The Avalanche didn't practice Friday following their 4-0 loss in Chicago on Thursday, but they did make some news:
Center John Mitchell has been placed on waivers, which expire Saturday morning. Whether he remains with the team or is assigned to AHL San Antonio if he isn't claimed is anyone's guess.
Mitchell, 31, will be an unrestricted free agent after the season. He has one year left on his contract with a $1.8 million salary cap hit. He has no goals in four games while playing on the fourth line after missing the first five games to recover from a hip injury.
The Avalanche already were one player below the NHL maximum of 22 after sending forward Gabriel Bourque to the Rampage.
Mitchell scored 10, 11, 11 and 10 goals his first four seasons in Colorado after signing as an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2012. He has 67 goals and 103 assists in 487 NHL games in parts of nine seasons, the first three with Toronto and one with the New York Rangers before joining the Avalanche.
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Coach Jared Bednar wasn't very happy with Semyon Varlanov's play in Chicago, so Calvin Pickard could be getting the start Saturday against Minnesota at the Pepsi Center.
Pickard has won both of his starts, while Varlamov has allowed 15 goals in a personal four-game losing streak. He gave up four on 21 shots to the Blackhawks. Chicago's Corey Crawford had 38 saves to hand the Avalanche their third shutout of the season and second in four games.
"Their goalie was great and ours has to be better," said Bednar, who added that the Avalanche made crucial mistakes on the goals.
It isn't helping that the Avalanche (4-5-0), who have lost four of the past five games, aren't getting any production from their top players with the exception of Matt Duchene.
Bednar tweaked line combinations in the third period Thursday, moving Duchene to wing on a line with Nathan MacKinnon and wing Mikko Rantanen. “We got some really good looks," Duchene told the Denver Post. "Mikko was flying. If we stay together, I think we can be a good line.…
MacKinnon, Joe Colborne and Tyson Barrie have gone eight games without a goal; Gabriel Landeskog has gone seven without a goal; and Erik Johnson, Mikhail Grigorenko and Rantanen have yet to score a goal.
Colorado is 2-for-21 on power plays the past seven games after going 4-for-9 in the first two, both wins.
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The Wild (6-3-1) are coming off a 2-1 loss Tuesday to Buffalo, when goalie Devan Dubnyk's shutout streak ended at 183:16, an individual franchise record; he had three consecutive shutouts in the streak.
Dubnyk has a 1.51 goals-against average and .948 save percentage this season, and the Wild have killed 26 of 27 penalties. They're 8-1-1 with five shutouts in the past 10 games against the Avalanche.
"It’ll be a pretty angry team,… Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said of the Avalanche. “They’ve been outscored (9-1) the last two games. My history of watching teams like that is we better be ready right from the get-go.…