Avalanche claims Nicolas Aube-Kubel off waivers

The Avalanche once again turned to the waiver wire to add to the fringes of their roster today as they claimed forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel off waivers from the Philadelphia Flyers.

Aube-Kubel, 25, is a depth forward in the final year of a two-year contract he signed after a promising rookie season with the Flyers that counts $1.025M against the salary cap.

With just one assist in seven games, Aube-Kubel isn’t going to be an offensive spark or anything to the Avalanche lineup but he should, at least in theory, raise the floor of the lineup currently being used.

At 5’11”, 214 pounds Aube-Kubel is a handful physically and brings that dimension with a solid skating profile as well. He’s never been a big offensive contributor with 12 points (3g, 9a) in 50 games last year and 15 points (7g, 8a) in 36 games his rookie year.

The dip in goal scoring can be explained by a shooting percentage that fell from 14.6% to 5.7% but the occasional goal isn’t really why the Avalanche claimed him. With 120 hits in 50 games last year, Aube-Kubel plays with a level of tenacity that Colorado’s current fourth line (Helm/Megna/Sherwood) certainly lacks in its current form.

That’s the real appeal of Aube-Kubel in the immediate, in my opinion. As a guy who experienced some success with the puck in transition, he’ll slot into Colorado’s playstyle in that he can breakout pucks with his feet and carry through the neutral zone with some skill, but if he has to dump and chase, his physicality plays nicely into that, too.

Before I get into the fancy charts and graphs, it’s important to note that there’s obviously a reason Aube-Kubel was on waivers and why the Flyers were comfortable with the idea of losing him for free.

One of those reasons is certainly a problem with penalties. While Aube-Kubel was fourth on the Flyers last year in penalties drawn with 12, he also led them in penalties taken with 16 minor penalties called against him. Drawing penalties is great but giving back those opportunities by taking even more is a legitimate problem.

In fact, for a player who only averaged 11:10 of ice time, to be tied for 23rd in the NHL last year for penalties taken is a legitimate concern. In just seven games this year, he has taken three penalties so it’s still been a bit of an issue.

Another part of Aube-Kubel’s problem is that he doesn’t appear to be a specialist of any kind. It’s not particularly common for a fourth-line player in the NHL to stick over the long haul without being on either special teams unit or without being an ace in the faceoff circle. Aube-Kubel, at least in Philadelphia, was none of those things, so his value comes purely at even strength.

So where’s the appeal for the Avalanche, despite the skating and physicality?

He doesn’t drive play offensively but in the past has been a decent defensive forward at even strength. This year, however, he’s taken a big step back and that certainly has played a role in why the Flyers were willing to make this move just a month into the season.

The Flyers are also getting Kevin Hayes back from injury soon, so a roster move of some kind was necessary. Aube-Kubel’s step back made him the obvious candidate to move. His defensive results especially stand out this year as detrimental.

At +45% this year, the Flyers are getting roasted with Aube-Kubel on the ice, but last year the Flyers were a better than average defensive club when he was on the ice. Keep in mind Aube-Kubel has played just seven games this year, so it’s possible it was just a slow start for him as he has over 80 games the previous two years that show significantly better on-ice results.

From Colorado’s perspective, their current fourth line is made of two long-time AHL players who have never shown a consistent ability to hang in the NHL and they clearly like their chances to help a player who had fallen out of favor in Philadelphia turn things around in his career.

It will be interesting to see if head coach Jared Bednar tries to play him on a penalty kill unit or just sticks with him at even strength as the Flyers did, but all of that is a discussion for next week when he can make his Avalanche debut.

Fun fact time: A wearer of 62 in Philadelphia, if Aube-Kubel keeps that number, he will be the first Avalanche player to wear 62 since Chris Wagner in 2016, who was also a waiver wire claim by the club, and just the fourth Avs player ever to wear the number in the regular season (Wes O’Neill and Paul Stastny are the others).