Detroit – The Avalanche roster is down to 35 heading into tonight’s exhibition game at Joe Louis Arena against the Red Wings, meaning Colorado still has as many as 12 cuts to make before the Oct. 4 season opener against the Dallas Stars.
Colorado assigned left wing Cody McLeod and defenseman Mitch Love on Wednesday to the Albany River Rats, the American Hockey League franchise the Avalanche and the Carolina Hurricanes will help stock this season. Also, the Avs sent right wing Victor Oreskovich, their second choice in the 2004 draft, back to his major junior team, the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League.
Complicating matters, though, is that the 35-man roster includes veteran winger Steve Konowalchuk, whose status remains up in the air after a precamp electrocardiogram showed signs that he might have a heart problem. There was no further news Wednesday as the Avalanche awaited the results of additional testing.
Veteran defenseman Jordan Leopold isn’t expected to be available to play until mid-October in the wake of offseason hernia surgery. The Avs still have 12 defensemen on the roster, and if they open the regular season with eight plus Leopold, the final spot could come down to a battle between Johnny Boychuk and Jeff Finger, who both played for Lowell of the AHL last season.
The remaining roster also includes goalie Tyler Weiman, who will share goaltending duties tonight with Jose Theodore. Weiman, who helped the Colorado Eagles to the Central Hockey League championship in 2005, is ticketed to start the season in Albany, as Peter Budaj serves as Theodore’s backup.
The Avs still have 20 forwards, including Konowalchuk. It seems likely they will send former University of Denver winger Paul Stastny to Albany to indoctrinate him further in the North American pro game, and will probably return the impressive Chris Stewart to Kingston of the OHL for another year of seasoning. Stewart, an 18-year-old winger, was Colorado’s first-round pick last June.
Contracts complicate matters, too, in the salary-cap era, and Cody McCormick could be a victim of financial reality and the numbers game if all stay, or get, healthy.
The Avs will leave Detroit after the game tonight to travel to Las Vegas, where they will face the Los Angeles Kings Saturday night.
Terry Frei can be reached at 303-954-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com.
