Colorado Avalanche’s Ross Colton fined $5,000 for cross-checking

Colorado Avalanche center Ross Colton has been fined $5,000 by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety for cross-checking New Jersey Devils winger Timo Meier.

The incident occurred midway through the second period of Tuesday’s game against the Devils. Colton, 27, was pursuing a dumped puck with Luke Hughes and hit Hughes into the boards, and then when Meier came to Hughes’ defense, Colton cross-checked him in the face during the scrum between the two.

Colton received a two-minute minor for boarding Hughes, a five-minute major for cross-checking Meier, and a 10-minute game misconduct. Both Meier and Dougie Hamilton scored on the resulting powerplay, although Miles Wood scored a shorthanded goal for the Avs in between those goals, and three unanswered goals by Colorado in the third period gave them the 6-3 win, with Colton scoring a goal before his ejection.

Colton isn’t quite having the start he expected when he was dealt to the Avs and looked to get a bigger role, as so far he has just three goals and an assist for four points in 11 games.

He’s been one of the most efficient goal scorers in the league since he made his debut in 2021, as his 1.16 5v5 goals per 60 minutes ranks 19th in the league among forwards with 2000 minutes played in that span. However, you’d have to go all the way down to the 45th-ranked William Carrier in that group to find a player with less ice time than Colton, a big reason why he only has 50 goals in 201 games.

Colton was a former fourth-round pick by the Tampa Bay Lightning at the 2016 NHL Draft, and spent three seasons in Tampa before he was dealt to the Avalanche for a second round pick due to cap restraints preventing the Lightning from re-signing him. The Avs then signed him to a four-year contract with a $4 million cap hit.