Colorado Avalanche will Bring Excitement with… Potential Rookies

The Colorado Avalanche are unlikely to have as many rookies on the team this year as they did last, but at least a couple prospects should make it.

The Colorado Avalanche are continuing with the youth movement they began last season. In fact, as GM Joe Sakic pointed out, the team got even younger this offseason.

Last year, the Avs suited up as many as six rookies each game — there were always at least four. In fact, as we start our countdown to the 2018-19 season, I’ve been focusing on the main areas of excitement for the team, including the sophomore seasons for last year’s rookies:

Well, with the youth movement in full effect, I expect we’ll see some new rookies taking their places. We may not have quite as many as last year — there aren’t as many roster spots to fill. However, one or two of the following prospects may find their way onto the roster.

Conor Timmins

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The main candidate for making the team is defenseman Conor Timmins. He was the Avalanche’s 32nd-overall draft pick from 2017. He was so impressive at training camp and in the preseason last year that the team flirted with the idea of signing him then and there. However, they decided to send him back to his major juniors team.

Timmins dominated with his Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounes. The young defenseman — he doesn’t turn 20 until later this month — earned 41 points in 36 games (8 goals, 33 assists) in the regular season and 18 points (5 goals, 13 assists) in 23 playoff games.

Conor signed his entry-level contract in March. As I said, the Avs vacillated about sending him back to major juniors last season. In his end of season presser, Sakic remarked that Timmins has a good shot at making the team out of camp this season.

Unfortunately, Conor Timmins suffered a setback with injury at the conclusion of his Greyhounds career. He didn’t get to participate in on-ice activities at the Prospect Development Camp. He may not make the roster straight out of camp if he couldn’t train fully over the summer. However, I have every expectation Conor will make the team eventually this year.

Vladislav Kamenev

Center Vladislav Kamenev came over to the Avalanche as part of the Matt Duchene trade. He played three shifts with the Avs, and then Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik broke his arm. That was it for the then-21-year-old until the end of the season, when he got a couple more games in.

Kamenev has had good years in the AHL playing for the Nashville Predators’ Milwaukee Admirals. In the 2016-17 season, he recorded 51 points (21 goals, 30 assists) in 70 points. He played 10 games with the Admirals last year before the trade, recording three goals and five assists.

For Kamenev, it’s all going to depend on how his off-season training. Now, his Instagram is very interesting in showing us that he enjoys shooting, hunting for mushrooms, fishing, and posing with his shirt off. The closest thing to a workout, though, is his running what I believe is a roto-tiller:

He’s on the Rookie Camp roster, so I guess we’ll have to wait until then to find out how his offseason training went — if he made it up to snuff for the team. It will be fun to watch him hopefully not get broken again this year. (That roto-tiller does look like a pretty tough customer.)

Pavel Francouz

The Colorado Avalanche love European goalies. Not only are their NHL goalies European, but they have drafted four more Euros recently at the position. They also signed Czech goalie Pavel Francouz straight out of the KHL.

Though Canadian Spencer Martin actually has NHL experience, I think the Avs are expecting Francouz to be the first callup in the case of injury next season. He had great success in the KHL last season and in playing for his national team last year.

I don’t know that Francouz will actually play any NHL games — he may just sit on the bench. However, the Avs took the trouble to bring him over from Europe. I think he’ll definitely get some preseason ice time and may well get his NHL regular season shot.

Martin Kaut

Of all the prospective rookies for next year, I think Martin Kaut is second only to Conor Timmins for most likely to make the team. Colorado selected Kaut 16th-overall in this year’s draft and signed him to his entry-level contract just a couple weeks later.

Kaut was a full participant at the Prospect Development Camp. He’s been participating in the unofficial practices and is on the Rookie Camp roster. I also fully expect he’ll participate in the full training camp and preseason. That said, I also think he’ll need to spend some time up in Loveland with the Eagles because he’s never played the North American game.

The 18-year-old just looks to be an exciting addition to the team all the way around. He looks to challenge Tyson Jost as the most personable Avalanche draftee. Plus, he’s got mad skills — he’s fast and agile. And he’s both a goal scorer and a playmaker. He’s just fun to watch.

The Colorado Avalanche had four rookies on the ice on opening night — Tyson Jost, JT Compher, Alexander Kerfoot and, surprisingly, Andrei Mironov. I don’t see them suiting that many rookies this opening night. I’d say there’s a good chance one of the above players will make that opening night roster this season. Who do you predict that will be?