Mikko Rantanen is in the fold with the new six-year, $55.5 million contract he agreed to on Saturday, and the Avalanche roster is starting to round into shape.
The roster was reduced to 26 players Sunday when centers Shane Bowers and T.J. Tynan, left wing A.J. Greer and defenseman Kevin Connauton were assigned to the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League.
Connauton, Greer and Tynan need to clear waivers.
The Avalanche will need to make three more roster moves by Tuesday to get to the NHL maximum of 23 players, one of which likely would be placing defenseman Ian Cole (skating but recovering from surgery on his hips) on the injured list; he might not be available until December.
They are carrying 15 forwards: Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Andre Burakovsky, Matt Calvert, J.T. Compher, Joonas Donskoi, Tyson Jost, Nazem Kadri, Vladislav Kamenev, Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, Jayson Megna, Valeri Nichushkin, Matt Nieto, Mikko Rantanen, Colin Wilson. There are nine defensemen: Mark Barberio, Ian Cole, Samuel Girard, Ryan Graves, Erik Johnson, Cale Makar, Calle Rosen, Conor Timmins, Nikita Zadorov.
They are set in goal with Philipp Grubauer and Pavel Francouz.
Bowers had a fine training camp, but the Avalanche are in excellent shape at center with MacKinnon, Kadri, Compher and Bellemare, and Jost can move into the middle if needed, as can Kamenev if he makes the team.
No doubt we will see Bowers in Denver at some point.
I thought Connauton could be on the roster because of his veteran presence following his acquisition from Arizona in the Carl Soderberg trade. It didn’t help his cause when he sustained a broken cheekbone a week before camp, and Rosen and especially Timmins have been better.
Still, do the Avalanche put Timmins on the opening-night roster after he sat out a full season to recover from post-concussion issues or have him start with the Eagles, where he’d be on the top pair? Just not sure how Barberio fits in, if he does at all.
Will they carry eight defensemen, leaving room for one extra forward, or seven D and two extra forwards? Nichushkin has been nursing a foot injury and Megna has been impressive. Kamenev could be the odd man out.
Tough decisions, and that's a good thing.