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Colorado Avalanche: Top 5 Training Camp Battles

By Janik Beichler

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Colorado Avalanche Battle #1

Nick Holden vs. Brad Stuart vs. Zach Redmond vs. Nate Guenin vs. Duncan Siemens vs. Chris Bigras

Jan 27, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; Colorado Avalanche defenseman Nick Holden (2) skates in warm-ups prior to the game against the Dallas Stars at the American Airlines Center. The Avalanche defeated the Stars 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

While Nick Holden may be good enough to battle Nikita Zadorov for the second-pairing slot, he may have to fight to get a spot at all, if Zadorov beats him. The only D-men with guaranteed roster spots seem to be Johnson, Barrie, Beauchemin and Zadorov. So what about the other six?

If the first two D-pairings are made up of Johnson, Barrie, Beauchemin and Zadorov, that leaves the third-pairing spots up for grabs. Unfortunately, the fact that six players will fight for those two spots, does not mean that the Avalanche have great depth. It rather means that the team has less than six players that really deserve to play in the NHL.

The favorites to make it are surely Holden and Redmond, with Stuart being the favorite to be the seventh defenseman. However, Guenin won’t go down to the AHL without putting up a fight, while Bigras and Siemens have outside shots at making it. We’ll see how that situation unfolds.

What do you think will be the biggest battles at Colorado Avalanche training camp? Let us know in the comments!

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