Avalanche Notebook: With Fourth-Line Question Marks Still There, Bellemare Gets PTO
He's 39, but might still fill a temporary void
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare had decent numbers for a fourth-line center with Seattle last season. Seven points in 40 games, plus-4 and 53.5% on faceoffs. Injuries curtailed half his season, and that hurt the Kraken’s playoff chances, actually.
Bellemare, 39, will be at Avalanche training camp next week, on a professional tryout contract (PTO). Elliotte Friedman broke that news on Twitter (not X to me) today.
My first thought on absorbing this news was: If PE Bellemare is the Avs’ solution as a fourth-line center, at age 39, it feels like a step backward too much into the past. I love comeback stories. I love the story of the old guy trying to hang on, trying to just get by one more year. So, I’m rooting for PEB.
But does it feel like a step forward? Nope.
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