Morning Flurries: Kiefer Sherwood extends for one year

It was a busy day around the league as the transaction freeze lifted following the Seattle Kraken expansion draft. While it wasn’t the highly anticipated signing fans were anxious for, the Colorado Avalanche took care of one order of business in the announced signing of depth forward Kiefer Sherwood to a one-year two-way contract extension.

Sherwood was set to become a Restricted Free Agent with arbitration rights as the calendar turns over to the 2021-22 league year next week so this does tidy up some loose ends and brings back a player who can contribute in a limited role on the fourth line.

The NHL had one day free in their calendar before the NHL Entry draft so they decided to reveal the 2021-22 season schedule. The Avalanche begin at home hosting the Chicago Blackhawks on October 13th. The regular season runs through April 29th to accommodate the Olympic break in February. The schedule looks very much like it did in pre-pandemic days and strangely enough none of the rumored back-to-backs in one city.

Speaking of the draft, the first round will begin tonight at 6pm MT on ESPN2. The Avalanche are expected to pick at 28th before the remaining rounds go off on Saturday starting at 9am MT. Newly appointed Director of Amateur Scouting Wade Klippenstein briefly met the media and spoke about the organization’s approach to the draft, which was unsurprisingly the best player available.

Finally, Matt Calvert announced his retirement from the NHL yesterday. He was only able to play 18 games in 2021 and mysteriously disappeared in March never to return and has yet to open up about the injury difficulties he endured which led to this decision. Calvert was set to become a pending Unrestricted Free Agent after concluding a three-year contract with the Avalanche and not anticipated back as the team needs to save cap space for some other contract extensions. His heart, determination and dedication to the team and sport will be missed.