Patrik Nemeth was handed off from one Hockey Hall of Famer to another two weeks ago.
For a player who first came to the Avalanche as a waiver-wire addition from the Dallas Stars in 2017, it serves as a reminder of just how far the 29-year-old Swedish defenseman has come over the past four years.
Nemeth began his second stint with the Avs on April 9 when the club acquired him from the Detroit Red Wings for a 2022 fourth-round draft pick.
On one end of the trade: Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman, a 2009 HHOF inductee. On the other: Avs GM Joe Sakic, who was inducted in 2012.
“Going from a non-playoff team to a contender like Colorado is obviously really exciting but even better that I know a lot of the guys here,” said Nemeth, who led Colorado with a plus-27 rating in 2017-18. “It was only two years ago I was here last time, and I really enjoyed it. I just think it was a great fit and I’m really, really excited to be back with the guys.”
Nemeth was among three Avalanche acquisitions ahead of the April 12 trade deadline. The club also added fellow Swede Carl Soderberg, a former Avs forward, from the Chicago Blackhawks for a 2021 fifth-round draft pick and veteran defenseman Greg Pateryn, and veteran goalie Devan Dubnyk from the San Jose Sharks for two prospects.
Three great trades. Three depth “rental” moves covering all three positions. And all three pending free agents understand why they were brought in for the club’s Cup-or-bust approach. Nemeth and Soderberg, in particular, know Sakic didn’t want to rock the boat with team chemistry. They just have to be their Swedish selves with familiar faces.
Nemeth, a shot-blocking, penalty-killing specialist, knew Avs captain Gabe Landeskog from their youth hockey days in Sweden. Nemeth knows exactly what Landeskog is all about in terms of leadership and trust.
“The locker room in here is really, really good and positive,” Nemeth said. “They have — I should say we have — an identity the way we want to play.”
That identity: It centers on puck possession and movement and suffocating the opponent with puck pressure in the offensive zone. Only some of that explains Nemeth’s game, but every good team needs a big defenseman blocking shots and protecting the net. Nemeth logged 21:06 and blocked a team-high six shots in his second Avalanche debut Thursday — a 4-2 playoff-clinching victory at St. Louis.
Nemeth is no Cale Makar, Sam Girard or Devon Toews. But he compliments Ryan Graves’ game and is an excellent choice to partner with young defenseman Conor Timmins, 22, on the third pairing.
Makar and Timmins were both selected by the Avs early in the 2017 draft. Nemeth was Makar’s first D-partner when the then 20-year-old joined Colorado in the 2019 playoffs less than a week after playing in the NCAA championship game for UMass.
Nemeth remembers what Makar was back then and how good he is now.
“The first impression when I saw him, you just saw the tools that he had. And now he knows the league more,” Nemeth said. “He’s comfortable out there and he’s just a great, great player and he can dominate you — especially in the O-zone. He’s up there with the best defensemen in the league.”
And the Avs in general? When Nemeth first joined them off waivers in 2017, they were coming off an NHL-low 22 wins and 48 points. The Aves are now are among the Cup favorites.
“I’m not surprised at all. This is a really, really good group of guys,” Nemeth said.
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April 24, 2021 at 06:45PM
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Chambers: Patrik Nemeth, once an Avalanche waiver-wire addition, has come a long way in four years - The Denver Post
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