Colorado Avalanche: Shane Bowers and Prospect Updates

The Colorado Avalanche prospect pool is getting deeper, especially with the recent signing of forward Shane Bowers.

The Colorado Avalanche have a new prospect to welcome to Avs Nation — Shane Bowers. Yesterday, the team signed Shane Bowers to his entry-level contract.

Bowers was part of the trade that sent Matt Duchene to Ottawa. They drafted him at #28 in 2017. Bowers has been playing at Boston University for the last two seasons. He had an excellent freshman year with 32 points (17 goals, 15 assists) in 40 games. However, he suffered a sophomore slump, recording just 21 points (11 goals, 10 assists) in 37 games this season.

It was thought Bowers would spend one more year at Boston because of the dropoff. However, BU saw a mass exodus of players leaving to turn pro this year after they were eliminated from the tournament. Bowers apparently decided to turn pro rather than play on a rebuilding team.

Bowers, who’s from Nova Scotia like our superstar, Nathan MacKinnon, and erstwhile defenseman, Ryan Graves, is 19 years old and a left-shooting centerman. His contract will go into effect next season. The entry-level contract pretty standard, giving him three years with a cap hit of $925,000.

While I’m sure Bowers will try to make the team out of training camp, it’s expected he’ll play for the AHL-affiliate Colorado Eagles next season.

Speaking of the Eagles, the team is still in the playoff hunt. At the time of writing, they were #4 in the Pacific Division, which gives them a playoff berth.

Unfortunately, they just lost 5-2 to the Tucson Roadrunners. They’re now three points up on that Arizona team (which are trying to plague us this weekend), though, so even the regulation loss can be withstood.

Just a friendly reminder that defenseman Mark Barberio is in Loveland on a conditioning assignment after being out most of the season with various injuries:

Let’s see, the Colorado Avalanche also have some other big-name prospect… Ah, yes, Cale Makar. Well, he’s adding to his legend over at Umass. The Minutemen beat Notre Dame 4-0 today. So, they’ll be advancing to the Frozen Four. For the first time ever:

Unfortunately for die-hard Colorado hockey fans, UMass will be facing a local favorite — the Denver University Pioneers. They also will be making an appearance in the Frozen Four by beating American International. UMass and DU will face each other in the first game of the semifinals.

Meanwhile, Makar is a Hobey Baker Award finalist, which will be announced during the Frozen Four. He’s also just generally impressing all the way around. He recorded a goal and an assist to help UMass get to the Frozen Four. He’s been named to the All-Tournament team. And now he’s been named Northeast Regional’s most outstanding player:

UMass’s advancement to the Frozen Four also means we won’t be seeing Makar in an Avs sweater this regular season. The semifinals  are on April 11, while the Avalanche’s regular season ends on April 6. NHL playoffs begin on April 10.

The Colorado Avalanche prospect pool is looking deeper these days thanks to players like Bowers and Makar and the development program in Loveland.