Avs claim Hunt
Within an hour of Colorado's 4-3 overtime loss to Winnipeg on Wednesday night, the wheels were in motion.
Forwards Anton Blidh and Jayson Megna, both new call-ups from the AHL affiliate Colorado Eagles, were reassigned to Loveland. They combined for one shot in 12 minutes on the Avs' fourth line, which has struggled early in the season.
When asked before the game how soon he hopes to see an impact from the newcomers, coach Jared Bednar didn't mince words: "Well, I'm hoping it's immediate. There's no set time."
Was the immediate postgame maneuver just an example of the cutthroat reality of the business?
There's more to that.
One or both could be back on the NHL roster when the Avalanche (2-1-1) hosts the Seattle Kraken at 7 p.m. Friday. Colorado reassigned Megna and Blidh for the team's off day between games in a strategic move to accrue salary cap space, Bednar said. Teams operating below the $82.5 million cap can accrue extra space throughout the season before the trade deadline, which becomes helpful when navigating salaries on the trade market.
"That's just managing the cap. They're here," Bednar said of Megna and Blidh. "So you could see it a lot. We did it the other day. We'll do it again today. … Just making sure we're building as much space as we can."
The Avalanche held an optional skate Thursday, making it an ideal day to lower the team's cap hit. Both Megna and Blidh have a $750,000 average annual value, so Colorado is taking $1.5 million off the books for one day. It's a roster tactic the Avs will likely deploy more throughout the season.
Not all reassignments are cap-based, though. In the case of Ben Meyers, who was sent to Loveland in the Tuesday move that made space for new forwards, Bednar said it was about allowing a reset. He it than and Meyers discussed goals for the former Minnesota Golden Gophers star to accomplish at the AHL level.
"Sort of a unified decision," Bednar said. "He was on board with it. … He understands there's some things to work on. So he's going down to do some work. Not unlike (Alex) Newhook last year for me, when we sent him down and came back a different player. Lots of practice time there. Very little practice time here."
The cost of maneuvering? Colorado placed center Lukas Sedlak on waivers Tuesday, anticipating he would clear them and join Meyers with the Eagles. But the Philadelphia Flyers claimed Sedlak first.
"We'd like to have them all (fourth-line forward options) at our disposal," Bednar said. "Happy for Seds, but wish he was still with us."
Needing to fill the Sedlak hole, the Avalanche claimed Dryden Hunt off waivers from the New York Rangers on Thursday. Hunt is in his sixth year in the league, and he posted a career-high 17 points last season. He has five games of playoff experience and has scored once this season.
Bednar said he hasn't studied Hunt's game much yet — general manager Chris Macfarland researched him and made the move — but Hunt has connections with multiple Avs players. His reputation in the locker room? A missile of a shot.