Colorado Avalanche demote Nikita Zadorov

In a bit of early morning news that will disappoint many, the Colorado Avalanche demoted highly-touted young defenseman Nikita Zadorov to the San Antonio Rampage of the American Hockey League. The 20-year old Zadorov was seen as the primary piece of the return the Avalanche got from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Ryan O’Reilly. He has made appearances in 11 games, registering two assists.

While a bit surprising in that Zadorov had previously skipped over the AHL entirely, his play had slipped badly in recent weeks and was a healthy scratch in three of the previous four Avalanche games. With that in mind, this demotion is likely about getting Zadorov into some games and letting him regain some of his lost confidence while the Avalanche prepare to head East for the next two weeks.

For the moment, the Avalanche don’t need to make a corresponding move alongside the Zadorov demotion as they still have seven defensemen remaining on the roster.