Even if it is a temporary gig, Mikkel Boedker is eager to help Avalanche in push to the playoffs.

st. paul, minn » Mikkel Boedker can become an unrestricted free agent July 1, and he recently turned downan offer fromthe Arizona Coyotes in the five- year, $ 27.5 million range.

Yet the Avalanche was willing to acquire him Monday, install him on a line with Nathan MacKinnon and Gabe Landeskog for Tuesday night’s potentially pivotal game with Minnesota … and worry about the rest later.

Did Boedker, 26, reject that Arizona offer because of the money or uneasiness about the franchise?

“I don’t necessarily think we turned it down,” he said after the morning skate at the Xcel Energy Center. “It wasn’t what we wanted, and I guess we were trying to get it to work, to get to the point where we were comfortable with me doing that. Time ran out, and it happened that Colorado came in and they could use me and I’m happy to be here and I’m happy to be part of this organization.”

The eighth pick in the 2008 draft, Boedker — from Brondby, Denmark — is making $ 3.75 million this season. The possibility exists he could turn out to be a “rental player,” something Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic said he wanted to avoid.

Of the possibility of signing a long- term deal with Colorado, Boedker smiled and said: “I don’t know. I just got here. Obviously, you have to prove every night that you’re worth what they gave up to get me and that you’re willing to go the extramile to make the playoffs. …

“I guess I’m a ‘ pending UFA,’ as they call it,” referring to unrestricted free agent, “so you have to have an open mind. Obviously, I’m really excited about the opportunity.”

Boedker scored 13 goals for Arizona but only one in the newyear.

“I had a lot of things on my mind and a lot of things to think about,” he said. “Hopefully now we can turn that page and start with a fresh one.”

The Avalanche’s other Monday acquisition, defenseman Eric Gelinas, stepped into the third pairing with Chris Bigras. Gelinas, 24, is under contract through next season and was a healthy scratch for nine consecutive games with New Jersey before the Avalanche acquired him for a third- round 2017 draft choice. The fact he was a second- rounder in 2009 underscores that he is another attempted reclamation project Avs coach Patrick Roy remembered from when hewas coaching the Quebec Remparts in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Gelinas said he never talked with Roy during his days with three different QMJHL teams. He noted that one of them, the Chicoutimi Sagueneens, “is the biggest rival for the Remparts. It was kind of a hate relationship between the two teams.”

He said of his tenure with the Devils: “I don’t know for what reason, but it didn’t click in Jersey. Maybe it was the style the team plays. I’m not so sure. But Iwas really excited to get another shot, especially with a really talented group like this.”