Colorado Avalanche Free Agency Profile: Matt Calvert

The Colorado Avalanche will likely look to augment their scoring in free agency. One potential target is Matt Calvert.

The Colorado Avalanche don’t have a lot of elite options in free agency this year, and that’s ok. The team has its core and just needs to augment the top line while the youngsters mature.

Likewise, as I noted, the Avalanche are probably not in on Columbus Blue Jackets left wing Artemi Panarin, who seems to have warmer, more beachy, less MacKinnonny (or other star) destinations in mind. However, the Avs and BJs are thick as thieves.

Indeed, the Colorado Avalanche seem to be in on Columbus journeyman forward Matt Calvert:

Let’s see what Calvert might bring to the table.

Matt Calvert

Age: 28
Height: 5’11″
Weight: 186 lbs.
Position: Left wing
Shoots: Left
Previous Contract: 3 years, $2.2 million AAV
Previous Teams: Columbus Blue Jackets

Matt Calvert isn’t the biggest of wingers, but he’s not the smallest either. (That distinction probably goes to 5-foot-7, 179-pound Mats Zuccarello.) He’s also not going to display the high-end stick skills of, say, a Mikko Rantanen.

That said, Calvert is a player with a compete level that doesn’t quit. He doesn’t take shifts off or wait for later in the game to kick into high gear. Rather, he brings his brand of hockey at full intensity to every game.

This wasn’t exactly his shining moment:

We’re certainly not looking to have that happen here. He got suspended one game for that move. (Gabriel Landeskog would have been banned from the NHL. Tom Kuhnhackl would have been given a penalty for breaking Sidney Crosby‘s stick.)

Some other notables of Calvert’s meat-and-potatoes game is that he’s not afraid to get into the dirty areas. What’s more, he plays smart hockey. (The above play notwithstanding.)

And all that’s not to say he can’t play the game. He certainly can set up his linemates to score or pot a few in himself. As a bonus, he’s a good penalty-killing winger.

Here’s an example of Calvert not giving up on the play.

This was fun:

It was pretty impressive how he got over his initial mistake to make an incredible play. Likewise, we can all hear

Peter McNab

go into conniptions if Calvert takes Sam Girard’s patented spin-o-rama and

scores

.

Matt Calvert and the Colorado Avalanche

The two things that I think attract the Colorado Avalanche about Matt Calvert are his work ethic and his hockey IQ. He may not have the elite puck skills and skating the team prefers. However, they like journeymen with those two qualities.

What’s more, Calvert can offer some veteran presence. He’s not exactly an aging veteran at the age of 28. However, the Avs have 10 regular players under the age of 25 (which is also their average age, including the non-returning Blake Comeau), so 28 is pretty veteran compared to that.

My feeling is the Avalanche are looking to get four years younger if they sign Calvert. In other words, he’d be the replacement for 32-year-old Comeau. I’d expect them to slot him into Carl Soderberg‘s line with Matt Nieto on the other side.

Other Free Agency Profiles:

• Michal Kempny
• Connor Brickley
• Chris Wagner
• Scott Wedgewood
• Calvin de Haan
• James van Riemsdyk
• Dylan DeMelo

Free Agency Frenzy begins this Sunday, July 1, at 10 am MT. Teams have been able to contact players of interest all week.