Avalanche send Nate Guenin, Reto Berra to San Antonio

The Colorado Avalanche announced they have demoted defenseman Nate Guenin to the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL after placing him on waivers twice and watching him go unclaimed by the NHL’s 29 other teams. Joining him will be Reto Berra, who is headed to the Rampage on a conditioning assignment as he returns from an ankle injury suffered playing soccer before the team’s home game against Toronto on December 21.

The demotion of Guenin, 33, comes as a mild surprise after the team placed him on waivers multiple times but chose to keep him around the NHL club. Six weeks of sitting around appears to have been enough for everyone involved and Guenin will surely look to play a leadership role for the Rampage.

Berra’s return to the ice will be more significant because it presents the Avalanche with a legitimate goaltending conundrum as the NHL trade deadline approaches next week. A healthy Berra gives them three goaltenders, along with Calvin Pickard and Semyon Varlamov, who have played well in the NHL this season and as an organization at the maximum 50 contracts, the Avalanche surely have to consider one of their goaltenders as trade bait.

Should the team choose to keep all of them, Berra’s conditioning assignment will likely last the full 14 days before the team has to make a final decision on who the backup to Varlamov will be for the rest of the season.

In response to the moves, the Rampage also demoted defenseman Cody Corbett and goaltender Spencer Martin to Fort Wayne of the ECHL.