Since Pierre-Edouard Bellemare was signed for a professional tryout last month, it was assumed that the Avalanche’s fourth-line center job was all but gone.

This assumption was wrong.

In a surprise move, the Avalanche announced Thursday that they had released Bellemare from his tryout, signaling they hadn’t seen enough to give him an NHL contract. His locker had already been cleared out when the media entered the room after the morning skate. There’s always a chance they’ll go back to him at some point – like they did with Joel Kiviranta last year – but for now they’ll move on.

Bellemare played three preseason games for the Avalanche and scored no points, but was an integral part of the shootout. During the first break of play on Tuesday, general manager Chris MacFarland was interviewed by the TNT team. When asked about Bellemare, MacFarland mentioned that they would be keeping an eye on speed with the veteran.

It’s possible that played a role in them moving on from the 39-year-old center.

What does this mean for the future of the team? There are still two preseason games to be played to finalize the roster, and Colorado currently has 14 healthy forwards. Parker Kelly has played center for most of camp and is an obvious option to start the year on the fourth line, but there are a few other interesting players who could also start the year in the NHL.