Joining Avalanche “great opportunity” for newcomer Andrew Cogliano

Nine hours before his 1,123rd career regular season game, new Avalanche wing Andrew Cogliano was the first skater on the Ball Arena ice Wednesday, perhaps a signal of his excitement about joining a Stanley Cup contender, his usual routine or both.

It’s hard to blame Cogliano; his former team, San Jose, ranks 22nd in the NHL standings and when he was acquired by the Avalanche on Monday, he jumped to the top spot.

“(The Sharks) mentioned Colorado (as a possibility) and from my perspective, that was basically the best option I think in terms of fit and opportunity,” Cogliano said after his first practice and ahead of his debut against Vancouver.

The opportunity is enormous: Cogliano, 34, has a chance to win his first Cup in a 15-year career. He will be expected to play a third- or fourth-line and penalty killing role with the Avalanche.

“I’m a small piece of the puzzle,” he said. “To have success, I think you’re going to need different pieces and people and personalities and that’s usually how winning teams work so I’m hoping I can bring that to this team.”

Avs coach Jared Bednar described Cogliano as a “strong, competitive guy. Really committed to defense. Not big in stature, but he plays physical and gets into the battles hard.”

Cogliano has a fan in Vancouver coach Bruce Boudreau, who overlapped for four years in Anaheim.

“First of all, he is the ultimate team player,” Boudreau said after the Canucks’ practice. “He could be the best person I ever met. I love the guy. He’s going to bring speed (and) he’s going to bring direction in the fact you tell him what you want to do, he will go out and do it.

“He wants to win a Cup more than anything in the world. When he got here, I thought, ‘OK, that’s great for him.’ Just a superior human being. Colorado could not have picked a better player for that position.”

Cogliano, who had four goals and 11 assists in 56 games for the Sharks, is leaning on his previous in-season trade experience (Anaheim to Dallas during the 2018-19 season, albeit not at the deadline) to quicken his San Jose-to-Colorado transition.

“I tried to maybe control a little too much the first time,” he said. “I was doing a lot more thinking in terms of learning the team and system, but also outside the rink. This time around, I’m a little more go-with-the-flow on what’s happening at the rink and systems and going out and playing the best I can.”

Cogliano arrived in the Denver area Tuesday and hopes to be joined soon by his wife, Allie, and daughters Lottie, 3, and Olive, 1. He said Olive has been hospitalized “a couple times in the last four months,” while being diagnosed with asthma.

“It’s been scary, but my wife is the rock of the family and she deserves a lot of credit for making sure our daughters are great,” Andrew said. “We’re on the right path to figuring it out. I want them to come here as soon as possible because I think this is a phenomenal experience and opportunity and you want to enjoy it with your family.”

Footnotes. New left wing Artturi Lehkonen, acquired from Montreal on Monday, participated in practice Wednesday morning, but his immigration process was not completed in time for him to play against the Canucks. … Bednar said it’s possible defenseman Bo Byram (concussion symptoms) could play games for AHL Colorado. Byram returned to full-contact practice on Monday.