GATINEAU, CANADA - DECEMBER 1: Joe Veleno #9 of the Saint John Sea Dogs skates against the Gatineau Olympiques on December 1, 2017 at Robert Guertin Arena in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Francois Laplante/Freestyle Photography/Getty Images)
Colorado Avalanche: Prospects 6 to 10, not for Avs
BUFFALO, NY – JUNE 24: Tyson Jost poses for a photo onstage with general manager Joe Sakic, head coach Patrick Roy and team personnel after being selected tenth overall by the Colorado Avalanche during round one of the 2016 NHL Draft at First Niagara Center on June 24, 2016 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images)
The Colorado Avalanche will be picking somewhere around #16 in the 2018 NHL Draft, long after these players are gone from the draft board.
While the 2018 NHL Draft full order hasn’t been released yet — nor will it be until the conclusion of the playoffs — the Colorado Avalanche are going to have a pick in the #16 area.
Here’s the 2018 NHL Draft order as it stands now:
| 1. Buffalo Sabres |
| 2. Carolina Hurricanes (from No. 11) |
| 3. Montreal Canadiens (from No. 4) |
| 4. Ottawa Senators |
| 5. Arizona Coyotes |
| 6. Detroit Red Wings |
| 7. Vancouver Canucks |
| 8. Chicago Blackhawks |
| 9. New York Rangers |
| 10. Edmonton Oilers |
| 11. New York Islanders |
| 12. New York Islanders (via Flames) |
| 13. Dallas Stars |
| 14. Philadelphia Flyers (via Blues) |
| 15. Florida Panthers |
You can almost always get a good player in the first round of the playoffs — unless you go off the rails and pick poor Conner Bleackley (now a Blues prospect). But choosing in the middle of the round means the Avs won’t get one of the franchise makers available in the first round.
They’re also highly unlikely to get one of these players, who are scouted to go top 10. Nonetheless, let’s look at some more of the prospects who are likely to be well off the boards by the time GM Joe Sakic moseys up to the podium and dream a little about what might have been, though we wouldn’t trade our playoffs for one of these guys. (Dahlin, sure.)
The draft takes place June 22-23.
