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Bye-bye Berra? Avs to stick with Pickard in goal

Colorado Avalanche v Arizona Coyotes

Colorado Avalanche v Arizona Coyotes

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Reto Berra’s days in Colorado could be numbered, per the Denver Post:

Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said goalie Calvin Pickard will again start Saturday against the Dallas Stars and the rookie is not currently a candidate to be sent back to the minors when Semyon Varlamov returns from a groin injury.

But Roy also said he will not carry three goaltenders, thus Reto Berra might be moved via reassignment or trade.

Varlamov practiced fully Friday and is scheduled to start Monday against the visiting Montreal Canadiens. Pickard has played while twice replacing Berra, who was pulled in his last two starts.

Berra, 27, has an .883 save percentage and 3.57 GAA on the year, with just a pair of wins.

Should he be waived or traded, it’ll be a dramatic fall from grace for a guy the Avalanche once rated quite highly. Colorado gave a second-round pick to Calgary for Berra at last year’s trade deadline then, just a week later, inked him to a three-year extension worth $4.35 million -- before he ever played a game for the team.

All told, Berra has made just 11 appearances for Colorado.

And it didn’t take long for Pickard to leap him on the depth chart this season. The 22-year-old has a 2-3-0 record with a .933 save percentage and 2.24 GAA, and has forced his way into the big-league roster despite many assuming he’d spend the majority of the year with AHL Lake Erie.

Worth noting that Berra has an average annual cap hit of $1.45M, and his contract is of the one-way variety.