Avalanche center John Mitchell played in Saturday’s game against the Minnesota Wild after going to bed Friday unsure if he would remain with the team. Mitchell, who was pointless in four games following Thursday’s 4-0 loss at Chicago, was placed on waivers Friday and he cleared at 10 a.m. MT Saturday.

During Saturday’s matinee — after Mitchell played a team-low four shifts in the first period at the Pepsi Center — Avs general manager Joe Sakic said this about Mitchell: “I wasn’t necessary expecting him to get picked up. It’s a flexibility thing going forward.”

Mitchell had his best game of the season Saturday, according to first-year coach Jared Bednar, but he was in no mood to discuss his situation afterward. “It’s brutal. It’s not fun. There’s not much more I can say,” he said in polite fashion.

The Avs are paying approximately $72.3 million in player salaries and have just $1.7 million in projected cap space, according to CapFriendly.com. Losing Mitchell’s $1.9 salary could benefit Colorado on the trade market.

“It gives us flexibility over 30 days in case we want to see someone,” Sakic said.

Mitchell, who takes a $1.8 million cap hit, is now waiver-exempt for 30 days from Saturday, meaning he can be reassigned to San Antonio of the American Hockey League without clearing waivers. The Avs are on the hook for Mitchell’s entire salary but only a portion of his $1.8 million cap hit counts against the cap if he’s not playing in the NHL

Sakic said there are no current plans to send Mitchell to the minors and recall a young prospect such as J.T. Compher, who leads San Antonio in goal-scoring (four), or A.J. Greer, who leads the Rampage in points (nine).

“They’re doing well. They’re playing really well and we want to keep them playing like that,” Sakic said.

Footnotes. Rookie Mikko Rantanen took six stitches to the side of his mouth in the first period and produced his first career NHL point in the third on an assist. Rantanen was bloodied by the puck when teammate Patrick Wiercioch fired it high off the side boards on an attempted dump-in. … Minnesota alternate captain and winger Zach Parise missed the game with an injury. Defenseman marco Scandella and forward Erik Haula also didn’t play. … Colorado’s scratches were forward Cody McLeod and defenseman Eric Gelinas.