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Colorado Avalanche Have a Solid Player in Sheldon Dries

ByMary Callie Agnew|
DENVER, CO - JANUARY 23: Sheldon Dries #15 of the Colorado Avalanche takes to the ice prior to the game against the Minnesota Wild at the Pepsi Center on January 23, 2019 in Denver, Colorado.(Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - JANUARY 23: Sheldon Dries #15 of the Colorado Avalanche takes to the ice prior to the game against the Minnesota Wild at the Pepsi Center on January 23, 2019 in Denver, Colorado.(Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Colorado Avalanche have had Sheldon Dries on the fourth line pretty consistently.

colorado avalanche
DENVER, COLORADO – JANUARY 19: Sheldon Dries #15 of the Colorado Avalanche fights with Adrian Kempe #9 of the Los Angeles Kings in the third period at the Pepsi Center on January 19, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

In the last game Sheldon had the Colorado Avalanche’s first two shots on goal and appeared to be the Avs best player because he was pushing the play.

Sheldon is a player that you don’t see on the scoring sheet often. However, he does the things teams need. He plays sound defensively, which is why he’s pushed on to the pk unit as the fifth or sixth forward depending on the day. He also has a feisty side and will get in the other team’s face, no matter what his size is or what their size is.

He is the kind of player that likes to get under people’s skin. When he is with the Eagles he does this all the time, and I will be honest I didn’t know how I felt about it at the beginning of the season with the Eagles. I think his play has translated to the NHL better then the AHL. He drives the net when he is in the offensive zone and has shown he can score now and then.

Currently he is playing on the fourth line with Sven Andrighetto and Gabriel Bourque. I think Sheldon has the potential to be a third line player in the NHL, if given the opportunity. I would like to see him on the wing with Carl Soderberg and Matt Calvert. Both Calvert and Sheldon play with heart and never seem to give up. Big Ole Carl in the middle would make that line a force.

Sheldon intensifies:

Sheldon is the smallest forward on the Colorado Avalanche, and it would be nice to see him play with a few players that are bigger, instead of the small player line. I would also like to see what would happen if he was given more playing time then a fourth line player. To fill his hole I would either call up Dominic Toninato and have him play  center or move Alexander Kerfoot to the fourth line.

I posted the lines I would like to see on twitter earlier but for those that missed the lines:

Landeskog- Compher- Rantanen

Wilson- MacKinnon- Andrighetto

Calvert- Soderberg- Dries

Nieto- Kerfoot/Toninato- Bourque

If they called up Toninato he would replace Gabriel Bourque* in the line up and either have Toninato or Kerfoot center the fourth line.

Regardless I have been impressed with the rookie Sheldon Dries this season in a 3rd/4th line role.

*Editor’s note: In case you don’t follow Callie on Twitter, she hates Bourque with the heat of 1,000 burning suns. I’m hoping to get her to write that post next.

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