Colorado Avalanche: Roster Continues to Trim, Surprise Reassignment

According to the Denver Post, the Colorado Avalanche have continued to trim their roster before the start of the season.

Today four players were reassigned back to the Lake Erie Monsters, the Avalanche's AHL affiliate.

Those players are Trevor Cann, Brad Malone, Tyson Barrie and Patrick Bordeleau.

Trevor Cann's reassignment obviously comes as no surprise as Semyon Varlamov and J.S. Giguere will bear the load of the goaltending responsibilities for the Avalanche.

Brad Malone had a very good camp for the Avalanche but the number of centers that the Avalanche have on their team at the moment make his reassignment rather obvious as well.

If nothing else, Malone's very positive camp can give us a very positive outlook on what is to come from him. I would count on seeing Malone make even more noise in the preseason next year.

Tyson Barrie had a pretty good camp for the Avalanche and had a very good preseason, being a part of each of the first three Colorado Avalanche goals in preseason.

His reassignment could be a bit of a surprise, but look at all of the defenders the Avalanche have on their lineup that have solid NHL experience and it really isn't that shocking.

This reassignment could be one of the best things that has happened to Tyson Barrie as it will give him a chance to adjust to the difference in the speed of the game from the junior level to the professional level.

He also adds good depth to an organization that has had a lot of trouble staying healthy on the blue line the last couple of years. I wouldn't be shocked if we do see Barrie play in a couple of games for the Avalanche this season, though it most likely won't be for a long stretch of time.

The biggest surprise reassignment in my eyes is that of Patrick Bordeleau who had one of the better camps.

Bordeleau would have been a great addition to the roster and would have provided more grit up front that is still a little bit lacking for the Avalanche.

He is a tenacious checking forward that can absolutely crush people, and is a really good fighter. Cody McLeod is still considered a fighter, but he can do a lot more offensively than people think he just hasn't been utilized well enough.

Bordeleau really played well during camp and was one of the biggest hitters who showed great fighting ability during preseason.

He also showed pretty good chemistry playing on the same line as Cody McLeod.

I'm not terribly certain what the rationale behind sending him down is, but this is something that makes me a little bit nervous because Bordeleau definitely would have been one of the guys that would have made playing against the Avalanche much more physically demanding.

I have a feeling that we will be seeing Bordy again during this season.