Who Wore it Best: Number 54

Only two chose to wear this number in Avalanche history and both have left their mark on the franchise. For the better has yet to be determined.

David Jones (2007-2013)

Jones will always be known for two things and neither are related to his number. First, that as a ninth round pick at 288th overall in the 2003 draft he had a 462 game and ten year NHL career. After a three year stay at Dartmouth College and then half a year in the AHL with the Lake Erie Monsters, Jones then made a home with the Avalanche in 2007. He managed to accumulate 191 points with 146 of them and 70 goals scored while wearing the burgundy 54.

Jones’ second claim to fame is the four year contract extension at four million dollars per year (4×4) after scoring a career high 45 points and 27 goals in the 2010-11 season. Jones would only play 33 games and score nine points in the first year of that contract and then the Avalanche subsequently traded him to the Calgary Flames in the summer of 2013 along with Shane O’Brien for Cory Sarich and the second coming of Alex Tanguay. Jones finished his contract and presumably career playing for the Flames and also a brief stint with the Minnesota Wild.

Anton Lindholm (2017-Present)

Selected at 155th overall in the fifth round in 2014, Lindholm joined the organization after a successful career playing in Sweden for Skelleftea, also while wearing the number 54. He signed his Entry Level Contract in May of 2016 and began playing in North America starting the 2016-17 season. Lindholm played 62 games in the AHL with the San Antonio Rampage before earning a spot on the Avalanche roster at the beginning of the 2017-18 season.

Believe it or not but Lindholm is the most successful Avalanche draft selection to come up through the system since the windfall of the 2009 draft. His 60 total games are the most and his four total points also equals the greatest production output of both Chris Bigras and AJ Greer at the NHL level for any draft selection made outside the top 10 since 2009 for the organization.

That said, it seems Lindholm’s days in Colorado are numbered as if he doesn’t make the NHL roster as it is possible that he might head back to Sweden to play rather than wait in the AHL for another chance. When the Avalanche refused to play him down the stretch and into the playoffs after keeping him on the roster the entire year the writing seemed to be on the wall. Still, Lindholm occupies the number at present moment.