The Avalanche has impressive defensemen coming up through major junior and college hockey. The list starts with Chris Bigras of the Owen Sound Attack of the Ontario Hockey League and includes Mason Geertsen (Vancouver Giants, Western Hockey League), Kyle Wood (North Bay Battalion, OHL), Will Butcher (University of Denver) and Ben Storm (St. Cloud State). Geertsen figures to be the first of that bunch to turn pro. The 6-foot-4, 212-pound MVP of his junior team is currently negotiating with the Avalanche, and he could be assigned to Lake Erie of the American Hockey League soon.
By Steve Ewen
The (Vancouver) Province
Vancouver Giants defenceman Mason Geertsen could be on his way to the Colorado Avalanche’s AHL farm team, the Lake Erie Monsters, in the coming days.
The hold-up? He wants his entry-level contract finalized.
“It matters if I sign or not,” Geertsen, the big, burly defenceman who was the Giants’ MVP this WHL season, said when asked on Sunday if he was going to play for Lake Erie sometime soon.
The Giants’ season ended Saturday with their final regular season game in Kelowna. They didn’t make the playoffs. Geertsen, a 19, a fourth-round pick of the Avalanche in 2013, could go to Lake Erie and play under a contract with the AHL club, otherwise known as a professional try out or PTO.
Geertsen and his agent, Craig Oster of Newport Sports, aren’t keen on such a move without his future contract locked in stone.
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