Avalanche Notebook: In A Surprise, Anton Blidh Put On Waivers, Maltsev too

Some more roster trimming was done by the Avalanche today, with two more players put on waivers. One of them, Anton Blidh, is something of a surprise, given how Jared Bednar has praised him so far in the preseason.

Mikhail Maltsev, who was described as “having too quiet of a game,” by coach Bednar will more than likely be sent to the Colorado Eagles if he clears waivers.

Coach Bednar did mention that “there are a lot of guys that can play hockey, but you have to make an impact. We are trying to win games.”

Blidh, was having a very good camp so far. I talked to Blidh before he found out about being waived and asked him how he felt when coach Bednar described his game as “loud;”

“Its good when you catch the coach’s eye obviously. I know my role, it’s not to be fancy out there, it’s to go to work and play hard for the boys and do what is best for the team,” Blidh said.

Bednar said the moves also also had something to do with “flexibility”, either with the salary cap or roster or both. It’s possible Blidh will still be with the Avalanche if he clears waivers.

As for other news of the day, three players were reassigned to the Eagles after clearing waivers earlier today. Forwards Shane Bowers, Jayson Megna, and Martin Kaut all cleared and will report to the Eagles to begin the year. Bowers, was is in a good position to make an impact with the Eagles and get a recall,” according to coach Bednar yesterday. He also had a really good camp as well.

Nathan MacKinnon returned to the ice today. He left the ice early due to some issues from the last game. But the good news is, he was back for the full practice and even did power play work. He did not do his usual one-timers after practice.

Lines for today

MacKinnon-Lehkonen- Rantanen

Nichushkin-Newhook- Rodrigues

Compher(wearing no contact) Sedlak- Blidh

Cogliano -Meyers- LOC

Byram- EJ- MacDermid- Girard- Manson- Toews- Makar

Georgiev

Francouz