By Jordan Long
The Colorado Avalanche’s season starts tonight against the New York Rangers. The Avalanche come into the season hoping to make the playoffs for the 1st time since 2014. Colorado made a move to add depth to the defense, claiming defenseman Patrik Nemeth off waivers from the Dallas Stars.
Nemeth is young at 25 years old. He doesn’t have a lot of NHL experience appearing in only 108 games with 14 assists and has yet to score a goal. Last season Nemeth suited up in 40 games and had 3 assists for the Dallas Stars. When he was on the ice, opponents scored goals. Nemeth’s plus/minus was an unimpressive -4.
The Avalanche are optimistic his play improves from last year. Colorado likes what Nemeth can bring to the defense. His size at 6 foot 3 inches allows him to check opponents off the puck which will end scoring chances. Nemeth will also poke check the puck away. Nemeth must be able to block shots from entering the goal.
Nemeth is not an offensive defenseman and will be used in full strength and power play kill opportunities. The Avalanche know he is a physical defenseman. The Avalanche need him to improve the power play kill that was second to last in the league at 76.6%.
On paper this is a decent move. They didn’t have to give up anything for Nemeth. He will add to the group of defensemen Colorado already has in Erik Johnson, Tyson Barrie, Mark Barberio, Nikita Zadorov and Chris Bigras. If Nemeth performs poorly, Colorado could put him on waivers and send him down to the American Hockey League in San Antonio to work on his game. Another team could claim him and the Avalanche would be off the hook. Hopefully this addition will assist the defense especially on the power play kill.
What do you think of the Avalanche claiming Patrik Nemeth?
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