Calvin Pickard never would say this, or maybe not even think it. It’s not in his nature. But there have been times in the past two seasons when he could have been justifed in asking: What’s a guy gotta do, anyway?

Instead, the young Avalanche goaltender’s stance is that he’s willing to let this play out and avoid, well, rocking the boat.

He has been solid for Colorado this season, with a 2.40 goals-against average, a .922 save percentage and one shutout in seven appearances heading into a Saturday night game at Dallas. Yet he probably will be sent back down to San Antonio of the AHL when Semyon Varlamov’s backup, Reto Berra, recovers from a sprained ankle suffered in the pre-game hallway soccer kibitzing on Dec. 21.

As of Friday, Pickard’s next start was penciled in for Tuesday at San Jose. Berra’s injury is more serious than originally thought and he hasn’t yet practiced since, but he’s working toward a return.

“I don’t think it’s awkward at all,” Pickard, 23, said last week. “If I keep being thrown back in the net, I’m going to take full advantage of my opportunities. I can’t control the hockey decisions. I think the staff here likes me and likes what I’ve done.”

For a short time last season, Pickard’s .936 save percentage was the best in the NHL. Although he played 50 games for the Lake Erie Monsters, then Colorado’s AHL affiliate, he was the de facto Avalanche backup to Varlamov. He played 16 games with the Avalanche, mainly when Colorado didn’t have enough faith in Berra to use him. Instead, Pickard went up and down from the AHL, playing when Varlamov, otherwise a workhorse, was hurt or needed a game or time off.

“I definitely got in the zone for quite a few of those games and got on a bit of a good run there,” Pickard said. “But you have to have a short-term memory here and keep developing, and hopefully I can be at the top here in the coming years. I definitely have the confidence to play at this level, but the time will come when I’m a full-timer for sure.”

Yet at the outset of this season, Berra was in that familiar roster spot as Varlamov’s backup and Pickard was back in the AHL. This time, though, it’s not solely because of the Avalanche’s commitment in trading for Berra from Calgary two years ago and signing him to a three-year, $4.35 million extension that takes him through 2016-17. The big Swiss goalie looked like a bona fide NHL goalie in training camp and exhibition games, and he has two shutouts in 14 appearances this season. He even has had brief runs as the No. 1 goalie — even if nobody would call it that — during Varlamov’s intermittent struggles.

Pickard, meanwhile, is in the odd position of playing for an organization that values him, but more as an insurance policy than an entrenched member of the NHL roster. This is his second stint with Colorado this season, and his first recall came when Varlamov was battling groin muscle issues.

“Last year in training camp, I wanted to make a stand and put myself high up on the depth chart in this organization,” Pickard said. “I thought I did that and then I got a lot of opportunities to play last year and kind of took the ball and ran with it. But I’m still young, there’s a lot of time for me to develop. I’ve had a lot of opportunities to play a lot of games the last two years here and in the American League. At my age, I want to be playing all the time and it’s good for me. But playing at this level, I definitely feel comfortable and definitely feel I belong.”

From Winnipeg, Pickard was the Avalanche’s second-round draft choice in 2010 and joined the Monsters in 2012, after his major junior career with the Seattle Thunderbirds. A restricted free agent in the offseason last summer, he signed a one-year, two-way deal with Colorado and his salary is prorated from an $850,000 base when he’s in the NHL, and much less when he’s with San Antonio. He again could be an RFA next summer.

Did he have any misgivings about re-upping with Colorado?

“Absolutely not, I love this organization so much,” he said. “Everybody’s treated me so well, with so much respect, from top to bottom. … It makes it easy to come to the rink with a smile on your face and it really takes the pressure off when everybody’s being so nice to you.”