Eurolanche

Avs sign Calvert

The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club announced today that the team has signed free-agent forward Matt Calvert to a three-year contract through the 2020-21 season.

Calvert, 28, registered 24 points (9g, 15a) for the Columbus Blue Jackets during the 2017-18 regular season, matching career highs in assists and points, and led the team with two short-handed tallies. He produced four points (3g, 1a) in six postseason contests. The Brandon, Manitoba, native has amassed 149 points (72g, 77a) in 416 career NHL games, all with Columbus, and added 10 points (6g, 4a) in 16 career postseason outings.

"Matt is a competitive two-way winger who has the versatility to play throughout our lineup," said Avalanche Executive Vice President/General Manager Joe Sakic. "His speed and tenacity is a strong fit with the way we play."

A fifth-round selection (127th overall) of the Blue Jackets in the 2008 NHL Draft, Calvert made his NHL debut on Jan. 7, 2011 at Anaheim and registered his first NHL point the following night on Jan. 8 with a goal at Los Angeles. The 5-foot-11, 186-pound left wing finished with 20 points (11g, 9a) in 42 contests that season, becoming the first player to record at least 11 goals in his first 25 outings since Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin scored 15 goals in his first 25 games in 2006-07. 

Calvert split three seasons (2010-13) between Columbus and the club’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Springfield Falcons, collecting 82 points (40g, 42a) in 128 career AHL contests.

Calvert was drafted out of the Western Hockey League’s Brandon Wheat Kings, where he played three seasons from 2007-2010 and served as an alternate captain in 2008-09 and as captain in 2009-10. He was named to the WHL Eastern Conference Second All-Star Team and earned Memorial Cup All-Star Team honors in his final campaign.

-- Avalanche Press Release --