With Darren Helm set to miss some time, it was expected that Colorado would need to bring up a forward to replace him. They’ve done just that as Peter Baugh of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the Avs have brought up winger Sampo Ranta from AHL Colorado. While they don’t have an open roster spot available, that can easily be covered by shifting Helm to injured reserve.
The 22-year-old has now been recalled six times this season although it hasn’t yielded much in the way of NHL playing opportunities. Ranta has suited up in just five games for the Avalanche so far where he has been held off the scoresheet while averaging barely over seven minutes a night on the fourth line. Ranta also played in ten games at the NHL level last season where he logged a little more than ten minutes a night while failing to record a point.
However, Ranta has had a bit of success offensively in the minors this season with five goals and five assists in 26 games, numbers that put him on pace to match the seven goals and seven helpers in 38 contests from a year ago. If he gets into the lineup, he’ll likely be asked to see spot duty on the fourth line once more but it’s likelier at this point that he’ll serve as the 13th forward.
Colorado has had to dip into LTIR in recent weeks to cover for the long list of injuries that they have and they have ample space to fit in Ranta’s $925K AAV. However, while they’re using LTIR, they aren’t able to bank cap space which will make adding at the trade deadline a little more difficult until they can get enough players healthy to avoid needing to use it. Helm’s injury and Ranta’s recall will make that task a little harder.