The Avalanche made more cuts today, trimming the roster to 27. Going to Cleveland (AHL) is winger Cody McLeod and defensemen Jeff Jillson, Kyle Cumiskey and Johnny Boychuk. Cumiskey in particular had a strong camp, but couldn’t pass any of the existing players on the depth chart.
The Avs roster appears to be set for both goalies and defensemen, but the forwards are still unsettled.
The goalies:
- Peter Budaj
- Jose Theodore
- Tyler Wieman
Budaj is a lock, of course. The hope is that Theodore will be recovered from his knee surgery and ready to play by next Wednesday’s home opener. If he is, Weiman will go to Cleveland. If not, Weiman stays until Theo is ready to go.
The Avs have 7 defensemen on the roster:
- Scott Hannan
- Brett Clark
- John-Michael Liles
- Jordan Leopold
- Karlis Skrastins
- Kurt Sauer
- Jeff Finger
The healthy scratch will probably be between Sauer and Finger, with Cumiskey as the first call up in case of injury.
There are still 17 forwards on the roster. The locks would seem to be:
- Joe Sakic
- Ryan Smyth
- Andrew Brunette
- Paul Stastny
- Milan Hejduk
- Ian Laperriere
- Wojtek Wolski
- Tyler Arnason
- Brad Richardson
- Marek Svatos
Assuming Theodore gets healthy and Weiman gets sent down, that leaves 4 roster spots for the rest of the forwards…5 if Brad Richardson starts the season on the IR. Fighting for those final 4 or 5 spots:
- Jarslav Hlinka
- TJ Hensick
- Scott Parker
- Wyatt Smith
- Cody McCormick
- Ben Guite
- Mark Rycroft
I think Hlinka is pretty much set. That leaves 5 4th liners and Hensick battling for the final 3 or 4 spots. My guess? McCormick and Smith (or perhaps Rycroft) are the last two cuts, with Hensick sticking around for a taste until Richardson gets back.
good analysis. i bet that’s how things shake out too.
I hope Q has the balls to play finger more if Sauer goes allergic to physical defense again. that Liles + Finger duo was pretty damn good in the last part of the year.
I also hope that Rycroft doesn’t make the team — I like him and all, but he’s not a solid PKer, and we *need* more of those. Is this Wyatt Smith guy a PK guy?
Hard to say on Smith. TSN lists him as having “excellent defensive skills”. Jacques Lemaire may beg to differ, as Smith didn’t spend any time on the PK with the Wild last year. The only time I noticed him last year was the goal he scored against the Avs; he’s very much an unknown to me.
I would be very surprised if Guite didn’t make the lineup. He was exellent on the PK and faceoffs last year. Keep him around!
I’m with Ryan.. since those seems to be our biggest weakness on the team we have to keep someone around who can do it right?…right?
Guite is certainly a lock in my book as well. The team does funny things sometimes, though
If Hensick “gets a taste,” he’s never going to be sent down.
There’s no reason why he should be sent down.
If Hensick “gets a taste,” he’s never going to be sent down.
There’s no reason why he should be sent down
There’s a rule that says that a player can be on the team for 9 games and then be sent down and his contract doesn’t count towards that year. I am nexactly sure how the rule works, but it’s why Kumisky was suited up for 9 games last season.
If they feel they can wait another year to call him up, making him an RFA a year later, they might want to give him a taste of the big club this season and let Hlinka play the rest of the season, or Rycroft or someone.
I thought the nine games thing (and I could very well be wrong here) was simply for players returning to the juniors. Which was why Wolski only played 9 games before returning to Brampton, any more and he couldn’t go back.
Though the whole ‘contract doesn’t count till 10 games’ thing would fit with that.
Meh. I dunno. :S You’re probably right.
You actually WANT Theo to return???!!?!? lol
Yeah, but what I am saying is that if they give Hensick a “taste,” he’s not going to be sent down. Not that he *can’t* be sent down, but that they *won’t* send him down. He’ll make sure of that.
Like i said i don’t know the rule well, but I thought Cumisky was in AHL last season and played 9 games with the Avs last season.
Yeah, he was. I just thought it was a coincidence.
Mebbes it is, mebbes it isnt…
I read the CBA from cover-to-cover more than once before it was released to the public, and I never read anything about a 9-games-before-your-contract-counts rule. Not being combative or anything (this time), but I haven’t seen it.
And I, for one, want Theo to return. He’s better than Weiman. He’s better at his worst than Weiman ever will be on his very best day. Weiman is not an NHL goalie by any stretch of the imagination.