The Colorado Avalanche might see a reduced role for Matt Calvert, but he will likely still add value to the team.
The Colorado Avalanche have a well-rounded roster for the 2019-2020 season. As such, certain players may see a reduced role. One such is Matt Calvert.
Colorado signed Calvert to a three-year deal last summer. He was expected to provide a gritty, veteran leadership. And he did just that.
Calvert played all 82 games with Colorado in the regular season and eight of 12 in the postseason. And his presence was missed in those four games — it’s amazing how much the skilled Avalanche missed their heart-and-soul grinder.
Calvert isn’t in a contract year. However, the 29-year-old still has the inspiration to play his best game just to get ice time. So, let’s start by having a look at his stats from last season.
2018-19 Stats
As noted, Matt Calvert played all 82 regular-season game with the Colorado Avalanche. He’s not a skill player, and he didn’t play like one. However, he did put up decent third-line numbers — 11 goals and 15 assists for 26 points.
Considering Calvert led the team in fights with seven last season, he didn’t do too badly in penalty minutes — just 58. I mean, the fights alone accounted for 35 of those minutes.
The playoffs didn’t see a big uptick in scoring for Calvert — he recorded just four assists. He got a little penalty minute happy, though, receiving 18 in those eight games. But then, he also delivered 21 big hits in the playoffs.
Projected 2019-20 Role
I don’t think Matt Calvert can expect to be on the Colorado Avalanche’s third line next season. I think that line’s going to be a combination of skill and youth, featuring players such as JT Compher, Joonas Donskoi, and Colin Wilson.
Therefore, I believe the expectation is for Calvert to be a mainstay of the fourth line with Matt Nieto and Pierre-Édouard Bellemare. Prospects might rotate into that line, but I see it would be difficult for Calvert to move up the roster.
Well, Calvert is used to playing with his fellow Matt, Nieto. They had a CorsiFor percent of 55.2% together, and the numbers dropped when they weren’t playing together. They’ll be skating with a new center in Bellemare, but that’s not necessarily bad.
Projected 2019-20 Stats
With dropping down to the fourth line, Matt Calvert should see his ice time shrink, too. He averaged 14:12 last season, but I don’t think that’s going to be available to him. Like Nieto, he’ll probably get around 10 minutes average.
Last season, Calvert’s pace was about .022 points per minute in the regular season. That worked out to .009 goals and .012 assists per minute.
So, if you extrapolate those per-minute totals for next season, you should expect him to record 22-23 points — around 9 goals and 12 assists.
I don’t hate that. But, there’s no guarantee Calvert will record those points on the fourth line. However, I fully expect he will continue to be a gritty veteran presence.
So, I think Matt Calvert’s role is going to shrink for the Colorado Avalanche next season. However, I still think he’ll have value to offer to the team.