The Colorado Avalanche will hold the first day of their rookie camp in just a couple weeks. Here’s a look at their roster.
Colorado Avalanche hockey is almost upon us. In just two weeks, rookies and prospects will report for rookie camp. Only one day is taking place in Denver — Friday, September 6 at 9:30 am MT.
The reason the camp is so early is that the second day of camp will be on the road. The team’s rookies, prospects, and amateur tryouts will be participating in a Rooke Faceoff tournament in Anaheim starting September 7. They’ll return to Colorado after their game on September 10, just before official training camp begins.
The Avalanche released their 28-player roster yesterday. Notable absences are, of course, college players such as Alex Newhook and Samp Ranta, who have to report to their college teams.
Nonetheless, we have some exciting young talent to watch. Hey, it’s hockey in early September, and I’m here for it.
Amateur Tryouts/AHL Contract
The Colorado Avalanche have 12 players in this category:
- Logan Barlage, forward, amateur tryout
- Bryce Kindopp, forward, amateur tryout
- Felix Lauzon, forward, amateur tryout
- Navrin Mutter, forward, amateur tryout
- Brandon Saigeon, forward, AHL contract
- Joe Wegwerth, forward, amateur tryout
- Kevin Davis, defenseman, AHL contract
- Nolan Kneen, defenseman, amateur tryout
- Sasha Larocque, defenseman, AHL contract
- Wyatt McLeod, defenseman, amateur tryout
- Samuel Regis, defenseman, amateur tryout
- Peter Tischke, defenseman, AHL contract
It’s noteworthy that some of the amateur tryout players were also at the prospect development camp. That list includes McLeod, Regis, Tischke, Kneen, Larocque, Mutter, Kindopp, and Barlrage.
Unsigned Drafted Prospects
Participants in camp and the Rookie Faceoff also include players whom the Colorado Avalanche have drafted but haven’t signed yet. This list includes 4 players:
- Alex Beaucage, forward, drafted 2019
- Luka Burzan, forward, drafted 2019
- Sasha Mutala, forward, drafted 2019
- Trent Miner, goalie, drafted 2019
As you can see, all of these players are prospects the Avs drafted this summer. The only players missing from the list are those who are away at college and those who have been signed already.
Speaking of…
Signed Players
A majority portion of the rookie camp roster has already been signed to entry-level contracts. These are players who would expect to play for the AHL Colorado Eagles, but might, just might, get called up to the Colorado Avalanche.
The list is made up of 12 players:
- Travis Barron, forward, Avs drafted
- Shane Bowers, forward, acquired in trade
- Josh Dickinson, forward, signed free agent
- Nick Henry, forward, Avs drafted
- Martin Kaut, forward, Avs drafted
- Ty Lewis, forward, signed free agent
- Logan O’Connor, forward, signed free agent
- Igor Shvyrev, forward, Avs drafted
- Josh Anderson, defenseman, Avs drafted
- Bowen Byram, defenseman, Avs drafted
- Conor Timmins, defenseman, Avs drafted
- Adam Werner, goalie, Avs drafted
Of those players, I think we’ll all be watching Kaut, Timmins, and Byram. Those three players are the ones we might most likely expect to see play in the NHL at least intermittently in the upcoming season.
So, the above 28 players should report to rookie camp on September 6. We’ll get to see them play against similar caliber players in the following games:
- Sept. 7: Avalanche vs. Knights, 2:00 pm MT
- Sept. 8: Avalanche vs Kings, 2:00 pm MT
- Sept. 10: Avalanche vs Coyotes, 12:00 pm MT
They’ll also have an additional practive on Monday, Sept. 9, in Irvine, CA.
I don’t know about other Colorado Avalanche fans, but I love watching the baby Avs. Prospect development camp and rookie camp are so much fun as we get to dream about the future.