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Colorado Avalanche: Potential Fourth Liners for 2019-2020

By Nadia Archuleta

TORONTO, ON - JANUARY 14: Matt Calvert #11 of the Colorado Avalanche celebrates his open net goal with teammate Matt Nieto #83 during the third period against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Scotiabank Arena on January 14, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - JANUARY 14: Matt Calvert #11 of the Colorado Avalanche celebrates his open net goal with teammate Matt Nieto #83 during the third period against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Scotiabank Arena on January 14, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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The Colorado Avalanche fourth line may end up being more stable than in previous years. Or it may continue to be a catchall.

The Colorado Avalanche’s fourth line is never stable. Granted, none of the team’s lines is ever stable, not even the top line. However, the fourth line tends to be a catchall of players trying to make the team and others who are in Jared Bednar’s doghouse.

This upcoming season, we have some players who legitimately are fourth-line style guys. Likewise, there are a plethora of players who might be trying to make the team or work their ways higher up the totem pole. Finally, we’ll consider some of Bednar’s favorite whipping boys.

So far, we’ve explored this topic in three posts:

I’ve come up with a tentative top-nine:

Landeskog-MacKinnon-Rantanen

Jost-Kadri-Burakovsky

Wilson-Compher-Donskoi

Some of those players in the middle six could potentially fall to the fourth line, so we’ll keep them in consideration.

Legitimate Fourth Liners

Pierre-Édouard Bellemare: Colorado went out and acquire the 34-year-old in free agency ostensibly to center the fourth line. He’s a hard-nosed veteran, and I’d expect to see him in this role most consistently of any of the players.

Matt Nieto: Nieto has been a mainstay on the third line for a couple years — really, for most of his tenure with the Colorado Avalanche. However, now that they’ve built up their talent pool, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him drop to this position.

Matt Calvert: Ditto for the second Matt on this list. He’s a gritty, heart-and-soul kind of player — perfect for the fourth line.

Up-and-Comers

Vladislav Kamenev: If this kid isn’t relegated to the Colorado Eagles after having missed the better part of two seasons with injuries, he’ll definitely start on this line. He might try to fight his way higher, but it’s going to be challenging.

Sheldon Dries: Dries spent 40 games with the Avs last season, on this line. He’ll be a prime candidate to fight for a spot in the fourth line.

AJ Greer: Ditto Greer. He’s my favorite in this category because I like the grit and heart he can bring to the lineup.

Logan O’Connor: O’Connor is another in this category. He spent five games on this line last season.

Shane Bowers: Bowers is the first newbie for this list. His ability to make the fourth line will depend a lot on how he does at camp and in the preseason.

Martin Kaut: Ditto Martin Kaut. However, I expect if he does make it to the fourth line, it won’t be until later in the season. He spent all of last season getting into the groove of competitive North American hockey. Now will be time for him to dominate with the Eagles.

Bednar’s Doghouse

More from Mile High Sticking

Tyson Jost: Be forewarned, I’ll be triggered a.f. if this happens again. That’s all I’m going to say on the topic for now.

Andre Burakovsky: The Colorado Avalanche picked up Burakovsky in a trade with the idea he’d be a top-six player. However, if he doesn’t perform up to Bednar’s standards, he can drop this low if the third line already has chemistry.

Joonas Donskoi: I wouldn’t expect the Avs’ new right wing to drop to the fourth line — I imagine he’s slated for the third line. However, see above about chemistry. If he doesn’t find it on the third line, he might be the odd man out.

Colin Wilson: In this case, it’s not so much about being in the doghouse as the top six might just be too stacked for Wilson to make it. If that happens, he might replace Calvert or Nieto on the fourth.

Grubauer's Season in Review. dark. Next

I imagine we’ll see most if not all these players cycle through the Colorado Avalanche fourth line at one time or another. However, I think it will be Bellemare centering Nieto and Calvert, at least to start with.

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