Colorado Avalanche journeyman Pierre-Edouard Bellemare has shown the value of guts on a finesse team, which provides balance.
The Colorado Avalanche players, like the rest of the NHL, have not been advised to return to their team cities yet — today was the deadline. So, they’re keeping up their routines at home.
The NHL season is on pause in response to COVID 19 pandemic. However, coverage of the team here on Mile High Sticking has not been on pause. Right now, we’re taking a look at how players were doing before the hockey hiatus.
We’ve already evaluated six players:
Today we’re going to evaluate Pierre-Edouard Bellemare.
Brief History of Pierre-Edouard Bellemare
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare is one of the few French-born players to ever play in the NHL. He remained undrafted, but his superior play in the Swedish Elite League caught the attention of the Philadelphia Flyers. They signed him to a one-year contract on June 11, 2014. Bellemare was already 29 at the time.
Bellemare’s play was impressive enough that the Flyers signed him to a two-year extension. However, they lost him to the Vegas Golden Knights in the Expansion Draft in 2017. Bellemare played two seasons with the Knights before they let him walk in free agency last summer.
The Colorado Avalanche signed Bellemare to a two-year deal on July 1, 2019. He was 34 at the time.
Pierre-Edouard Stats with the Colorado Avalanche
In all, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare has played in 454 NHL games. He’s recorded 38 goals, and 49 assists for 57 points in that time.
With the Flyers, he played 237 games. He got 17 goals and, weirdly, 17 assists in that time. He played 148 games for the Knights. He recorded 12 goals and 19 assists.
His season with the Colorado Avalanche has been the most productive of his career. He’s played just 69 games so far. In that time, he’s recorded 9 goals and 13 assists for 22 points, all of which represent career highs.
Evaluation of Pierre-Edouard Bellemare with the Avalanche
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare has been one of the best depth signings the team has ever made. Right off the bat he was fighting in a preseason game, and he’s only become more of a team player since then.
Bellemare has alternated between the third and fourth lines for Colorado. He also plays on the penalty kill. He’s a guts kind of player on a high-skill team — and that’s a necessity to provide balance on a lineup.
What’s more, he’s apparently quite the force in the locker room, being an active player in the tape ball war. He’s also established a routine whereby he hassles both Ryan Graves and San Girard during warmups to loosen the young men up.
He’s opportunistic, too. In the game against the New Jersey Devils, Bellemare took advantage when another guts guy, Matt Calvert, inadvertently took out the goalie:
I don’t think either of those guys will be on MacKenzie Blackwood’s Christmas card list.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare has shown that he’s a solid member of the Colorado Avalanche.