Avs make some moves as they near finalizing opening-night roster

The Avalanche are getting ready for opening night in Vegas, Colorado's team made several transactions on Monday

Oct 7, 2024, 3:43 PM

Watch: What were the BIG takeaways from Sean Payton's first camp press conference? | Freshly Grated | 24 mins

The Colorado Avalanche are getting ready for opening night in Vegas on Wednesday where the team will begin the 2024-25 campaign and to comply with NHL roster rules Denver’s team made several transactions on Monday.

The two that may surprise some but should come as no shock once diving into the nitty gritty was the club sending down both Nikolai Kovalenko and Ivan Ivan among a group of five players. Based on what head coach Jared Bednar has said both Kovalenko and Ivan factor to be members of the NHL squad this season but are currently, at least on paper with the Colorado Eagles.

For Monday, the Avs had to send each down so that they could put inactive players in the proper place on Tuesday. That list includes Gabriel Landeskog. Artturi Lehkonen and Tucker Poolman, who are expected to go on Long-Term Injured Reserve (LTIR) as well as the suspended Valeri Nichushkin.

Once those five members of the squad are put in their proper slots, Chris MacFarland can bring back Kovalenko and Ivan. The Avs went 1-5-0 in the preseason but Kovalenko stood out with two assists and Ivan tallied a goal while showing some grit fit for the bottom six forward group.

Kovalenko is a touted prospect despite being just a sixth-round pick of the Avs in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. At five-foot-ten, 185-pounds he’s a winter who can also play center. Playing in Russia’s KHL for Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo tallied over 100 points in 113 games including the postseason. After his seventh season in the KHL, Kovalenko joined the Avs late last year where he played in Games 5 and 6 of Colorado’s series against Winnipeg.

Ivan is yet to make his NHL debut in a game that has counted, he was with the Avalanche’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Eagles in 2023-24. That’s where he played 67 games, collecting 31 points. Before coming to Colorado, he tallied 177 points in 191 appearances with the Cape Breton Eagles in the QMJHL from 2019-23. And he had that appearance representing his country in 2022 as well.

#Avs Nikolai Kovalenko and Ivan Ivan are part of the group that was assigned to the Eagles as the club sets it's "official" opening-night roster.

Those are both accounting moves, because of who is going on LTIR. They'll be "back" in time to play Wednesday against Vegas.

— Corey Masisak (@cmasisak22) October 7, 2024

Kovalenko is projected to start the season on the Avs’ second line alongside Casey Mittelstadt and 2023 first-rounder Calum Ritchie. While Ivan should be on the fourth line with Parker Kelly Joel Kiviranta.

The Avs also sent down Adam Scheel, T.J. Tynan and Ondrej Pavel on Monday.

The Avs roster now stands at 21 with 11 forwards, eight defensemen and two goalies. Here’s how it looks.

Goalies
Alexandar Georgiev
Justus Annunen

Forwards
Chris Wagner
Parker Kelly
Ross Colton
Logan O’Connor
Jonathan Drouin
Miles Wood
Nathan MacKinnon
Casey Mittelstadt
Calum Ritchie
Joel Kiviranta
Mikko Rantanen

Defenseman
John Ludvig
Devon Toews
Cale Makar
Josh Manson
Calvin de Haan
Samuel Girard
Oliver Kylington
Sam Malinski