Pierre-Edouard Bellemare signs PTO with Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche are bringing back a familiar face for training camp as they’ve reached a professional tryout agreement (PTO) with veteran forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare.

Bellemare, 39, an elder statesman of the NHL, was a member of the Avalanche from 2019-2021. He recorded 33 points in 122 games with Colorado and while he wasn’t relied upon for secondary scoring, was a pillar on the team’s penalty kill.

The Le Blanc-Mesnil, France native is a 10-year NHL veteran and spent this past season with the Seattle Kraken. Bellemare recorded seven points in 40 games for the Kraken and missed a big chunk of the season due to a lower-body injury. He averaged just under 10 minutes of ice-time per game, which included 1:51 a night killing penalties. His NHL career began back in 2014-15 when he joined the Philadelphia Flyers, spending three seasons with the organization. He’d then spend two seasons with the Vegas Golden Knights, two with the Colorado Avalanche, and two years with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Before joining the NHL, Bellemare spent five seasons playing professionally in Sweden, winning three league championships.

Bellemare’s best season offensively was back in 2019-20 as a member of the Avalanche, he tallied 22 points in 69 games that season, and also chipped in with another three points in 15 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

The Avalanche add Bellemare to their training camp roster on the low-risk, high-reward PTO. He’ll look to show the coaching staff he’s capable of keeping up to the Avalanche’s pace and be a depth option for their bottom six.

Colorado has one open slot when it comes to NHL contracts and GM Chris MacFarland has $2.06-million in cap space with training camp approaching next week. With some uncertainty surrounding the likes of captain Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichuskin’s availability, for different reasons, the Avalanche may have a few spots up for grabs up front to start the season.