Avalanche Roster: 5 Forwards Who Could Make the Team

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The Colorado Avalanche made some significant roster moves over draft weekend and on free agency day. The top nine forward positions are looking pretty good to shake out in the following lines:

Jarome Iginla-Matt Duchene-Alex Tanguay

Gabriel Landeskog-Carl Soderberg-Nathan MacKinnon

Blake Comeau-John Mitchell-Mikhail Grigorenko (if signed)

The top nine will probably start out looking that way anyway — head coach Patrick Roy is almost certain to start trying MacKinnon on center more often, so he could move down to the third line while Mitchell moves up as Soderberg’s wing. Or [algebraic equation] what other combinations coach Roy might come up with.

The biggest area of question is the fourth line. Coach Roy wants it centered by Jesse Winchester — if he’s healthy. He missed the entire 2014-15 season with post-concussion symptoms, so there’s no telling if he’ll actually be able to play. If not, the line might get centered by Marc-Andre Cliche again.

Or it might get a new center, one of a crop of prospects the Avalanche have coming up. Let’s look at five forwards who might just crack the Colorado Avalanche roster next season.

Borna Rendulic

Colorado Avalanche right wing Borna Rendulic is out for eight weeks with a broken leg. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Position: Right wing

Height: 6′ 2″

Weight: 200 pounds

Shoots: Right

Borna Rendulic played 11 games with the Avalanche during the 2014-15 season before an injury took him out. He didn’t make the team from the get-go, so I still consider him a prospect.

Rendulic certainly has the size coach Roy prizes. He didn’t put up fantastic numbers during his first North American season, though. He got a goal and an assists with the Avalanche and four goals and four assists in 26 games with the Lake Erie Monsters.

Borna Rendulic is touted as a natural scorer, though. He has the skating ability and the hands. His lack of offensive production could well have been a reaction last season to the unfamiliar style of North American play. Rendulic is the first-ever Croatian-born, Croatian-trained player to crack the NHL.

Rendulic came in strong last preseason and looked good to make the team until fellow European Dennis Everberg stone the show. If Rendulic has another strong showing in the preseason, he could well find himself on the Avalanche roster.

Freddie Hamilton

Mar 25, 2015; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Colorado Avalanche forward Freddie Hamilton (13) skates against the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports

Position: Center, left wing

Height: 6′ 0″

Weight: 192 pounds

Shoots: Right

Freddie Hamilton is another player who spend some time with the Colorado Avalanche once injuries started taking the players out like flies. He was a pick up at the trading deadline and reported immediately to the Monsters. Five games in he got the call to join the Avalanche.

Hamilton has been a player who bounces back and forth between the NHL and AHL. During the 2014-15 season he played 57 games in the AHL, most of them with the San Jose Sharks’ Worcester Sharks. In those games he scored 11 goals and earned 34 points total. He scored his first-ever NHL goal in one of his 17 games with the Avalanche.

Hamilton is mostly a defensive-minded forward — coach Roy like defense from his forwards. He’s a physical player who’s not afraid to dive right into the corners. He doesn’t shy away from hard work. In short, he’s a younger, slightly more talented version of Marc-Andre Cliche, with a little more finish on his shot.

Andrew Agozzino

View image | gettyimages.com

Position: Left wing

Height: 5′ 9″

Weight: 185 pounds

Shoots: Left

Andrew Agozzino is a small guy — we’re talking Daniel Briere small. However, he’s also an offensive little guy. He can score some goals and set up some plays.

With the Lake Erie Monsters last season he put up a very impressive 30 goals and 34 assists for 64 points. He played just one game with the Avalanche, but he accrued a point then, too — an assist. Collecting points just comes naturally to Andrew Agozzino.

Agozzino had a bit of a rough preseason last year, so I don’t think he was ever in contention to make the team. However, he works hard, plays with grit and has speed as well. If he comes into training camp that way in the upcoming season, he might just have a spot on that fourth line.

Joey Hishon

Joey Hishon warms up prior to the Burgundy and White game at Magness Arena. September 21, 2014 -Denver University. Photo credit to Heather Williams.

Position: Center

Height: 5′ 10″

Weight: 172 pounds

Shoots: Left

Joey Hishon is definitely the fan favorite for making the team next year. The Avalanche selected Hishon at #17 just one year after getting Matt Duchene and Ryan O’Reilly. Avalanche fans have been waiting awhile for him to come up.

However, during the 2011 Memorial Cup, Kootenay Ice defenseman Brayden McNabb illegally elbowed Hishon in a horrible play that gave him a concussion. Hishon missed the entire 2011-12 season and the first half of the 2012-13 season with post-concussion syndrome. Hishon suffered another concussion just a few games into his pro debut with the Lake Erie Monsters.

There’s no doubt that Hishon is injury-prone. However, he has such promise. He scored 16 goals and 20 assists with the Lake Erie Monsters. In just 13 games with the Avalanche he earned two points — a goal and an assist. He’s a speedy little guy and determined to make a go of a sport that keeps injuring him. Here’s hoping he can make the Avalanche roster.

Mikko Rantanen

Jun 26, 2015; Sunrise, FL, USA; Mikko Rantanen puts on a team cap after being selected as the number ten overall pick to the Colorado Avalanche in the first round of the 2015 NHL Draft at BB&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Position: Center

Height: 6′ 4″

Weight: 209 pounds

Shoots: Left

Mikko Rantanen was the Colorado Avalanche’s #10 draft pick this season. Rantanen is a big center in the model of what coach Roy wants. He uses his size to effect, but he’s also a nimble skater with soft hands. He’s oh-so-very talented.

In 56 games with the Finnish elite league, Liiga, Mikko Rantanen scored nine goals and earned 19 points. Keep in mind he put up those numbers as a 17-year-old playing in Finland’s version of the NHL. More impressively, he played in the same league the previous year als well.

In other words, Rantanen has been compering with the big boys for awhile. However, he hasn’t played with the big boys in the more physical North American clubs. There’s no news that he’s decided to sign with the Avalanche just yet, though he is expected to return for the development camp. I imagine he’ll show up at training camp as well.

Rantanen is the only Colorado draftee who might make the Avalanche roster out of training camp.

Note: I didn’t include Dennis Everberg on this list because technically he already made the team. He’s still on injured reserve and might not even make it for training camp.

Next: Will Mikko Rantanen Make the Avs out of Camp?

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