The Colorado Avalanche, parent club of the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters, announced today that the team has signed defenseman Nick Holden to a two-year contract, and defenseman Nate Guenin and forwards Guillaume Desbiens and J.T. Wyman each to a one-year contract.
In addition, the Avs have re-signed forward David van der Gulik to a one-year deal and signed forward Colin Smith to a three-year, entry-level contract.
Desbiens, 28, spent this past season with the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League, where he tallied eight points (4g, 4a) and a team-high 118 penalty minutes in 52 games.
The 6-foot-2, 210-pound right wing has appeared in 389 career AHL games, totaling 63 goals and 79 assists for 142 points, along with 793 PIM, with Chicago, Manitoba and Abbotsford. A member of the Wolves’ Calder Cup championship team in 2008, Desbiens has nine goals and 19 assists in 55 career AHL postseason games.
Originally drafted by Atlanta in 2003, the native of Alma, Que., is scoreless in 23 career NHL contests with Vancouver and Calgary.
Guenin, 30, spent this past season with the Norfolk Admirals (AHL), tallying 24 points (4g, 20a) in 66 games. The 6-foot-3, 207-pound defenseman has appeared in 441 career AHL contests, registering 18 goals, 89 assists and a plus-28 rating.
Guenin has played 32 NHL games with Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Columbus and Anaheim, notching two goals and two assists.
Holden, 26, is a 6-foot-4, 207-pound defenseman from St. Albert, Alta. He had nine goals and 30 assists in 73 games with Springfield in 2012-13, and added three assists in eight playoff matches.
The five-year pro has totaled 26 goals and 92 assists for 118 points in 295 career AHL contests with Springfield and Syracuse, and has made seven appearances in the NHL with Columbus.
Wyman, 27, spent the 2012-13 season with Syracuse, tallying 13 goals and 25 assists in 76 regular-season games and three goals and four assists in 18 playoff contests. In 321 AHL games, Wyman has 60 goals and 75 assists for 135 points, along with a plus-41 rating.
The Edina, Minn., native has appeared in 44 career NHL contests with Tampa Bay and Montreal, notching two goals and nine assists.
Van der Gulik, 30, has spent the last three seasons with the Avalanche organization. He collected 18 goals and 17 assists in 60 games for Lake Erie in 2012-13, as well as two assists in nine NHL games with Colorado.
The Abbotsford, B.C., native has played 445 career AHL games, recording 113 goals and 147 assists for 260 points along with a plus-73 rating. In 46 career NHL games with Colorado and Calgary, the left winger has 13 points (2g, 11a).
Smith, 20, led the Kamloops Blazers and finished tied for fourth in the Western Hockey League with 106 points (41g, 65a) in 72 games in 2012-13. The Edmonton, Alta., native added 14 points (2g, 12a) in 12 playoff contests.
Smith was Colorado’s seventh-round choice in the 2012 NHL Draft.
