There are plenty of Colorado Avalanche prospects in the system right now who would probably all like to make the NHL team as soon as possible. Of course it is not quite that easy. Avalanche prospects, as well as those of any other team, often have to fight experienced veterans for roster spots. And then of course, there are their fellow prospects.
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Nevertheless, there are some that could very well make the jump in the upcoming season and become full-time Avalanche players. Theoretically, there would not be many teams in the league that offer a better chance for rookies to make the jump than the Avalanche. Practically, however, the situation may turn out to be slightly different.
As analyzed in our big roster outlook, the Colorado Avalanche, well, messed up when they signed some below-average defensemen to fairly big — and even worse — one-way contracts. I don’t want to call out any names, but, er, Brad Stuart, Nick Holden, Nate Guenin. According to generalfanager.com, those three players have a combined salary cap hit of $6.05M — no matter what league they play in. Add to that the one-way contracts of Marc-Andre Cliche and Patrick Bordeleau and you’ve got your prospects a little problem.
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After all re-signings and potential free agent signings, the Avalanche may end up being fairly close to the salary cap. Therefore, sending down the above-mentioned players with one-way contracts and putting in some of the rookies on two-way contracts might not be an option. Still, there are some players that may get the chance to become full-time NHL players, if the salary cap hit is nice to them.
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