BIGRAS BACK ON BLUE LINE VS. DALLAS
After a one-game hiatus from the Avalanche lineup, defenseman Chris Bigras returned Tuesday against the Dallas Stars at the Pepsi Center. Bigras, 22, was a healthy scratch in Thursday’s 4-3 loss to the visiting St. Louis Blues.
“It’s a different outlook, to get to watch a game,” Bigras said after Tuesday’s optional morning skate. “I was pretty comfortable with my game. There’s a couple things I went over with the coaching staff, some minor details, but overall I think I’ve done a pretty good job so far and I’m just trying to continue that.”
Avs coach Jared Bednar said Bigras, the team’s 2013 secondround selection, needs to be sharper around the offensive blue-line area.
“I’ve really liked what I’ve seen from Biggie through training camp and into the start of the season. I think he’s been a con- sistent puck mover, really good defender,” Bednar said. “He had a couple games where I thought he was trying to do a little too much and some of his reads weren’t great at the offensivezone blue line and we were giving up some grade-A chances — odd-man rushes and a breakaway in one game. He’s seen some video on that. We certainly want him to be part of the rush attack and part of our offensivezone play. We need five guys in our attack, not just the forwards.”
Sharing system.
The Avs’ American Hockey League affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage (5-1), is on a four-game winning streak and leads the Pacific Division with 10 points.
But the Rampage is composed of more than the Avalanche’s top prospects. It also includes St. Louis Blues first-round prospects in defenseman Jordan Schmaltz (2012) and forwards Tage Thompson (2016) and Klim Kostin (2017).
Schmaltz is second in team scoring behind Avs prospect Andrew Agozzino, and Kostin is tied with the Avs’ Joe Colborne for third in scoring.
The Blues are splitting their AHL players with the Rampage and Chicago Wolves, the latter of whom became the top affiliate of the NHL expansion Vegas Golden Knights this season.
The Wolves used to be the Blues’ affiliate, but St. Louis is moving its AHL interests to San Antonio next season, when the Colorado Eagles become the Avalanche’s AHL affiliate.
The Loveland-based Eagles are currently the Avs’ third-tier ECHL affiliate.
Footnotes.
Rookie defenseman Andrei Mironov was Colorado’s lone healthy scratch. Forwards J.T. Compher, Tyson Jost, Colin Wilson and defenseman Patrik Nemeth are out with injuries. … As of Monday, the Avalanche had the NHL’s third-youngest roster, with an average age of 25.7. The Columbus Blue Jackets had the youngest roster (25.4), followed by the Winnipeg Jets (25.6).