First-round pick Byram heads back to juniors

The Avalanche trimmed its roster to 29 players Thursday by reassigning five players to the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League and likely parting ways with 2019 first-round draft pick Bo Byram for the season.

Byram, 18, was returned to his junior team, the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League, which plays under the Canadian Hockey League umbrella. He will not be able to play in the NHL before the Giants’ season ends unless he qualifies for several seldom-used rules.

Byram, the No. 4 pick in the June draft, signed his three-year entry-level contract July 19. That contract will begin next season, or whenever he plays nine NHL regular-season games or reaches age 20 and is eligible to play in the AHL.

Byram is expected to be a top-pair defenseman for Canada’s World Junior Championship team.

“You know the depth we have on the back end (and) Connor Timmins is another young guy that’s played real well here,” Bednar said of the Byram move after Thursday night’s “Fan Fest” at the Pepsi Center. “You got to make sure a young guy like that is playing a lot and playing in a bunch of situations so we just felt it was best for his development to go back.”

The Avs also got down to 10 defensemen by sending blue-liners Jacob MacDonald and Dan Renouf to the Eagles. Both players must clear waivers before reporting. The other AHL reassignments were forwards Sheldon Dries, Michael Joly, Martin Kaut and Logan O’Connor, and goalie Hunter Miska.