With opening night closing in, T.J. Hughes keeps making the Avalanche think twice.
The 24-year-old forward turned Friday night into his loudest case yet for a roster spot, piling up a hat trick and an assist in Colorado’s 5-2 preseason win over the Winnipeg Jets at Ball Arena. He also had an assist in his other preseason appearance, giving him a strong early line in camp as the Avalanche head toward their final decisions.
“He’s been getting better all through training camp, and it looks like he’s getting more comfortable,” head coach Jared Bednar said.
Bednar opened the night with Hughes at center between Gavin Brindley and Jaden Schwartz, a look he had said he wanted to try. That setup fit Hughes’ background - he spent his time with the Michigan Wolverines playing center - even though most of camp had him on the wing.
The alignment didn’t stick for long. Hughes was shifted back to the wing, Nazem Kadri moved back to his familiar third-line center spot, and Schwartz stayed on that line as the final piece.
“I moved Naz back in the middle of the ice to try and see if we could sort of spark things, and I think our guys got a little bit more engaged,” Bednar said. “Hughes kind of jump-started that.”
Added Hughes: “They’ve been through a lot in this league, and they’ve learned what works. … They’re always in the right spots, and their IQ and their smarts are very high level, so it’s fun to play with them.”
The scoring started for Colorado when Jaden Schwartz finished at 6:07 of the second period. Hughes held the puck long enough to find a tip in front, then put it on goal for Schwartz to redirect past Stuart Skinner.
Hughes kept pressing through the period and later finished a sequence that moved from Schwartz to Kadri before the puck came to him in the slot. He beat Skinner at 18:28 to tie it at 2-2.
Bednar went back to that line before the period ended, and Hughes delivered again. With 11 seconds left, he scored from a sharp angle, slipping the puck through a small opening between Skinner and the post. A few seconds earlier, he had muscled veteran defenseman Dylan DeMelo behind the net and nearly scored there, too.
He finished off the hat trick with an empty-net goal.
Friday also highlighted the roster squeeze Colorado is working through. Hughes has been practicing with the non-NHL group all week, centering Brindley and Tristen Nielsen in practice. The Hamilton, Ontario native is waiver-exempt, which adds another layer to the decisions Bednar has to sort out before Wednesday.
The NHL group the Avalanche worked with this week had Kadri on the wing in the top six, matching his role to start Friday’s game. Fedor Svechkov centered a third line with Nic Roy and Schwartz, while Parker Kelly handled the fourth-line center spot with Logan O’Connor and Zachary L’Heureux.
If Hughes makes the opening night roster, keeping him with Schwartz and Kadri would make sense. But that would leave one of Svechkov or L’Heureux on the outside looking in, and that gets tricky if Colorado can’t carry 13 forwards. Both players require waivers.
Bednar said Hughes, Brindley and Taylor Makar are among the skaters from Friday’s game who will play Saturday in Utah. He expects the roster to be nearly set by Sunday’s practice.
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