OFFICIAL: Bellemare Back To Avalanche On PTO

Did the Colorado Avalanche just find their fourth line center?

According to Elliotte Friedman, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare is headed to training camp with the Avalanche on a PTO (pro tryout). The Avalanche have since confirmed this to be true.

The 39 year old center played in Colorado from 2019-2021, mostly centering the fourth line. Since leaving, he’s spent time with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Seattle Kraken, where he played last season. His time in Seattle was a little different than his previous stops, as he only suited up for 40 games. Some of that was due to injury, but some of it is also due to the fact that he was a frequent healthy scratch.

For us media folk, this is a huge win. Bellemare is one of the more pleasant people in the NHL, and a fantastic person to talk to. We saw him this summer chatting with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen in his wife’s YouTube series, so we know he’s still close with some of the guys on the team. The question isn’t whether or not he’s a great guy, though. The question will be whether or not he can still hang in the NHL.

Bellemare has always been a good face-off guy and penalty killer, two areas the Avalanche could certainly use help in. He’s never been the fastest guy in the world, but at 39, you wonder if he’s lost another step. His underlying numbers aren’t that bad, and there’s a definite need for a fourth line center in the organization. He’s never been one to provide a ton of offense, so don’t expect much of that at this point in his career.

Two Kraken on PTOs, Bellemare to COL and Yamamoto to UTA pic.twitter.com/wld1cBEIH3

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) September 11, 2024

Colorado has had success with PTO’s in the past, including guys like Jack Johnson, Gabriel Bourque, and Jack Skille, but not all PTO’s get contracts. The coaching staff is obviously familiar with Bellemare, but it will be interesting to watch if the staff will cut him loose if he can’t keep up anymore.

Media day is just one week away, so we’re getting close to the hockey season truly starting.