long-term fix, though, as the Avalanche are close to getting two impact forwards back. Artturi Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin are both very close to getting back into the lineup, with the latter even being a game-time decision this evening. The defending champs are just 13-10-1 this season thanks to a huge number of injuries, and will try to start turning the corner as they get players back.
Alexandar Georgiev will get the start against his former team.