Colorado Avalanche Recall Anton Blidh
After moving forward Shane Bowers to injured reserve last night, the Colorado Avalanche has refilled his spot on the active roster. Colorado has now recalled forward Anton Blidh from the AHL’s Colorado Eagles, as announced by the team Tuesday night.
Blidh, 27, has skated in just one NHL contest thus far in 2022-23 after suiting up a career-high 32 times for the Boston Bruins last season. The 2013 sixth-round pick signed a one-year, two-way contract with Colorado in free agency in August.
His lone appearance this season came in an October 19 overtime loss against the Winnipeg Jets, recording a shot and a hit in just 6:09 of play. Blidh was returned to the Eagles the following day.
While he is not waivers exempt, he will not require waivers for nine more NHL games or 26 more days on the Avalanche roster, whichever expires sooner. Blidh cleared waivers pre-season on October 10.
Colorado does not play again until November 17, when they begin a three-game road trip against the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh.
Injury Notes: Allison, Bowers, Knyzhov
A trio of roster transactions involving injured players were made tonight, starting with the Philadelphia Flyers. According to CapFriendly, the team has moved forward Wade Allison to injured reserve, signifying he’ll miss at least five more days with a lower-body injury.
Allison was placed on injured reserve retroactive to November 12 and will miss at least the team’s upcoming three-game road trip against Columbus, Boston, and Montreal. The 25-year-old left Saturday’s game against Ottawa after laying a hit on Senators defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker, and The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor reported yesterday that Allison won’t miss too much time. Through 14 games this season, Allison has contributed three goals and an assist.
- The Colorado Avalanche have moved forward Shane Bowers to injured reserve, according to CapFriendly, freeing up a roster spot for any potential call-ups. On Saturday, Bowers was given a six-week timeline by head coach Jared Bednar after sustaining an upper-body injury 1:46 into his NHL career. The team did not have any extra roster spots for healthy players, with all non-dressed players out with injuries.
- The San Jose Sharks have also moved defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov to long-term injured reserve. Knyzhov, 24, has not played hockey since suiting up for all 56 games of the shortened 2020-21 season. A groin injury kept him out for the entirety of 2021-22, and an Achilles injury is expected to keep him out until mid-February.
Kurtis MacDermid Out 4-6 Weeks
Hybrid winger/defenseman Kurtis MacDermid will be out four to six weeks with a lower-body injury, according to Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar. MacDermid left the game on Saturday and did not return. The team has recalled Jayson Megna and Sampo Ranta, with the latter expected to play tonight.
MacDermid, 28, is something of a utility player for the Avalanche, playing a handful of minutes whenever they need some added toughness in the lineup. In eight games this season he has one point, 14 penalty minutes, and 22 hits – all while averaging fewer than eight minutes a game. For his career, the 6’5″ behemoth has 23 points in 184 games.
Ranta, meanwhile, is an interesting prospect for the team, who suited up for two games earlier this season but barely played. The 22-year-old is still looking for his first NHL point and is by no means a replacement for MacDermid’s toughness. That role will go to Andreas Englund, who was recalled yesterday. He’ll make his Colorado debut and help on the penalty kill, adding another big frame to the blueline. In 33 NHL games, all with the Ottawa Senators, Englund has three points.
Colorado Avalanche Recall Andreas Englund
The Colorado Avalanche announced that they have recalled defenseman Andreas Englund from the Colorado Eagles, their AHL affiliate. No corresponding move has been announced. The transaction brings Colorado to 22 of a possible 23 skaters, according to their official roster page.
Englund, 26, has been in the Colorado organization since the start of the 2021-22 season, but has never played a game with the Avalanche. The defenseman isn’t much of an offensive force, coming into today with just three points in 12 AHL games to start the season, but has certainly brought a physical element to his game, recording 38 penalty minutes in those same 12 games.
Should Englund find his way into the lineup with the Avalanche, it would mark his first NHL action since 2019-20, when he played in 24 games as a member of the Ottawa Senators. Once a fairly well-regarded prospect with Ottawa, a second-round pick back in 2014, Englund spent four seasons in the Senators organization before departing North America entirely for the 2020-21 season. He would return for the 2021-22 season, signing on with the Eagles, where he impressed with 12 points, a +1 rating, and a whopping 103 penalty minutes in just 57 games, good enough to earn him a two-way NHL contract for this season.
Shane Bowers Out Six Weeks With Upper-Body Injury
- It’s been a long road for forward Shane Bowers between being a first-round pick in 2017 and his NHL debut on Thursday night, and unfortunately, he’ll have to wait a while longer to play in NHL game number two. The 23-year-old suffered an upper-body injury after just 1:46 of time-on-ice Thursday and is now out long-term. According to Adrian Dater of Colorado Hockey Now, who spoke to Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar, Bowers is expected to miss six weeks. The injury is surely a tough break for Bowers both physically and mentally, however after several years of sub-par performance that interrupted his development, he had been off to a strong start in 2022-23, recording six points in ten AHL games. That performance, combined with his once-high prospect status is something the Avalanche will surely keep in mind as he works his way back.
Samuel Girard Getting Closer To Returning
- The Avalanche hope that blueliner Samuel Girard can resume skating today as he works his way back from a lower-body injury sustained earlier this week, relays Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (Twitter link). The 24-year-old has had a bit more limited usage than he has been accustomed to this season as his ATOI is down more than two and a half minutes from last year although he’s still logging over 19 minutes a night. With Bowen Byram also out of the lineup, the depth on Colorado’s back end is getting tested.
Colorado Recalls Jayson Megna
With Shane Bowers suffering an injury early in his NHL debut on Thursday, the Avalanche needed to make a move to recall another forward for their game tonight against Carolina. That move has now been made as the team announced (Twitter link) that Jayson Megna has been recalled from AHL Colorado.
Megna is no stranger to being shuffled back and forth this season as this is already his fourth recall and has been sent back down within two days each time. Despite the limited time on the NHL roster, the 32-year-old has played in three games this season with the Avs already, logging 5:33 per contest on the fourth line. He also has three goals and three assists in nine games with the Eagles.
It’s worth noting that Colorado entered today with just $500K in LTIR space, per CapFriendly. Even though Megna’s on a league minimum contract, that’s not enough room to work him in. Accordingly, they had to transfer another one of their injured players to LTIR, joining Darren Helm who was recently put on there. Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin were the logical candidates on that front since both will miss the required minimum of 10 games and 24 days and CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that it is Landeskog that has been moved to LTIR.
Darren Helm Undergoes Additional Surgery; Shane Bowers Injured
- Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar told reporters today, including Jesse Montano of DNVR Sports, that forward Darren Helm had another surgery (reported to be a hip abductor muscle procedure) and is “on the mend.” Helm, 35, has yet to play this season after suffering an abdominal injury during last year’s Stanley Cup run. He has now been moved to LTIR, giving the team roughly $500,000 in cap space to work with as injuries pile up.
Shane Bowers Officially Recalled, Will Make NHL Debut
- The Avalanche officially registered the recall of forward Shane Bowers today, per the AHL’s transactions log, paving the way for him to make his NHL debut tonight. The 23-year-old was a first-round pick (28th overall) back in 2017 and is the final first rounder from that draft class to make an NHL appearance. Bowers is off to a good start with AHL Colorado with six points in his first ten games this season.
Alex Galchenyuk Signs AHL Contract
Now that he has been cleared from injury, Alex Galchenyuk has signed an AHL contract with the Colorado Eagles, according to Chris Johnston of NorthStar Bets. The veteran forward was in Colorado Avalanche camp on a professional tryout when he suffered the injury, and head coach Jared Bednar had told reporters at the time that he expected him back with the organization at some point.
An AHL deal will allow the 28-year-old to get back up to speed in the minor leagues and try to prove he deserves another NHL deal, a path he has taken before. In 2021, after clearing waivers with the Carolina Hurricanes, Galchenyuk was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, who stuck him in the minor leagues to “rebuild” his game. After six excellent appearances with the Toronto Marlies – the only AHL games of his career – Galchenyuk was back up and a regular in the Toronto lineup.
Last season, he scored 21 points in 60 games with the Arizona Coyotes, and headed into the offseason looking for a new opportunity. It seemed like Colorado could be the perfect place, given how much depth they lost at the forward position, but an injury robbed him of the chance. Now, with the Avalanche dealing with injuries upfront, perhaps there will be a new opening for him to reclaim his place as an NHLer.
It is unlikely that Galchenyuk ever returns to the 30-goal scorer he was as a young player in Montreal but perhaps he can carve out a new role as a reliable secondary scoring option deeper in the lineup. He’ll have to prove it for the Eagles first.