Avalanche next 3 roster cuts are becoming pretty clear

The Colorado Avalanche made numerous roster cuts over the weekend, as the club’s roster begins to take shape.

The club reassigned six players to the Colorado Eagles, with six more hitting the waiver wire.

As it stands, the Avalanche have two more cuts to make in order to trim the roster down to 23 players ahead of Monday’s deadline. But given the circumstances, there should be three cuts.

That's why the remaining cuts are pretty clear.

The Avs still have three goalies on the training camp roster. It’s evident that Trent Miner should hit the waiver wire. And that’s going to be a bit of an issue. Perhaps Joe Sakic is waiting until the flurry of Sunday’s activity settles down. Teams looking for a goalie will pluck whoever is available on Sunday, allowing Colorado to sneak Miner through once no other teams are looking for a netminder.

The other cut has to come from the forward, that is, assuming that the Avalanche will roll with seven defensemen.

At the moment, Taylor Makar and Georgii Merkulov remain on the roster, as TJ Hughes has officially made the team. So, that makes the situation abundantly clear.

Makar likely to head down to AHL while he rehabs injury

Taylor Makar is likely to head down to the AHL as he is waivers-exempt. Additionally, he’s dealing with an injury sustained during the preseason. As such, it’s easy to send him down to the Eagles at this point and allow him time to recover from his current ailment.

Assuming Miner and Makar go down to the AHL, would that mean that Merkulov makes the team?

Not quite. Even though Merkulov needs to clear waivers, the Avalanche are likely waiting till the last minute to ensure he clears once teams have essentially finalized their rosters.

That situation means the Avalanche will be going with 22 players: 13 forwards, seven defensemen, and two goalies. That arrangement will leave the Avs with about $150K in cap space.

So, even if the Avalanche wanted to have Merkulov on the team, they just can’t afford it.

And there it is. Colorado will be rolling with one fewer player than the maximum permitted, simply due to cap constraints.

As for the actual Opening Night lineup, well, that’s another story. It’s something we’ll be dissecting in the coming weeks. However, considering that Hughes has been practicing with the Avs’ top power play unit, it’s safe to say he’ll be in the lineup. That situation makes me think that Zachary L’Heureux will be the 13th forward to start the season.

That’s fine, as Hughes has proven he’s ready for the NHL. Please bear in mind that Hughes was the top NCAA free agent last spring.

And now, he’s shown why.

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