Chris Bigras
Defenseman Chris Bigras was a surprise that he didn’t make the roster last year. His conditioning apparently wasn’t what the Colorado Avalanche wanted to see last summer. He then suffered a concussion that limited his games last season — which also diminished his chance at getting a call up.
This season, Chris Bigras looks raring to go. I don’t know how he did with his conditioning testing, which took place before camp started. However, he was fighting on the ice during camp:
That said, as he told Avs insider Rick Sadowski, he’s not taking anything for granted. After his injury last season, he worked hard over the summer. He especially focused on bulking up:
"“As far as development wise, I have put on some good muscle mass coming from the first couple years that I’ve been here to now, so hopefully the summer that I had pays off on the ice.”"
He’s also another player who feels at ease with the Colorado Avalanche system — he played 31 games with the Avs during the 2015-16 season, including the storied Stadium Series game.
Bigras is one of three defensemen GM Joe Sakic said will be given “long looks” over the course of camp and the preseason. Here’s another one.