Morning Flurries: Avalanche make second round of cuts

Colorado Avalanche

The Avalanche opened their preseason slate at the Pepsi Center in a 5-0 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. This match continued a troubling trend of absent offense and a putrid power play as the Avalanche have not scored a goal since the second game of the rookie showcase and are riding a 0/21 power play streak since then too, Perhaps a lineup with only one regular NHL player in Tyson Jost didn’t help matters either. But the good news is five preseason games remain. [MHH]

Another small cut was made following the game bringing the total camp roster to 47. Going back to junior are forwards Alex Beaucage, Sasha Mutala and Luka Burzan. Each were expected after getting a taste of preseason action. Additionally, defenseman Sasha Larocque was assigned to the Colorado Eagles. [Avalanche]

On a more positive note ESPN revealed their organizational power rankings forecasted over the next three years and the Avalanche took the pole position. [ESPN+]

Also, all the way up there in Newfoundland, this happened:

League

The Restricted Free Agent frenzy continues as Brandon Carlo is off the list signing a two year deal with the Boston Bruins with an AAV of $2.85 million. [Boston Bruins]

A bigger domino fell when Brock Boeser agreed to a three year $17.625m ($5.875m AAV) contract with the Vancouver Canucks. Now only eight RFAs remain including Mikko Rantanen.

In Central Division news, while the Winnipeg Jets look to get RFAs Kyle Connor and Patrik Laine signed, it looks like another big part of their lineup could be missing for a while:

Neither the team nor Byfulgien’s agent will comment on the situations but it’s sounding as thought the Jets need to prepare for the likelihood that they’ll be without their star defender all season. A tough pill to swallow given that they traded Jacob Trouba earlier this summer.

Prospects

The Rookie Faceoff has just concluded but host and location has already been announced for the 2020 event. The Arizona Coyotes will hold the tournament at their home rink Gila River Arena for the six team showcase including the Avalanche rookies. Game dates have not been announced but early September is a safe assumption. [Arizona Coyotes]

Its that time of year for Bob McKenzie to reveal the first edition of his draft rankings ahead of the 2020 draft. In his annual poll of scouts Alexis Lafreniére takes the poll position at this juncture but other forwards such as Quinton Byfield, Lucas Raymond, Cole Perfetti and Alexander Holtz will provide strong competition. [TSN]