Final Grade: Derek Peltier

Midseason Grade: N/A

Final Grade: INC

Joined Team: Drafted in the 6th round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

MHH Nicknames: N/A

Linemates:

• MacKenzie (5)
• O'Neill (3)
• Vernace (3)

Ice Time:*

• TOT 13:15 (9th)
• EV 12:10 (9th)
• PK :21 (9th)
• PP :43 (6th)

*Rank is based on total minutes, not average per game.

Best Month: April (6 games, 0 points)

Career Highlights: Peltier made his NHL debut last season.

Report: As with Ray Macias, I didn't really get much of a feel for Derek Peltier's game in his 11 games with the team. I know he's a smallish defender with a decent offensive upside; apparently the Avs have a little defenseman tree growing somewhere because they seemingly have a zillion of these guys.

Anyway, for a guy essentially in his first pro season (he played 6 games with Lake Erie in 2008 after finishing his college career) he seemed to hold his own nicely with the Avs.

Fun Fact: Peltier is just the 2nd player from the Avs' 2004 draft to make an appearance in the NHL (Wojtek Wolski is the other).

The Derek Peltier Drinking Game:  Drink when the Minnesota native (and former Golden Gopher) is talked about by the FSN broadcast team during games against the Wild Drunk potential: Significant

What I Said Last Year: N/A

2008 Salary (and Cap Number): $500k ($512K)

2009-2010 Status: Peltier is under contract for one more season at a $512K cap hit. He becomes a RFA next summer.

Outlook for 2009: Although Peltier has played in just 80 games as a pro, he's got 4 years of college under his belt and, at 23, is older than Kyle Cumiskey, Michael Vernace and Ray Macias. I'm not sure where he fits on the organizational depth chart, but I'm guessing he falls somewhere after Cumiskey and Vernace at this point. I'm sure we'll see more of Peltier at some point, but probably not much next year.

Next Up: Adam Foote