Defenseman
Bowen Byram will make his NHL debut and goalie
Hunter Miska his Avalanche debut on Thursday in Los Angeles.
Defenseman
Greg Pateryn, acquired from Minnesota for
Ian Cole on Tuesday, also will play against the Kings.
Byram will wear No. 4, Pateryn No. 5 and Miska No. 32.
“I was in the dressing room and the lineup was on the wall,” Byram, the No. 4 pick in the 2019 NHL draft, said after an optional morning skate. “I was a little surprised, but I was hoping it was coming soon. I’m really excited.”
Here are the
GAME NOTES.
The Avalanche will dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the second game in a row, so Byram could pair with several players.
Erik Johnson and
Dennis Gilbert will get the night off. Forward
Andre Burakovsky (upper-body injury) skated but remains out. Goalie
Pavel Francouz (lower-body injury) wasn’t on the ice.
“It was kind of funny, EJ told me (his name) was on the board and I didn’t know if he was kidding or not,” Byram, 19, said. “When I realized I was going, just really excited. It’s been a long time coming. I’ve been dreaming (about) this for a long time.”
Byram was a co-captain for silver medal-winning Team Canada in the recent World Junior Championship tournament, where he had five points (one goal, four assists) in seven games. He had 52 points (14 goals, 38 assists) in 50 games last season for the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League. He signed a three-year entry level contract on July 19, 2019.
“We’ll try and put him in some situations to succeed,” coach
Jared Bednar said. “Obviously we want to see him on the ice a little bit in the offensive zone and play with the
(Nathan) MacKinnon line. We’ll try and get him out in different situations to see how he does. It’s kind of a message for Miska and for Byram, just go and be yourselves.”
Miska, 25, was signed as a free agent on Feb. 10, 2020. He had a 16-6-3 record in 26 games for the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League with two shutouts, a 2.48 goals-against average and .924 save percentage. He went 2-1-0 in three games for the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL with a 1.62 GAA and .947 save percentage. He stopped eight of nine shots for Arizona in 18 minutes against Detroit in 2018-19 in his lone previous NHL game.
Miska, who is from North Branch, Minn., was promoted from the taxi squad after Francouz was injured Monday in practice.
Philipp Grubauer played the first three games and the Avalanche play again Friday in Anaheim.
“I’m confident,” Bednar said. “Obviously the injury to Francouz put us in this position (for Miska) to get this start, but to be honest with you, he’s earned it. He’s been fantastic from Day One in training camp. That’s three in a row for Grubi and with the back-to-back coming up with no break and (being) in the middle of four (games) in six (days) and no break coming out of it we feel like now is as good a time as any.
“Just watching him in practice and talking with (goalie coach)
Jussi (Parkkila) and with how confident he looks in the net, I’m confident he can go out and get the job done. It’s a great story. We signed him last year, he played some games in the ECHL, he goes into the Eagles and has a great season and he’s arguably their MVP.
“He had a real good showing with us when he came into the (playoff) bubble, he practices, he did a lot of work, he’s improved his game and he showed up this year confident in training camp. It’s something he’s had to fight for and earn and I’m sure he’s excited about it.”
The Avalanche earlier Thursday signed former Penn State goalie
Peyton Jones to a one-year contract. Jones, 24, will report to the Eagles.
“It’s just to give us flexibility,” Bednar said. “The idea was we had a contract available. If we’re going to need more than our two goaltenders, which it looks like we are, then we want to make sure that our guys are not just rested and fresh when they go into the net but also that they’ve played games and they’re sharp.
“You can’t just do that for practice, you have to get them in game situations. If you’re looking at the big picture, if a guy like Miska hasn’t played a little bit, then we may need to send him down and get some games, so we’d have to have someone else to recall. It’s the same with
(Adam) Werner, Jones, Miska, we got to keep them sharp and we also have to have someone here to be able to be a (third goalie) depending on the situation.”
Jones, who is from Langhorne, Pa., began the season with Utah of the ECHL, where he went 4-2-1 in eight games with a 3.10 GAA and .889 save percentage.
He played four years at Penn State and ended his career as the program's all-time leader in games (133), wins (76), saves (3,685) and shutouts (four) while ranking second in GAA (2.88) and save percentage (.907). His 42 Big Ten wins are a conference record and his eight tournament wins rank second.
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