New Avalanche defenseman Patrik Nemeth arrived in Denver and practiced Wednesday morning before the team left for New York and the season opener Thursday against the Rangers.

"I think I have a good opportunity here to prove myself," Nemeth told reporters one day after being claimed on waivers from the Dallas Stars. "I feel I'm ready to prove myself, and I'm going to do everything in my power to do that and embrace the role that they give me."

The 6-feet-3, 219-pound Nemeth will be paired with offense-minded Tyson Barrie. Nemeth, 25, wasn't able to earn regular duty with the Stars, who made him a second-round pick (No. 41) in the 2010 NHL draft. He played in 108 games with the Stars in parts of four seasons with no goals, 14 assists and 40 penalty minutes.

"Really excited," said Nemeth, who like Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog is from Stockholm. "It feels really good to be here. It's a young group, it's hungry, they want to be way better than last year. I have a new opportunity here to prove myself."

*****

The Avalanche placed forward Joe Colborne on waivers Wednesday, so he and his $2.5 million salary could be headed to AHL San Antonio.

Colborne, who has one year left on his contract, took part in his first full practices Monday and Tuesday after missing all six preseason games because of a back injury. He scored one goal in his final 61 games last year after collecting a hat trick in the opener.

Forward A.J. Greer, who is recovering from a concussion, participated in some drills while wearing a non-contact jersey.

Coach Jared Bednar didn't speak to the media after practice.

*****

The Brandon (Manitoba) Sun reported that undrafted forward Ty Lewis has signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Avalanche.

Lewis, 19, was invited to rookie and training camp after attending development camp in June. He had 68 points (30 goals, 38 assists) in 70 games last season with the Wheat Kings and already has 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in four games this season.

Lewis was originally contacted by new Avalanche scout Wade Klippenstein, who had been Brandon's director of scouting.

"This is just the start of everything, hopefully," Lewis told the paper. "I plan on having a good year here with the team. There’s a long way to go. I’m going to have a long road ahead of me.

"Going to camp I learned a lot about what it’s going to take to get to that next level. There are a lot of skilled hockey players out there and a lot of big strong guys. The hockey is extremely fast and skilled, and everything happens just that much faster."

*****

Here's how the lineup could look Thursday, though the defense pairings (other than Nemeth/Barrie) are uncertain:

FORWARDS
Sven Andrighetto -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Alex Kerfoot -- Matt Duchene -- Nail Yakupov
Gabriel Landeskog -- J.T. Compher -- Colin Wilson
Matt Nieto -- Tyson Jost -- Blake Comeau

DEFENSE
Mark Barberio -- Erik Johnson
Patrik Nemeth -- Tyson Barrie
Nikita Zadorov -- Chris Bigras

GOALIES
Semyon Varlamov
Jonathan Bernier

Scratches: Joe Colborne, Andrei Mironov, Carl Soderberg

Injured reserve: Sergei Boikov (shoulder), A.J. Greer (concussion)



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