Harvard-educated Alex Kerfoot is to the Avalanche what the team could not get from the University of Denver’s Will Butcher. Kerfoot, like Butcher, captained his team to the NCAA Frozen Four as a senior in April, and both graduates used a college-hockey loophole to spurn the team that drafted them to become an unrestricted free agent Aug. 16.

Kerfoot signed with Colorado on Aug. 23 and Butcher chose the New Jersey Devils on Aug. 28. Basically, the Avs and Devils unofficially traded draft picks. After all, New Jersey selected Kerfoot, a forward, in the fifth round of the 2012 draft and the Avalanche took Butcher, a defenseman, in the fifth round of 2013.

After the Avalanche opened rookie camp Friday, Kerfoot — who had a team-high 45 points in 36 games as a Harvard senior — explained what he saw in Colorado that Butcher might have missed, while noting the two players play different positions, so individual opportunity aren’t the same.

“I’m excited with where Joe Sakic wants to take this organization, building with a young group of guys,” Kerfoot said of the Avalanche general manager. “I want to be part of that. There is opportunity here. The Devils treated me really well and I think I fostered some pretty good relationships with (GM) Ray Shero and (assistant GM) Tom Fitzgerald and some of their development staff. It was a really tough decision for me. I think it just came down to the opportunity with them this year. I thought it would be tough to crack their lineup in the near future and I decided to test free agency. I was just really excited when I met with Colorado.”

The Avs have 13 veteran forwards under contract, including rookies J.T. Compher and Tyson Jost and second-year player Mikko Rantanen in their two-way, entry-level contracts. Kerfoot played on a line with Compher and Jost on Friday and they, along with A.J. Greer and Dominic Toninato, are considered Colorado’s top young forward prospects.

Coach Jared Bednar will carry 13 or 14 forwards on the opening-night roster, so Kerfoot’s immediate opportunity with the Avalanche could be with its American Hockey League affiliate in San Antonio. But center Matt Duchene remains on the trade block, meaning a spot for Kerfoot and/or others could develop. Related Articles September 18, 2020 Avalanche re-signs former DU star Logan O’Connor on two-year contract

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“I don’t know exactly how the season is going to start off but I’m looking forward to it and I think I have a good chance to develop here,” Kerfoot said.

Sakic has also signed defenseman Gage Ausmus to an amateur tryout contract. Ausmus was North Dakota’s captain the last two years, including his junior year of 2015-16 when the Fighting Hawks won the NCAA championship.

“It’s just a testimony to what college hockey is developing their players into and pushing them to the next level,” Jost said Friday. “Kerfoot and Toninato, those are two huge signings for us. There’s a lot of leadership in this dressing room and it’s something the staff said right away — they could sense a lot of leadership and we were one of the more talkative groups.”

Kerfoot thinks Sakic is building the team in his own image. “If you ever talk to him, he’s that type of guy. He’s all about character,” Kerfoot said. “You look around the room and see a lot of leaders here. Good teams start with good people and it seems he’s doing a really good job with that.”

Footnote. The Avalanche rookies were scheduled to travel to San Jose, Calif., Friday afternoon and prepare for a rookie showcase against their peers from the San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks, and Arizona Coyotes through Monday.