The Colorado Avalanche play musical chairs with their blueline

Though it might have been an off day for the players, the Colorado Avalanche took care of some roster business today. The team has activated Anton Lindholm from the IR, called up Duncan Siemens and reassigned defensemen Chris Bigras and Andrei Mironov to the AHL.

Lindholm has been out of the lineup since he broke his jaw more than three weeks ago against the Philadelphia Flyers. He has no points in nine games this season while trying to legitimize himself as an everyday NHL defenseman.

To go along with the lack of offense, Lindholm has struggled through the first part of the season in the defensive zone as well. His 66.96 CF/60 is among the worst on the team and he simply hasn’t been able to show the consistency some were expecting after his 12 game tryout last season.

It would seem like a couple weeks in San Antonio would have done Lindholm some good as he works his way back into game shape, but it looks like the coaching staff disagrees.

To coincide with Lindholm getting back in the lineup, the team has sent Chris Birgas and Andrei Mironov back to the AHL. The two rookie defensemen have been in and out of the lineup over the past few weeks and with the return of Lindholm and the emergence of Samuel Girard, it looks like they could be with the Rampage for the foreseeable future.

The young defensemen belong in the AHL. They have shown through the first quarter of the season that they’re not ready to be NHL regulars. This move will allow them to go to San Antonio and log some big minutes while working on improving a few aspects of their game.

Mironov has looked good at times with the Avs - especially when carrying the puck - but all too often he looks lost in his own end, drifting out of position. He’s been the team’s worst player from a statistical standpoint - he gives up significantly more scoring chances than anyone else on the team. This time in the AHL should help him become a lot more comfortable with the North American style of game and allow him to work on his game away from the puck.

Bigras has been a little better then Mironov, though he still falls behind each of Johnson, Girard, Barrie, Barberio, and Zadorov in terms of shots against per 60 minutes. He’s still only 22 years old and has the potential to be a very good third pairing defender, I’d suspect he’s the first to get recalled the next time a defender gets injured.

Less than an hour later, the team announced another move.

Duncan Siemens will be joining the team, likely to act as the seventh defender until Patrik Nemeth is healthy.

In 20 AHL games this season, Siemens has one goal and two assists with the San Antonio Rampage.