Colorado Avalanche Prospect Profile: Nicolas Meloche
The Colorado Avalanche have a good stable of prospects. One of their defensive prospects is Nicolas Meloche.
Colorado Avalanche prospect defenseman Nicolas Meloche will be entering his second year in the AHL. He was Colorado’s second-round pick, #40 overall, in 2015.
The 21-year-old Meloche signed his entry-level contract on March 6, 2017. His NHL cap hit is $853,333, but he makes $70,000 at the AHL level. Every season he also receives $92,500 as signing bonuses.
Meloche spent the entirety of last season in the AHL with the San Antonio Rampage with a sojourn in the ECHL to help the Colorado Eagles win the Kelly Cup.
Prior to that, Meloche spent four seasons in the QMJHL. He played for three different major juniors teams — Baie-Comeau Drakkar, Gatineau Olympiques and Charlottetown Islanders.
Nicolas Meloche Statistics
Position: Defenseman
Shoots: Right
Age: 21
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 205 lbs.
Young Meloche has some good size at 6-foot-3, 205 pounds. He can play with a physicality as someone who plays with an edge. That said, Nicolas is also an excellent skater who sees the ice well and can move into position to prevent opponent scoring chances.
Meloche is a right-shooting defenseman, and that’s always a hot commodity. He struggled a little last season as he transitioned from major juniors to pro. He eventually recorded 17 points (5 goals, 12 assists) in 58 games with the Rampage. In 24 playoff games with the Eagles, he recorded a goal and five assists. By then, he was a top-four defenseman.
As far as Colorado Avalanche players go, Meloche has been compared to Adam Foote.
I guess I could see it… eventually:
He’s going to need a few more breaks in his nose. And, you know, just a little more of that shut-down edge than Foote showed.
Nicolas Meloche and the Colorado Avalanche
It’s so hard to say where a shut-down defenseman is going to land on an NHL team these days. The trend is toward fleet-footed, puck-moving defensemen. Physicality is not as prized as it once was.
That said, you need to shut down the opponents’ top scorers. One of the ways you do that is with shutdown defensemen. Now, unfortunately for Meloche, the Colorado Avalanche found that in Patrik Nemeth. Their newest acquisition, Ian Cole, can also play a shutdown role.
That said, the Avalanche have definitely been showing a preference toward their home-grown talent. Like I mentioned before, Meloche had a bit of a rocky start in his pro career — that’s prefectly natural. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if he had another year at the AHL level to develop his skills.
Plus, Meloche got better as the year wore on. And he played very well for the Eagles in their Kelly Cup run. If he continues to develop, Nicolas may well be a player Colorado counts on to fill in if the injury bug starts biting them again.
OTHER COLORADO AVALANCHE PROSPECT PROFILES:
Nicolas Meloche is sure to participate in the Rookie Faceoff, which takes place in Vegas from September 4 to 11. then, it’s off to the Colorado Avalanche’s rookie and training camps. Hopefully he starts to distinguish himself even more.