Colorado Avalanche claim young defenseman John Ludvig from the Pittsburgh Penguins

This off-season has been a relatively quiet one in Colorado, because it seems as though the Avalanche are quite happy with their roster if they can get the likes of Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin back. They have made some small moves however, and on Saturday, TSN's Chris Johnston confirmed that the team have now added a young defenseman via waivers.

The defenseman in question is 24-year old John Ludvig, who was a third-round pick of the Florida Panthers back in 2019 coming out of the WHL with the Portland Winterhawks. However, he would not see the ice for the Panthers as he was moved to the Pittsburgh Penguins before making his NHL debut during the 2023/24 campaign.

In that time, Ludvig played in 33 games, tallying 3 goals and 5 points, and with good size at 6-foot-1, he could be a potential third pairing option for the Avalanche this season. Currently, Colorado have Erik Brannstrom and Sam Malinski on that third pairing, with plenty of depth needed behind the star pairing of Cale Makar and Devon Toews, and on a very cheap contract, Ludvig might just be that player.

Throughout his career thus far, Ludvig has never been an offensive threat, but if he can continue using his good size and skill to be a solid player on both ends of the ice, we may see him much more in the NHL this season.