Can the Colorado Eagles’ new-look provide valuable reinforcements for the Avalanche?

It’s been a summer of changes for the Colorado Eagles. The American League affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche were dealt a Pacific Division first-round exit by the Coachella Valley Firebirds – Seattle’s AHL team – making for a 2023 season finale not so different from their parent club.

After 53 different players dressed for the Eagles throughout the course of the season, their third-place finish in the Pacific Division was an impressive feat.

The first set of changes started with the signing of four college free agents near the end of the regular season: Sam Malinski, Jason Polin, Ryan Sandelin, and Ondrej Pavel. Also with them came 2019 third-round pick, Matt Stienburg, on an ATO. The crop of college players was dropped into the grind of the pro schedule and contributed to the Eagles’ postseason run.

Ultimately the Eagles’ record gradually improved, season by season, and Greg Cronin received a call to serve as the next head coach of the Anaheim Ducks.

Cronin’s NHL opportunity opened other doors. After development camp this summer, Aaron Schneekloth was named the head coach of the Colorado Eagles.

Additionally, former Avalanche player Steve Konowalchuk was named the newest assistant and will head up the powerplay and oversee the forward group.

Also by their side, Tim Branham will continue to run the penalty kill and will take on a greater role working with the defensemen one-on-one.

“Tim was a defenseman throughout his career. He’s a former draft pick. He’s played a lot of games in the American League and he’s coached a lot of seasons,” Schneekloth said of Branham’s qualifications.

 “(He’s) got a lot of experience working with forwards and defensemen, so he’s going to put an identity on them that I think the fans will enjoy and that he will be proud of as well.”

With the many changes also came some departures. The Eagles will be without points leaders Charles Hudon and Alex Galchenyuk next season. Centerman Mikhail Maltsev moved on to the LA Kings organization, and Jonas Johansson, Keith Kinkaid, Josh Jacobs, Mitch Vande Sompel, Gustav Rydahl, and Justin Scott all moved on as well. Perhaps the most surprising was the loss of forward prospect Sampo Ranta to the SHL.

But, they’ve also replenished. The Eagles offered Cedric Pare a pro contract making him a PTO success story. Utah Grizzlies goaltender Garrett Metcalf was re-signed to an AHL contract. The club re-signed forward Brandon Cutler to a two-way contract as well, so he may see action in both Utah and Loveland. Michael Underwood, a PTO college defenseman from last season who was ultimately released, still earned a contract in the end and will compete for an AHL job next year too. Among the additions are some intriguing players to get excited about.

Forwards		S:	Age:	Ht./Wt.	Past club:
Ivan Ivan	C	L	20	6’0″ 190 lbs.	QMJHL	Cape Breton Eagles
Brett Stapley	C	R	24	5’11” 196 lbs.	ECHL	Trois-Rivières Lions
Tanner Kero	C/RW	L	31	6’0″ 185 lbs.	AHL	Texas Stars
Riley Tufte	LW	L	25	6’6″ 230 lbs.	AHL	Texas Stars
Chris Wagner	RW/C	R	32	6’0″ 198 lbs.	AHL	Providence Bruins
Fredrik Olofsson	LW/C	L	27	6’2″ 196 lbs.	AHL	Texas Stars
Brandon Cutler	LW/C	L	23	6’2″ 200 lbs.	ECHL	Utah Grizzlies
Defensemen
Gianni Fairbrother	D	L	22	6’0″ 203 lbs.	AHL	Laval Rocket
Michael Underwood	D	R	25	6’2″ 205 lbs.	AHL	Colorado Eagles
Jack Ahcan	D	L	26	5’9″ 181 lbs.	AHL	Providence Bruins
Corey Schueneman	D	L	27	6’0″ 196 lbs.	AHL	Laval Rocket
Josh Wesley	D	R	27	6’3″ 207 lbs.	Czechia	HC Litvínov
Goalies
Arvid Holm	G	L	24	6’5″ 205 lbs.	AHL	Manitoba Moose

The Eagles roster has already taken on an entirely different look from last year, but I’m told there’s still an interest in adding a bona fide goalscorer to the mix as well.

Players like Tanner Kero and Chris Wagner bring a veteran presence, and Riley Tufte and Fredrik Olofsson are gritty, physical forwards who can impose their will.

Fredrik Olofsson is signed to a one-year, two-way deal with the Avalanche.

General manager Chris MacFarland explained that Colorado targeted Olofsson for his versatility.

“He fits our identity with how we like to play, there’s some versatility there that he can play wing and center,” MacFarland said. “We saw him play a lot, (with the Texas Stars against the Eagles), but we had very good NHL reports on him as well. We watched him very closely in the Vegas series when he played in the NHL playoffs, and he’s a guy that’s gonna push to make our team.”

For Schneekloth, the identity of the Eagles must be fast and physically tough.

“We talked about the energy that our building provides, right? We want to put a product on the ice that’s going to energize our fans, so we want to be fast. We don’t want to be a team that’s pushed around. We want to be a team that’s always tough to play against and is going to play hard regardless of the score. We have a lot of those players that put those qualities and our fans are going to be proud of our team.”

Importantly, Schneekloth noted that they’ve approached the offseason with the interests of the Avalanche in mind.

“One thing that I think management has looked at, and we’ve talked a little bit about, is making sure that the players that we have are aligned with how the Avalanche want to play and they’re going to fit that mold,” he explained.

“That’s not saying those players in the past didn’t – we loved having those players. They put up great numbers, they had career seasons and some of them worked their way to other NHL clubs. Some of the guys they brought in are going to have fresh starts here with our team and a good opportunity to create some traction with the Avalanche.”

Charles Hudon’s 54 points will be hard to replace, but Schneekloth is looking at the entire team to chip in.

“It will be a community-balanced offensive team.”

“Some of the players that we’ve talked about that we’d like to see take that next step in their offensive productivity would be Jean-Luc Foudy, Oskar Olausson, and then the new players that we’ve got coming in are going to handle some of that weight as well with Tanner Kero from Texas and then Riley Tufte and Fredrik Olofsson,” Schneekloth said.

“Cal Burke has continued to increase his production every single year. I think we’re pretty solid on the backend if we have potentially Brad Hunt in our lineup or Jack Ahcan (and) Sam Malinski to build off his early pro-career start.”

RFA goaltender, Justus Annunen, was extended to a one-year contract for the 2023-24 season. Eagles president Ryan Bach expects Annunen and Arvid Holm to share the workload together next year. “We’re going to have a very good tandem with him and Justus for our club here in Colorado.”

Coming up on September 15th – 18th, six teams including the Avs will send top prospects to the 2023 Rookie Faceoff in Vegas.

Among them will be the glut of college players and hopefully the latest 2023 first-round draft pick, Cal Ritchie – health permitting.

In late July, Ben Meyers signed a one-year contract for the 2023-24 season. Meyers is another player on the rise looking to take a big step forward and earn a full-time role on the Avs.

Unfortunate circumstances tested Colorado’s depth last year. It burned the candle at both ends and put both teams in difficult positions.

The organization is loading up on reinforcements. The Eagles will have to let the chips fall where they may to some degree, but the hope is that they’ll be even better prepared to tackle the inevitable ebbs and flows of the season.

Schneekloth’s coaching record at the ECHL level led the Eagles to immediate success and back-to-back Kelly Cups.

Greg Cronin’s emphasis on teaching and connecting with his players left a lasting impression on Schneekloth too.

“Greg Cronin had more experience at every level than any coach I’ve ever met from the US National Development Program to NCAA to NHL assistant to AHL head coach. He’s seen it all at every single level,” said Schnkeekloth. “His passion and knowledge for player development on the ice and off the ice is something that I’ll always take with me. He would dive and dig into a player’s soul to find out who that player really is and what he’s really capable of – I learned a lot from that, from his individual meetings, from his team meetings.”

Navigating turnover among players is commonplace in the AHL. What will a new head coach bring to the equation? Aaron Schneekloth looks to make the opportunity uniquely and authentically his own.