As we talked about last week, the Colorado Avalanche will be bringing veteran forwards Gabriel Bourque and Rene Bourque to training camp on professional tryouts (PTOs). The pair, coupled with Mikko Rantanen, J.T. Compher and Ben Smith all attempting to crack the opening night roster, likely leaves the Avalanche with enough forwards to fill out the team.
Defense is much of the same. The Avalanche have six blueliners on one-way contracts. Another two (Chris Bigras and Nikita Zadorov) are on two-way deals but are expected to make the team. As such, coupled with the forward situation, the Avalanche do not have many spots to offer.
That being said, competition is a good thing, is it not? What would the harm be in bringing in a few more players on PTOs? If nothing else, it will push the current players in the Avalanche system, making them earn their spots, instead of being handed them.
Last season, Jack Skille made the Avalanche roster after impressing during training camp whilst on a PTO. He even stuck on the team for the entirety of the season, despite being signed to a two-way contract. So, PTOs have paid dividends for the Avs in the past.
There are some weaknesses in the Avalanche’s current composition. One of the biggest is a lack of right-handed shots. Signing players to PTOs is a low-risk move, with the potential to strengthen your team. Here are five players the Avalanche should consider bringing to camp.
5. Jack Skille
Position: RW Age: 29 Shoots: R 2015-2016 team: Colorado Avalanche 2015-2016 stats: GP: 74 G: 8 A: 6 P: 14 PIM: 11 +/-: -4
Speaking of Skille, why not give him another crack at making the roster? He was up to the task last season. Skille will not wow you, but he is a serviceable forward. He made the most of the limited ice time he was given by the Avalanche last season. In fact, his 14 points paced all NHL players that averaged less than 10 minutes per game last year.
Sure, he tailed off some near the end of the campaign, but isn’t that true for the rest of the team as well?
4. Steve Downie
Position: RW Age: 29 Shoots: R 2015-2016 team: Arizona Coyotes 2015-2016 Stats: GP: 26 G: 3 A: 3 P: 6 PIM: 53 +/-: 1
A familiar face, Downie played extremely well (when healthy) during his first stint with the Avalanche, posting 21 points in 33 games.
He is a buzzsaw, an agitator, a surprisingly good passer and would fill a position of need with the team. He might also be willing to sign a two-way deal, after spending time in the AHL last season.
He’s a hard worker and a good forechecker, who would seemingly work well in the system Jared Bednar likes to play. If only him and Gabriel Landeskog could play nice this time around.
Position: D Age: 25 Shoots: R 2015-2016 teams: Arizona Coyotes/Nashville Predators 2015-2016 stats: GP: 21 G: 2 A: 4 P: 6 PIM: 4 +/-: -3
I am sure you’re asking yourself why the Avalanche would want to bring back Elliott, a player they jettisoned just prior to last season? Well, he fills an organizational need. If you look at the 15 defensemen currently signed to deals with the Avs organization, only three (Erik Johnson, Tyson Barrie and Mat Clark) are right-handed shots. Now, you can succeed without having left/right pairings on the blueline, but it would behoove the Avs to have some semblance of balance.
The organization also needs more offensive defensemen. Elliott is a good skater, with a great shot and showed last season that he is willing to sign a two-way deal. Signing him and sending him to San Antonio makes a lot of sense. If nothing else, he could be Barrie insurance.
2. Paul Gaustad
Position: C Age: 34 Shoots: L 2015-2016 team: Nashville Predators 2015-2016 stats: GP: 63 G: 2 A: 4 P: 6 PIM: 46 +/-: -4
The Avalanche are looking to improve their puck possession numbers. A simple way to accomplish this is to win faceoffs.
There are very few better at accomplishing this than Gaustad. Last season, Gaustad won 55.31 percent of his draws. While that is a great number, it actually represented his worst mark since the 2008-2009 season. In his career, he has won 56.3 percent, and he hasn’t won at a mark less than 52 percent since 2002-2003, when he suited up for one game (his first in the NHL) for the Buffalo Sabres.
He is physical and defensively responsible. He is the kind of fourth-line center that you will find on championship contenders.
1. Cody Hodgson
Position: C/RW Age: 26 Shoots: R 2015-2016 team: Nashville Predators 2015-2016 stats: GP: 39 G: 3 A: 5 P: 8 PIM: 6 +/-: 2
The Colorado Avalanche absolutely love to take chances on former first-round picks that have fallen off (i.e. Skille, Gormley, Grigorenko, etc.), and Hodgson would make a lot of sense as their next reclamation project.
He is smart, creative, versatile and defensively responsible. People forget, he scored 20 goals in 2013-2014. Also, he was a teammate of Matt Duchene’s in the OHL for two seasons, when Hodgson served as captain for the Brampton Battalion. In fact, during that span from 2007-2009, he actually outscored Duchene by 48 points in the regular season and eight points in the playoffs.
Isn’t it worth bringing him into camp to see if the duo can rediscover any of that chemistry? Even if they don’t, Hodgson is a serviceable player, who can also play a bottom-six role, and would likely accept an AHL assignment.