Avalanche player (p)review: Pierre-Edouard Bellemare

Colorado’s failed free agent pursuits of both Brian Boyle and Ryan Carpenter eventually led them to the other Vegas penalty-killing ace, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. For a team that has talked often about its affinity for getting younger and focusing on high-end skating, Bellemare is really neither.

The 34-year-old Bellemare has followed a peculiar career path to get to Colorado as he made his NHL debut at 29 and managed to stick despite his age. After three years in Philadelphia, Bellemare ended up in Vegas after the expansion draft and became part of a pesky fourth line that helped set the tone for the Golden Knights.

A physical presence in the middle of the ice, Bellemare doesn’t bring a lot of offense as he scored just 15 points (6g, 9a) in 76 games played but he was a trusted veteran for Gerard Gallant all the same. He helped key a very effective and frustrating to play against fourth line and has the versatility to play both left wing and center depending on the situation.

That flexibility will likely come in handy in late-game situations as Bellemare’s other big skill he brings to Colorado is the ability to win faceoffs. As a team last year, Colorado was 26th in the NHL, winning just 48.1% of the faceoffs they took. Bellemare won 54.7% of the draws he took last year and he has steadily improved in that area in his five years in the NHL.

Last year’s fourth line for Colorado was a revolving door of ineptitude and the lineup disparity from the top to the bottom line put head coach Jared Bednar in a position to overplay his top line to make up for a wildly ineffective fourth line. Bellemare’s addition, along with a few others this summer, will allow the Avalanche to ice a much more competitive fourth line.

Next season

As a potential faceoff ace late in games, Bellemare is immediately an upgrade at the fourth line center spot that was a source of frustration last season after Vladislav Kamenev went down with another upper-body injury that ended his season. Bellemare brings stability to a position that was a revolving door after Kamenev’s injury.

His penalty-killing ability will replace what the team lost when they traded away Carl Soderberg to Arizona and his ability to win faceoffs is something the Avalanche simply lacked last year. Combined with Nazem Kadri, Bellemare will boost that aspect of Colorado’s all-around profile.

He also plays a consistently heavy game that is not fun to play against and should he be paired with Matt Nieto and Matt Calvert, those three would align as one of the league’s most annoying trios to go up against.

Highlights are grand