Avalanche Lose Exclusive Rights To Former 3rd Round Pick

The 2019 NHL Draft has already paid off for the Colorado Avalanche (Thanks, Bowen Byram), but it appears they now have some competition if they want to sign their 3rd round pick from that year.

There was some question going into Tuesday’s August 15th deadline about whether or not Matt Stienburg needed to be signed. Heading into the day, CapFriendly still had him listed with an August 15, 2024 signing deadline, meaning the Avalanche had another year to sign him.

Turns out, that was incorrect.

On Wednesday, CapFriendly made it clear that Stienburg has been removed from the reserve list for the Avalanche, meaning he’s now a free agent and can sign with anyone he chooses to.

College 'Must Sign By'…

Players that came off their teams reserve list yesterday that we did not have on our original list:

T Janicke #FlyTogether
A Romano #Yotes
D McFaul #NHLBruins
J Nodler #Flames
M Steinburg #GoAvsGo
E Phillips #LGRW
M Warren #mnwild

(1/2)…

— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) August 16, 2023

Stienburg finished last season on an amateur tryout with the Colorado Eagles. In 8 games spread out over the regular season and playoffs, he finished with 2 points. He took part in the Development Camp for the Avalanche just last month.

At Cornell, Stienburg struggled with staying healthy. In 2021-22, he had a breakout season, finishing with 29 points in 28 games, making it look like he had really broken out. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to build off of that, as he finished with just 7 points in 18 games in his final year with the Big Red.

Although Stienburg is free to sign with anyone now, there’s always a chance he comes back and signs with the Avalanche. Meghan Angley from DNVR spoke to GM Chris MacFarland last week, who was still hopeful the team could get him signed. A prospect coming back once they’ve hit free agency isn’t impossible, but it doesn’t happen very often.

Chris MacFarland said things were trending in the right direction in regards to signing 2019 3rd round pick Matt Stienburg. He joined the Eagles at the end of his college season on an ATO. pic.twitter.com/S2v1oQIND8

— Meghan Angley (@megangley) August 10, 2023

Stienburg’s dad, Trevor, played with Joe Sakic in Quebec, so there is already a relationship there. However, Trevor is currently a scout for the Seattle Kraken, so he also has connections elsewhere.

The Avalanche have struggled to hit on recent draft picks outside of the top 10. Even if Stienburg does sign with the team eventually, he’s still a major project, and far from a sure thing.

We’ll keep you updated on this situation heading into training camp.

The Avalanche will take part in the Rookie Faceoff Tournament in less than one month, so we’re getting closer each and every day to hockey returning.