Colorado Avalanche: 4 Late-Round Draft Picks Who Panned Out
Four Colorado Avalanche late-round draft picks made good with the team and in the NHL in general, giving us hope for current late-rounders.
The Colorado Avalanche have done well with their early-round draft picks, especially in recent years. Sure, there was the Conner Bleackley debacle, which I will never understand. But they’ve certainly made up for it in the likes of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Gabriel Landeskog, and, yes, Matt Duchene.
Plus there was that whole Alex Tanguay Cup-winning goal guy, but I digress.
First rounders, even first-overall players, are never a sure thing. Once you get to the late rounds, it’s a crap shoot.
That said, in watching the draft coverage this year, the NHL Network spoke with Luc Robitaille. He told a funny story about being relegated to the upper heights of the arena because he was scouted to get drafted low, if at all. (He apparently ate a lot of hot dogs that day.)
Luc Robitaille was drafted 171st overall (ninth round) in 1984. He went on to put up a Hall of Fame career that included eight All Star appearances, the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year, a Stanley Cup, and having his jersey retired by the Kings. (He’s also the highest scoring left wing in NHL history — and did I mention he’s a Hall of Famer?) The Kings, for whom he’s president, also erected a statue of their player-hero outside Staples Center.
He’s presided over two Stanley Cup championship teams as president, too. Not bad for a ninth-rounder.
Anyway, that got me to thinking about a common adage — how high you’re drafted is all about what you did beforehand. The real meat of the deal comes afterward. So, I looked at the Colorado Avalanche’s draft history to discover some of the most successful late-round draft picks.
Spoiler alert: They’re not Hall of Famers, but they still made lasting impressions on the Colorado Avalanche.
David Aebischer
Position: Goalie
Draft position: 6th round, 161st-overall
Years in the NHL: 7 (2000-01 to 2007-08)
Years with the Colorado Avalanche: 5 (2000-01 to 2005-06)
All Time Stats: 214 games played, 106-74-12-5 record, 2.52 goals against average, .912 save percentage
The Colorado Avalanche selected goalie David Aebischer in the sixth round of the 1997 draft. He played one more year in his native Switzerland before coming stateside to play in the ECHL for two seasons. After two more years at the AHL level, he finally graduated to being Patrick Roy‘s backup starting the 2000-01 season — good timing since that got his name on the Stanley Cup.
Aebischer proved a more than capable backup to the future Hall of Famer. He played 69 games in the backup position and recorded a 32-25-3 record, with a goals against average wavering between 1.88 to 2.43 and a save percentage between .903 to .931. Those are fine stats for a backup.
Patrick Roy retired in 2003, and Aebischer took over the starting position. Besides the impossibility of filling such shoes, he recorded great stats. His record was 32-19-9 that season with a 2.09 goals against and .924 save percentage.
Unfortunately, the 2004-05 lockout disrupted his (and everyone else’s) career. When he came back, the team considered his play inconsistent and traded him to Montreal for Jose Theodore. Nonetheless, he was a sixth rounder who made good with the Avs and even got his name on the Stanley Cup.
He also once had an epic goalie fight:
Radim Vrbata
Position: Right wing
Draft position: 7th round, 212th-overall
Years in the NHL: 16 (2001-02 to 2017-18)
Years with the Colorado Avalanche: 2 (2001-02 to 2002-03)
All Time Stats: 1,057 games played, 623 points (284 goals, 339 assists)
Right wing Radim Vrbata had a long NHL career that just ended after 16 seasons. He bounced around to seven teams, but that’s still a respectable career for a seventh-rounder.
Vrbata played 118 games for the Colorado Avalanche. He recorded 60 points (29 goals, 31 assists) in that time. He also scored seven game-winning goals over those two seasons.
The Avalanche traded Radim Vrbata to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Bates Battaglia. As noted, Vrbata continued to play, and he just announced his retirement at the end of last season.
Here’s a touching video of former teammates congratulating Radim Vrbata on his long career — including our own GM Joe Sakic:
Marek Svatos
Position: Right wing
Draft position: 7th round, 227th-overall
Years in the NHL: 6 (2005-06 to 2010-11)
Years with the Colorado Avalanche: 5 (2005-06 to 2009-2010)
All Time Stats: 344 games played, 172 points (100 goals, 72 assists)
It’s hard for me to write about Marek Svatos without being sad for how he died of a drug overdose. But, we’re here to celebrate his life with the Colorado Avalanche, so let’s focus on that.
Marek Svatos spent the majority of his career with the Avalanche. After being picked in the seventh round of the 2001 draft, Svatos spent another year in major juniors before entering the AHL for the majority of tow seasons. He did play four NHL games for the Avs in 2003-04 and even scored two goals!
Svatos turned out to be a pure goal scorer. Over the course of the next five seasons, he played 316 games for Colorado. He scored 96 of his 100 goals with Colorado. That includes 20 game-winning goals — including nine in the 2005-06 season and six in the 2007-08 season.
Marek Svatos ended his NHL career with the Ottawa Senators in 2011 and played two more years in Europe before retiring to Colorado.
Here’s our tribute to the Slovakian winger:
Related Story: Remembering Svatos
Here’s a video tribute to Marek Svatos:
John-Michael Liles
Position: Defenseman
Draft position: 5th round, 159th-overall
Years in the NHL: 14 (2003-04 to 2016-17)
Years with the Colorado Avalanche: 7 (2003-04 to 2010-11)
All Time Stats: 836 games played, 370 points (87 goals, 283 assists)
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John-Michael Liles enjoyed a 15-year NHL career despite being chosen in the fifth round, 159th-overall, in 2000. Seven of those seasons were with the Colorado Avalanche.
An offensive defenseman, Liles recorded 370 points (87 goals, 283 assists) in 836 NHL games. He completed four years at Michigan State University before joining the Avalanche’s AHL-affiliate, the Hershey Bears, for a year.
In his 523 games with Colorado, Liles scored 68 goals and recorded 207 assists. Clearly those were his most productive years. Unfortunately, a lingering shoulder injury hampered him. As his production lagged, the Avs traded him to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a second-rounder in 2011.
This pick jumped between five different teams. It was part of the package that brought Semyon Varlamov to Colorado.
John-Michael Liles retired from the Boston Bruins at the end of the 2016-17 season. He now works with the Colorado Avalanche, usually offering analysis for Altitude TV.
Before even coming home to Colorado, Liles talked about his ties to Denver:
Not even all first-rounders pan out, and even second-rounders regularly get relegated to the minors. The above players got selected between the fifth to seventh rounds yet had successful careers with the Avs and beyond.
Next: Update on Avs Players in the AHL
The Colorado Avalanche currently have 13 late-rounders either in the system or still eligible for an entry-level contract. Can any of them be a success with the team? Hey, as the above players — and Luc Robitaille — showed us, they can indeed.