Why did the Avalanche send down defenseman Chris Bigras, dispatching him to the San Antonio Rampage of the American Hockey League?

“Because he needs to go play,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said after Friday’s practice at Family Sports Center. “He needs to go play big, important minutes down there. He’s having … he had a great camp. I like what I see from him.”

Bigras was among the three Colorado cuts announced Thursday afternoon, along with winger J.T. Compher and defenseman Anton Lindholm.

“All three of the guys that we (sent to San Antonio), I think have promising futures,” Bednar said. He called them “important pieces for the future, and they need to go play and be impact players for the time being until they can get up here and help us win on a nightly basis.”

Bigras, 21, was Colorado’s second-round choice in 2013. After starting last season at San Antonio, he joined the Avalanche in mid-January. He played 31 games for Colorado and had a goal and two assists.

The Avalanche closes out the exhibition season Saturday night against the Los Angeles Kings in Las Vegas.

Colorado has 27 on its roster now, and the number of remaining cuts to get down to 23 for the regular-season opener Oct. 15 against Dallas will depend on whether any players are placed on the injured list. As it stands now, Mikko Rantanen (ankle) and Blake Comeau (groin) aren’t practicing, and John Mitchell has been limited with a hip flexor injury.

“We don’t want to push guys through groins and hips and stuff like that,” Bednar said. “We’re fortunate … that we still have a whole week of practice still. So even though tomorrow is our last exhibition game, we still have time to get ready for next Saturday with those guys on the ice if they can progress far enough with their injuries.”

Rantanen, 19, and the Avs’ No. 1 pick from 2015, suffered the injury Sept. 17 in a rookie showcase game against San Jose. He was projected to be out two to four weeks, and the maximum in that projection would be opening night. He began skating on his own a week ago, but hasn’t rejoined practice. On Friday, he and Mitchell worked with assistant coach Tim Army before practice, wearing green (not orange), seemingly indicating they possibly might practice. Mitchell did for a while before leaving the ice, but Rantanen didn’t.

“He was out there today doing a little bit of work and we were hoping he could get a little work in with the group and do some non-contact drills,” Bednar said of Rantanen. “That’s coming next. That’s the next progression.”

Will he be ready by opening night?

“It’s just going to depend on how he feels every morning when he comes in,” Bednar said. “Sometimes you push it and you have to take a step back. Sometimes it feels good and you can keep going. I don’t know, we’ll find out.”

Bednar played and coached for the Charleston-based South Carolina Stingrays, winning two ECHL championships as a defenseman and one as head coach. He and his family have continued to make Charleston their home, and Bednar confirmed that his wife, Susan, and daughter, Savega, have evacuated Charleson in advance of Hurricane Matthew.

“We’re just waiting for the storm to go through or hopefully miss us,” Bednar said. “We’ll re-evaluate everything from there. Hopefully, it doesn’t do any damage to the area. … We can’t control it and hopefully everybody stays safe back home and follows the directions of our leadership there in South Carolina and gets out of town.”

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