Avalanche Reassign Gavin Brindley

The Colorado Avalanche have reassigned forward Gavin Brindley back to their AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles. The move brings the Avalanche down to 21 players on their 23-man active roster.

Colorado is slated to activate forward Logan O’Connor off of long-term injured reserve in advance of tomorrow’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, per Evan Rawal of The Denver Gazette. O’Connor figures to slot directly into the fourth-line lineup role Brindley is now vacating, though there will still be an extra open spot on the Avalanche roster.

O’Connor isn’t the only Avalanche forward nearing a return from injury. Veteran Nicolas Roy is making progress in his recovery from a lower-body injury. He skated on his own before practice today and the team is hopeful he will be able to return in time for their game Sunday against the Nashville Predators. A return for the game on Friday has already been ruled out.

Colorado iced a lineup featuring 11 forwards and seven defensemen for their loss to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday. Head coach Jared Bednar told the media today, including DNVR Sports’ Bailey Curtis, that the team is considering calling up a forward from the AHL in order to help out O’Connor and Parker Kelly on the club’s fourth line. Seeing as he was reassigned today, it does not seem likely that 12th forward recall will be Brindley.

Brindley himself was originally recalled on Oct. 14, and ended up playing in four NHL games. He received minimal ice time in those four contests, averaging just 8:08 per game with no time on special teams. Brindley did manage his first point of the season, an assist on an Artturi Lehkonen goal late in the loss on Tuesday, but has otherwise had a muted impact.

The 22-year-old, who was a top college scorer from his days at the University of Michigan, is still finding his way at the NHL level. Brindley scored 13 points in 53 NHL games last season, but has not been able to make much headway as a scorer at the AHL level. In 86 career AHL games (regular season and playoff combined), Brindley has scored 36 points.

But the 5’8″, 173-pound winger plays an endearing, hard-working style and has in the past been ranked among the team’s top prospects.

Earlier this year, Scott Wheeler of The Athletic rated Brindley as the No. 1 prospect in the Avalanche’s system. He lost a preseason and training camp battle for an NHL lineup spot to one of his former college teammates, T.J. Hughes, which has cost him some momentum. But if Brindley can make the most of his reassignment and put together some productive games at the AHL level, it’s likely another recall will be in store.