Avalanche coach Patrick Roy will scratch defensemen Brad Stuart and Brandon Gormley for Thursday night's season opener against the Minnesota Wild at the Pepsi Center.
Stuart is Colorado's third highest-paid defenseman, at $3.6 million. Gormley ($850,500) was acquired last month in a straight-up trade with Arizona for defenseman Stefan Elliott.
The Avs' top pairing of Francois Beauchemin and Erik Johnson hasn't changed since the first day of training camp. But Tyson Barrie, who was previously paired with Nikita Zadorov or Gormley in camp and preseason, is back with veteran Nate Guenin — his partner last season.
The third pairing consists of Zadorov and Nick Holden.