Colorado Avalanche: Reaction to the 1st Prospect Reassignments

The Colorado Avalanche have reassigned 10 players in their first wave of roster moves in the preseason. Some of the moves are surprising.

In the first round of reassignments, the Colorado Avalanche have sent eight prospects up to Loveland and two back to their major junior teams. The roster now sits at 45, which is just under double of the ultimately allowed 23.

The reassignments almost certainly represent disappointment on the prospects’ sides. However for fans, the waves of reassignments bring us closer to the opening night roster — and opening night itself. On my side, though, I always feel a little disappointment — or chagrin — when players I thought were in the running get reassigned.

A few of the players were completely unsurprising:

Kevin Davis, defenseman
Nolan De Jong, defenseman
Grayson Downing, center
Turner Ottenbreit, defenseman

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Once rookie camp and the prospect tournament were over, I didn’t notice those players at all. None of them played in last night’s preseason game, which makes me think they were just around to fill out drills during training camp. All four of them are headed up to the Colorado Eagles in Loveland.

These next four players were a little surprising and disappointing:

JC Beaudin, center
Matthew Boucher, left wing
Josh Dickinson, center
Julien Nantel, center

Beaudin and Nantel, both of whom are Avalanche draft picks, played in the Vegas game. I thought neither looked too bad or too good compared to other prospects in the game.

Neither Dickinson nor Boucher played in the game. I thought they’d been looking pretty good in their camp days, though. Anyway, all four are headed to Loveland.

Nick Henry and Brandon Saigeon, both Avalanche draft picks, are the two kickers. Both have been reassigned. Neither has a pro contract, so they’re both heading to their major juniors teams (Regina Pats and Hamilton Bulldogs respectively).

Nick Henry was one of my favorite draft picks from 2017. He had been scouted to go as high as the third round, but the Avalanche stole him in the fourth round. He’s a speedy winger with some finesse to his game. He got a little lost in the swarm of prospects at training camp, so I guess he didn’t make enough of an impression on the front offices.

Brandon Saigeon was the big surprise. He was one of the most solid prospects in both camps and at the rookie tournament. Indeed, during training camp, he was skating with NHLers JT Compher and Matt Calvert. He didn’t have a great preseason game, but I didn’t think it was bad enough to reassign him so quickly.

In fact, I wrote just this morning before the reassignment news hit that I thought he was earning a pro contract.

It’s been said that the Colorado Avalanche might be looking at their overall contract situation. They already have 47 players signed with 50 as the limit. If Cale Makar turns pro at the end of this college season — and indicators look pretty good that he will — they’ll need a contract for him. The same could be said for Shane Bowers. Maybe they don’t want to cut it that close.

Well, hopefully both Henry and Saigeon have stellar years with their major juniors teams, thus forcing the Avs to give them another consideration next offseason.

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The Colorado Avalanche are holding the following practice sessions tomorrow:

Group 1: 8:45-10:15 a.m.
Group 2: 10:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

It’s hard to say if they’ll get enough information out of that practice session for the next wave of reassignments, or if they’ll wait until after the next preseason game. Colorado is traveling to Minnesota for an afternoon game against the Wild. The roster hasn’t been announced yet, but I’m guessing NHLers who didn’t play last night will play then.

It will also be interesting to see how line combinations both in practice and in the game shake out as that might give us an idea of who’s still on the cusp of making the team. Depending on injuries, the Avs might have two forward and two defenseman slots open.

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