Colorado Avalanche Prospect Tyson Jost Set to Prove Legit

Colorado Avalanche prospect Tyson Jost is set to join the team sooner rather than later. Hopefully he provides a fresh perspective for the few games left in the season.

The Colorado Avalanche signed last year’s 10th-overall draft prospect, Tyson Jost, yesterday. According to CapFriendly, the contract is a three-year entry-level worth $925,000 annually, though the details were unconfirmed at the time of writing.

There was some question about whether the 19-year-old center would sign this year with the team or whether he would sign on for another year of college hockey with the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks. Indeed, he had been talking about making the decision “when the time comes.”

Well, the time was apparently the last couple days. Jost’s Fighting Hawks were eliminated from Frozen Four contention last weekend. What’s more, according to an interview Nathan MacKinnon did with Adrian Dater, the two young centers had been in contact with each other.

MacKinnon and Jost share an agent, Pat Brisson. According to MacKinnon, the two were texting on Tuesday about Jost signing with the team. Apparently Jost was a “little hesitant” because of the state of the Colorado Avalanche right now. However, MacKinnon assured him that they it was “going to be better here.”

Here’s the full interview with Dater:

(Also, this is another example of Nathan MacKinnon’s maturity — definitely a leadership role, talking to a prospect about signing.)

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In fact, MacKinnon had high praise for Tyson Jost. He called Jost “legit” several times and pointed out that he’s going to be a big part of the Avalanche’s rebuild. He cited especially Tyson’s speed and the fact that he’d earned over a point a game as a freshman in college.

Tyson Jost is, indeed, known for being a speedy player with good scoring acumen. As noted in a previous post, he’s been a beast about workouts, obviously looking to get stronger and more explosive as a skater.

His stated idol is Jonathan Toews, who also attended UND, and comparisons are often drawn between the two players’ games. Toews is a star two-way forward, and so Jost adds that element to his game. However, Elite Prospects scouts him as a “crafty goal scorer… a dynamic offensive forward.”

Naturally defense has to be a part of his game, as it is with every NHL forward. However, Tyson Jost is smallish at 5-foot-11, 194 pounds, so his defense is likely to be more positional than power-driven.

Here’s Jost in action with UND:

Here’s some video I took of Tyson at development camp:

Jared Bednar stated that he intended to “throw [Jost] right into the fire here.” That’s not exactly a comforting turn of phrase, but Bednar went on to praise Tyson as a “high caliber, high character player.”

Jost can be in the lineup as soon as Friday’s game against the St. Louis Blues, depending on his work visa being expedited. In fact, he’s supposed to practice with the team today.

A part of me hopes the Colorado Avalanche doesn’t throw Jost into the fire. Give the kid a chance to get used to Denver, the NHL players and, you know, the Avalanche’s systems. I’m a staunch believer in setting people up for success.

That said, I’m also as excited as anyone to see what Jost can do. He’s supposed to play at his natural center position, so I’m guessing he’ll play third or fourth line, probably in place of John Mitchell or Carl Soderberg.

Naturally, I’d love to see him give it a go with Matt Duchene, but Matthew Nieto as a winger would be a good try. Maybe JT Compher on his other wing. However, it wouldn’t be bad to put Tyson Jost in there with a true veteran to show him the ropes, someone like Rene Bourque or John Mitchell, if he’s not the scratch.

Next: Will the Avs Sign Will Butcher?

The Colorado Avalanche picked a good player in Tyson Jost. He doesn’t have to prove himself legit in a season that deteriorated months ago. However, hopefully he’s like the other most recent additions to the Avs — a breath of fresh air to a demoralized team.

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