- Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar told reporters including Adrian Dater of Colorado Hockey Now (Twitter link) that winger Logan O’Connor may be available to play at some point in their series against Vegas. The 24-year-old played in 22 games during the regular season before suffering a lower-body injury in late March. While he is more of a role player, having someone that’s well-rested could be helpful later in the round if Bednar needs to tweak his lines.
Avalanche Rumors
Nazem Kadri To Appeal Suspension
May 27: Colorado head coach Jared Bednar told reporters including Mike Chambers of the Denver Post today that the appeal was in the “conclusion stage.” Today’s hearing was with the commissioner, which means Kadri can still appeal to a neutral arbitrator depending on the decision given in this first stage.
May 23: Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri has decided to appeal the eight-game suspension that he received earlier this week for an illegal hit on St. Louis defenseman, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link). He has already served the first two games (the second of which was today) so the process will need to move fairly quickly for him to have a chance of having any games shaved off.
The process can go through two separate stages. The first is a hearing with Commissioner Gary Bettman who can decide whether or not to uphold the eight-game ruling or to reduce it. If he opts to uphold it, Kadri can then appeal to have it heard by a neutral discipline arbitrator. Notably, this is the route Washington’s Tom Wilson took to have his 20-game suspension reduced to 14 back in 2018. However, it’s worth noting that this process takes some time; it was 13 days between Wilson’s hearing for the arbitrator to issue a ruling while taking a month after the incident took place to have a hearing. If this was to follow a similar timeline if it gets that far, Kadri’s entire suspension would have been served and a ruling would only reduce the absence on paper, if at all.
While the NHLPA is initiating this process through Kadri’s request, Line Movement’s Nick Kypreos reports (Twitter link) that Kadri is likely to hire outside counsel as well for his hearing. Players don’t always go that route but he will have ample representation for his hearing with Bettman which will likely take place over the next few days.
Colorado Avalanche Sign Trent Miner
The Colorado Avalanche have signed another one of their prospects, inking Trent Miner to a three-year entry-level contract. The young goaltender would have become an unrestricted free agent if not signed by June 1, but won’t have to worry about re-entering the draft.
Miner, 20, was originally selected 202nd overall by the Avalanche in 2019, but has quickly become more than just a seventh-round lottery ticket. In 15 games for the Vancouver Giants this season he posted a .915 save percentage, but it is the .903 he put up in six appearances for the Colorado Eagles that is so impressive. Miner even collected his first shutout at the AHL level when he blanked the Tucson Roadrunners in February, before he returned to the WHL for its shortened season.
In 84 games with the Giants, Miner has posted a 48-28-5 record and .910 save percentage. He’ll likely return to the Eagles for the 2021-22 season when this NHL contract kicks in, giving him a chance to show that his game lends itself better to the professional ranks than junior. At the very least, he gives the Avalanche another goaltender to plug into the pipeline and fill one of the minor league spots while they deal with the position at the NHL level. Philipp Grubauer, Devan Dubnyk, and Jonas Johansson are all unrestricted free agents at the end of the season, meaning there could be some opportunity for younger goaltenders to move up.
Colorado Avalanche Sign Alex Beaucage
Not a bad week so far for Alex Beaucage. On Sunday, he scored two goals in game four of the QMJHL semi-finals, on Tuesday his Victoriaville Tigres clinched a berth in the Presidents Cup finals, and today he has signed his entry-level contract with the Colorado Avalanche. The team announced the three-year contract this afternoon. Per CapFriendly, the deal carries a $925K AAV and breaks down as follows:
2021-22: $750K base salary, $92.5K signing bonus, $82.5K games played bonus
2022-23: $775K base salary, $92.5K signing bonus, $57.5K games played bonus
2023-24: $832.5K base salary, $92.5K signing bonus
Beaucage, 19, was selected 78th overall in 2019 by the Avalanche, part of an impressive class that has already produced NHL talent in Bowen Byram and Alex Newhook. He was the team’s fifth selection that year, but has already shown exactly why the Avalanche jumped at the opportunity to select him. In his first post-draft season, Beaucage recorded 40 goals in 63 games for the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, finishing tied for third in the league. This season he came back and put up 14 goals in 14 games for the Huskies before a late-season trade took him to Victoriaville. In the postseason he has been a dominant force, posting six goals and 17 points in ten games.
Though not an elite skater, the 6’1″ forward has learned to use his strength and excellent shot to create goals from anywhere in the offensive zone. Before this season Corey Pronman of The Athletic listed him as one of the Colorado prospects with NHL potential, and that certainly hasn’t changed in the shortened QMJHL year. If anything, Beaucage has established himself as another player to watch in the Avalanche system and one who could quickly work his way through the minor leagues if his goal-scoring ability transitions to the professional level.
For Colorado, that 2019 class is looking like an incredible piece of managerial work from GM Joe Sakic and his staff. Not only was the team already one of the most dangerous groups in the NHL but continue to supplement their roster with homegrown talent.
Colorado Avalanche Sign Jean-Luc Foudy
The Colorado Avalanche have a few days off between playoff series, so why not do a little planning for the future. The Avalanche announced today that they have signed prospect Jean-Luc Foudy to a three-year entry-level contract.
Foudy, 19, split this season between Sweden’s Hockey Ettan (third tier) and with the Colorado Eagles of the AHL, eligible for minor league hockey only because the OHL never returned to play. The third-round pick from 2020 scored three goals and registered 14 points in 34 games for the Eagles, playing almost every game as an 18-year-old before his birthday earlier this month. Though he was a team-worst -17, even playing at the AHL was an impressive development step for the young forward.
He is now stuck in that unique spot with several other OHL prospects who are too young to be eligible for the AHL again next season. If Foudy fails to make the Avalanche out of camp, he would be forced to return to his junior team the Windsor Spitfires. That is the most likely scenario, but still an odd one after playing an entire (albeit shortened) professional season.
Consider him a strong candidate for Canada’s World Junior team next winter after winning a Hlinka-Gretzky silver medal. His older brother Liam Foudy is currently suiting up for his country at the IIHF World Championship.
West Notes: Thomas, Blues, Kadri, Pacioretty
The St. Louis Blues have struggled mightily in its first-round playoff series with the Colorado Avalanche with little offense to show for itself. The team has scored just five goals over three games and needs some players to step up.
Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that one player the team needs more from is Robert Thomas. The 21-year-old looked like a promising youngster in his second season last year when he posted 10 goals and 42 points, but has struggled this year after missing 19 games with a broken hand, hasn’t produced on the ice. The center scored just three goals and 12 points in 33 games and has just two secondary assists so far in the playoffs.
“I think he’s gotta play with more energy and confidence in my opinion,” said Blues coach Craig Berube. “That’s a big thing I think I see with him, is the energy level’s a little low for him. He’s gotta find a little more emotion in his game and go out and play with some energy and emotion in the game. It’s hard to play the game in the playoffs without energy and emotion. And if he gets his energy levels up and gets more emotionally involved in the game, he’s gonna play better.”
- Sticking with the Blues, injuries continue to be a problem for St. Louis. Berube said that the team will be without Vince Dunn, Robert Bortuzzo and Justin Faulk for a pivotal Game 4, the team announced. There is a chance that Jake Walman could be available for the game, and Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports he will play in Game 4 after coming off the COVID-19 protocol list. Dunn is expected to miss his 15th straight game with an upper-body injury. Bortuzzo and Faulk will each miss their second straight with upper-body injuries.
- John Shannon of NHL.com reports that there still is no decision from forward Nazem Kadri about whether he intends to appeal his suspension. Kadri received an eight-game suspension Friday after his hit on Faulk in Game 2. If Kadri wants to appeal, it would go into the hands of commissioner Gary Bettman. If he doesn’t like Bettman’s response, it could go to a third-party arbitrator, but that could take quite a bit of time, according to the scribe. A decision likely will be made later today.
- Still no word on the status of Vegas Golden Knights’ Max Pacioretty as Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen reports that the top-scoring winger remains day-to-day. In fact, the forward has been day-to-day with an undisclosed injury since being injured on May 1. “We don’t know game to game whether he’ll be in, but it’s turned into obviously longer than we hoped,” said head coach Peter DeBoer.
Nazem Kadri Suspended Eight Games
The Department of Player Safety has reached a decision regarding Nazem Kadri and the Colorado Avalanche forward will not be available to the team for a while. Kadri has been issued an eight-game suspension for his hit on St. Louis Blues defenseman Justin Faulk. As the accompanying video explains:
It is important to note that while we accept Kadri’s arguement that he was attempting to deliver a full body check, the head was the main point of contact on this hit. While Kadri does make some contact with Faulk’s right shoulder and chest, the brunt of this impact is absorbed by the head of Faulk.
Kadri, 30, had already been suspended five times in his career before this incident, which occurred on Wednesday night in game two of the first-round series between the Avalanche and Blues. A five-minute major was assessed and Kadri was given a match penalty, which initiates an automatic review from the league. Faulk, who was immediately taken from the game, will not play in game three tonight but head coach Craig Berube did tell reporters including Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic there is a “chance” he returns at some point in this series.
Blues GM Doug Armstrong spoke with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic and indicated that though he doesn’t believe the time is now, a meaningful discussion about the state of player safety in the league needs to be had. He pointed directly to the hit on Robert Bortuzzo which also caused an injury but did not receive any supplementary discipline. Armstrong “isn’t looking to make headlines” according to LeBrun, but is “genuinely concerned.”
Kadri meanwhile will be replaced in the Avalanche lineup by Carl Soderberg for tonight’s game, a trade deadline acquisition that has played just 11 games since returning to the organization. Though Colorado has a stranglehold on the series after outscoring the Blues 10-4 in the first two games (both Avalanche wins), Kadri’s absence will be significant. The veteran center recorded 32 points in 56 games this season, averaging more than 16 minutes a night. Only Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen logged more powerplay time among Avalanche forwards.
In 2013, Kadri was suspended three games for interference. In 2015, he was given a four-game suspension for an illegal check to the head of Matt Fraser. In 2016, he was suspended the final four games of the regular season for a cross-check to the face of Luke Glendening. In the 2018 playoffs he received a three-game suspension for boarding Tommy Wingels. The following year he was suspended in the playoffs again, this time for the remainder of the first round (five games) for a cross-check on Jake Debrusk.
Colorado Recalls Eight Players
With Colorado’s AHL team falling 5-1 to San Jose in Wednesday’s play-in game, the Avalanche have made their end-of-season recalls to join their ’Black Aces’. Per CapFriendly, the following players have been brought up from the Eagles:
Goalies: Justus Annunen, Adam Werner
Defensemen: Kyle Burroughs, Keaton Middleton
Forwards: Martin Kaut, Sampo Ranta, Miikka Salomaki, T.J. Tynan
The majority of these players likely won’t see any action for the Avs during the postseason barring a rash of injuries but will continue to skate to stay in playing shape unless they’re called upon. Three of the eight – Burroughs, Middleton, and Kaut – saw NHL action this season with Burroughs being the only one to record a point, notching an assist in five games. Among the others, Annunen and Ranta are two of their better prospects but are highly unlikely to suit up and are just up for the experience.
Tynan was one of the top scorers in the AHL this season, averaging an assist per game while picking up eight goals in 27 contests. Among players who played in at least 20 games this season, his 1.30 points per game average was the best in the league. Salomaki has the most NHL experience among the group with 167 appearances spread across six seasons with Nashville but hasn’t yet had an opportunity to suit up for Colorado.
Nazem Kadri Offered In-Person Hearing With Department Of Player Safety
May 21: The hearing has been scheduled for this afternoon.
May 20: It has happened again, Nazem Kadri will be suspended in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Colorado Avalanche forward was given a match penalty and a five-minute major for his hit on St. Louis Blues defenseman Justin Faulk last night and today was offered an in-person hearing with the Department of Player Safety. The in-person hearing gives the league the option to suspend Kadri for more than five games, a likely situation given his history.
Kadri, 30, has been suspended five times in his career, including twice in the playoffs when he was with the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 2019, he was banned for the remaining five games of the Maple Leafs first-round series against the Boston Bruins for a cross-check on Jake Debrusk.
The incident occurred in the third period of last night’s game. As Faulk received a drop pass in the high slot and tried to release a shot, Kadri came across the middle and delivered a hard check. The blow appeared to catch Faulk’s head, as he spun and stayed down on the ice. Faulk would leave the game and the Blues did not yet update his status.
This kind of incident is a big part of the reason why the Maple Leafs traded Kadri, despite him being a very impressive player at both ends of the ice. In 56 games this season he scored 11 goals and 32 points, giving the team some strong depth scoring and physicality. The Avalanche will likely have to navigate the rest of the first round without him.
Nikolai Kovalenko To Leave Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, Considering Signing Entry-Level Contract
- Avalanche prospect Nikolai Kovalenko told Championnat’s Alexander Kozhevnikov that he is leaving Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the KHL due to unhappiness over his role. The 2018 sixth-rounder had a limited role this season but still managed to notch five goals and six assists in 41 games. The winger indicated that there are a couple of options he’s currently considering – signing with Colorado and coming to North America or staying in Russia and joining Ak Bars Kazan. As Kovalenko was drafted out of Russia, his NHL rights will be held indefinitely.