Bruins trade Keith Kinkaid to Avalanche for Shane Bowers

The Colorado Avalanche have added some much-needed goaltending depth.

The defending Stanley Cup champions have traded forward Shane Bowers in exchange for veteran netminder Keith Kinkaid, the teams announced on Saturday.

Kinkaid, 33, has spent most of the season with the AHL’s Providence Bruins. The veteran has an 8-7-4 record in 20 games while acting as a mentor for Brandon Bussi and Kyle Keyser. Kinkaid also made a start with the big team, allowing just one goal in a 3-1 win over Buffalo in November.

The Avalanche are currently missing Pavel Francouz with an injury and called up Justus Annunen on Saturday. The team subsequently sent Jonas Johansson down to the Colorado Eagles. Kinkaid will work with Johansson in the meantime while Francouz recovers from his lower-body injury.

Kinkaid has 11 years of NHL experience, posting a 70-58-21 record with eight shutouts in 168 games. Kinkaid split time as New Jersey’s starter in 2017-18 and 2018-19 and led USA to a bronze medal at the 2018 World Championship. Kinkaid has also played with Montreal and the New York Rangers and served as Columbus’ third goalie to close out 2018-19.

Bowers, 23, has spent his entire career with the Avalanche organization after originally getting drafted by Ottawa in 2017. Bowers was moved in a three-team deal that sent Matt Duchene to Ottawa and Kyle Turris to Nashville. An NCAA champion in 2018, Bowers struggled to find consistency and to stay healthy in the AHL, recording a career-high 27 points as a rookie in 2019-20. He finally made his NHL debut this season, playing just 1:46 against Nashville back in November.