Colorado Avalanche: All About Defenseman David Warsofsky

The Colorado Avalanche signed defenseman David Warsofsky in free agency. He may try to make the NHL team.

The Colorado Avalanche promised they wouldn’t be making any big splashes in free agency, and they didn’t really. The team did pick up goalie Jonathan Bernier and forwards Colin Wilson (trade) and Nail Yakupov.

None of those would really count as big splashes, though. Colorado also signed a couple of their unrestricted free agents, forward Andrew Agozzino and goalie Joe Cannata. These are for the San Antonio Rampage.

One new player for the San Antonio Rampage is defenseman David Warsofsky.

David Warsofsky Bio

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David Warsofsky is from Weymouth, Massachusetts, a suburb of the Greater Boston area. He has a good-sized family that includes parents Mark and Dawn plus brothers Adam, Jarod and Ryan. He is Jewish.

Warsofsky played a year of high school hockey at Marshfield HS . He then transferred to and played for Cushing Academy, a private boarding school with a stellar hockey team, for two years. He rounded out by participating in the U.S. National Development Team.

The St. Louis Blues picked Warsofsky at #95 in the 2008 NHL Draft. He played hockey at Boston University for the next three years. On June 26, 2010, St. Louis traded Warsofsky’s rights to the Boston Bruins for forward Vladimir Sobotka.

In one way, this was an ideal situation for Warsofsky. Except for the year he’d participated in the USNDTP, he’d always played close to his hometown in Greater Boston, meaning his family could come support him. With the Bruins, even their AHL affiliate in Rhode Island, he could still get that support.

Of course, having so much family involvement can bring his own pressure. When Warsofsky signed with the Penguins, Warsofsky told the Boston Globe:

"“It’s kind of nice to get away for a bit. When you play that close and you live that close, the pressure of the family and friends coming to all the games and stuff — for me, I think it’s been a good opportunity to get away from that and focus on hockey a little bit more.”"

By that time Warsofsky had played seven years in the Bruins system, including 10 games with the Bruins themselves. He then signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the offseason of 2015.

David Warsofsky started the 2015-16 season in the AHL before being recalled to the Penguins. He did score a goal. Nonetheless, he was placed on waivers and claimed by the New Jersey Devils. He played 10 games for them.

Warsofsky signed another one-year, two-way deal with the Penguins last summer. He played seven games with Pittsburgh, but he spent the majority of the time in the AHL.

And now David Warswofsky has signed a two-year contract with the Colorado Avalanche. An interesting aspect of that is that his first year is one-way, while his second year returns to two-way status.

David Warsofsky Hockey Style

Age: 27
Height: 5’9”
Weight: 170 lbs.
Position: Defenseman
Shoots: Left
Previous Contract: 2 years, AAV $675,000
Previous Team: Pittsburgh Penguins (also New Jersey Devils, Boston Bruins)

Here’s how Hockey’s Future initally scouted David Warsofsky:

"“Warsofsky is a small but feisty offensive defenseman with excellent mobility, who’s able to push the pace with his skating and passing game. Smart and confident, he’s the kind of player who loves to attack and is even a threat short-handed. Despite his stature, he has a howitzer of a shot, but is more of a playmaker than a trigger man, spotting teammates in prime position and hitting them with soft, accurate passes.”"

The site does acknowledge that one of the holes in his game is defense — primarily that his naturally short stick makes it difficult to cover passing lanes. That said, it sounds like he brings good, puck-moving skills to the game.

Indeed, the Hockey News scouts Warsofsky as a “mobile, solid offesively” and a solid puck mover with “fairly good hockey sense. He’s considered a depth defenseman.

David Warsofsky and the Colorado Avalanche

Now, until I read that David Warsofsky’s first year of his contract is one-way, I had thought he was strictly for the San Antonio Rampage. However, the nature of that contract suggests he may be challenging for a spot on the Colorado Avalanche roster.

Warsofsky has played in 39 NHL games, recording two goals and four assists. He’s already 27, so that doesn’t suggest regular NHL material to me.

That said, the Colorado Avalanche love to find their diamonds in the rough. I’m guessing they’ll give him a chance at training camp and in the preseason to make the Avs roster. If he does, I imagine it will be so he can provide some additional veteran presence for Anton Lindholm, Andrei Mironov and Chris Bigras, though the last has almost as many NHL games under his belt.

Next: Avs Rebuilding the Right Way

Warsofsky may spend the majority of his Avs time as the seventh defenseman or as a bottom pairing player with one of the youngsters.