Kings at Avalanche: Preseason Game 4 Preview

The Avalanche host the Kings tonight in the final home preseason game. The Avs will be in St Louis tomorrow and then in Vegas (baby) on Saturday to play the Kings again in this year's Frozen Fury.

Obviously, there are still some tight battles and some more players should be trimmed from the 31-man roster after the game tonight, but the picture is getting clearer. 9 of the 10 defensemen (including the injured Jan Hejda) practiced yesterday. The one exception? Kyle Cumiskey, who has yet to make a preseason appearance and, we're told, is not injured.has a groin injury *confused Arnason look*. Whether he is secretly injured or about to be traded, it sure doesn't sound like he's going to be on the opening night roster. With that assumption and the thought that Hejda will start the season on the IR, it sounds more and more like this is boiling down to a battle between Tyson Barrie and Stefan Elliott for the final roster spot on defense.

Up front, there are 17 healthy forwards with Brandon Yip expected out 4-6 weeks. Assuming the Avalanche keep 14 forwards, there's three cuts to make. Right now, that would be Patrick Bordeleau, Mark Olver and Brad Malone. Malone has had a strong camp, but, barring another injury, he's probably going to need to supplant Chuck Kobasew or Kevin Porter to make the roster at this point. Even if he doesn't make the team, I think we'll definitely be seeing him again before too long.

As always, tonight's game will be streamed