Morning skate notebook: Why Alexander Kerfoot went back to center

I’ve always cast a hairy eyeball on forwards changing positions. If one spent most of one’s hockey-playing life at one position, chances are that’s where one will best thrive now and in the future. The fact that Colorado Avalanche forward Alexander Kerfoot has been moved from left wing to center might make you suspect I’m not high on this move, but it’s the opposite.

Except for the preseason and the first seven games of the NHL regular season, Kerfoot has played center his whole hockey-playing life. He’s essentially coming home, therefore, with Thursday’s game with the St. Louis Blues.

Kerfoot will move from playing left wing on a line with Matt Duchene and Nail Yakupov to centering a line with Gabe Landeskog and J.T. Compher. It may seem like an overreaction on Jared Bednar’s part to switch him to a new line after two straight losses, especially when the Kerfoot-Duchene-Yakupov line had looked so good previously.

But it turns out Bednar’s plan all along has been to move Kerfoot back to the position where he’s most comfortable. The games at left wing were, essentially, a dry run audition for the center gig. And, well, the fact is Kerfoot was starting to look a little out of place as a winger.

“That’s one of the reasons why we didn’t put him there right away. We thought it might be an easier transition (to center) for him,” Bednar said. “Kind of, get his feet underneath him and get used to the opponents and whatnot. That’s where he’s played his whole life and I feel like he was getting closed out on the boards a little bit and not finding as much space as he’s used to. I’ve been wanting to move him back to center and after losing a couple games and looking to move our lines around a little bit and look for a spark, it’s a good opportunity for him.”

Kerfoot, 5-10, 175 pounds, had a goal and assist in his first three games, but has gone four straight without a point. He nearly had several, though, and helped create chances with Duchene, Yakupov and on the power play. He’s happy to go back to center, though he has played little with Landeskog and Compher, so there will be an adjustment there.

“Hopefully, we can find some chemistry right away. It’s a big game for us,” Kerfoot said.

NOTEBOOK

• Chris Bigras will be a healthy scratch, along with Andrei Mironov, on defense against the Blues. It will be Bigras’ first missed game of the season. Patrik Nemeth will return to the lineup after missing one game with a shoulder injury. He’ll be paired with Tyson Barrie.
• This will be Nail Yakupov’s 300th NHL game. It will come against the team he played for last season. “I have some friends over there. It might be a little strange playing against them, but not like the first time I played against Edmonton,” he said.
• Bednar said he has and will continue to have his goalie rotation mapped out in two-week intervals. Jonathan Bernier will get the start tonight, his third of the season.