Mark Barberio was placed on waivers by the Montreal Canadiens at noon on Wednesday to make room for some injured defencemen to come back. The plan was to re-assign him to the AHL affiliate in St. John’s, but instead he was claimed by the Colorado Avalanche.
Mark Barberio has been claimed by the #avs.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) February 2, 2017
Called up for a third stint in the NHL this season on December 15, he played 20 games in that most recent stretch before being placed on waivers with Andrei Markov and Greg Pateryn returning to game shape. He now joins a team that will hope to benefit from his offensive style of game.
A free-agent signee in the 2015 off-season after the Tampa Bay Lightning declined to give him a qualifying offer, Barberio played 56 games over two seasons for the Canadiens, registering two goals and 12 assists.
He also played 46 games with the St. John’s IceCaps. He was the team’s top defender for his two seasons there, putting up five goals and 33 assists. He leaves sitting sixth in scoring on the IceCaps despite playing in fewer than half of the team’s games.
For his efforts, Barberio was named to the AHL All-Star Game in each season with the club. He was unable to participate in either as he was up with the NHL team on All-Star weekend both years.
