Colorado Avalanche: 4 College Free Agents to Consider

The Colorado Avalanche might look to some of the undrafted NCAA players who are coming up eligible for free agency to further bolster their depth.

The Colorado Avalanche are still a rebuilding team. Lately, they’ve been drawn toward college players, either those who’ve pledged to spend at least one year in the NCAA program or who have lasted into college free agency.

Sometimes teams draft a college-bound player only to see him complete his four years of NCAA service and sign with another team when he becomes a free agent in August. However, if an NCAA player has gone through two drafts without getting called and is at least 20 years old, he can sign with an NHL team when his current college season ends.

Today, several players did just that. Toronto signed Joseph Duszak out of Mercyhurst. Two Princeton forwards also got signed. Max Veronneau went to Ottawa, while Josh Teves went to Vancouver. Meanwhile, Detroit snapped up Ryan Kuffner and Taro Hirose (whom I was considering for this post — stupid Wings.)

The advantage of signing such players is that you get a better idea of what their ceiling is because they’re out of their teen years and getting nearer their peak performance age. An added advantage for the Colorado Avalanche is someone else put in the legwork of developing their skills.

With that in mind, let’s look at four players whom the Avs might consider making an offer to.

Nico Sturm, Forward

Forward Nico Sturm, a junior at Clarkson University, is a defensive forward with good scoring upside. He has 41 points (13 goals, 28 assists) in 34 games this season. Through three seasons of NCAA hockey, he has 99 points (35 goals, 64 assists) in 113 games.

Sturm is a little long in the tooth at 23 years old. However, the Germany native (Augsburg) spent the last season as a co-captain, and the Avs do prize leadership. Sturm also brings good size at 6-foot-3, 207 pounds.

Jimmy Schuldt, Defenseman

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Though the Colorado Avalanche already have a glut of young defensemen, including top prospect Cale Makar, in the system, Jimmy Schuldt could be an intriguing addition. The St. Cloud University senior has 31 points (9 goals, 22 assists) in 34 games. Overall he’s played 151 games and amassed 114 points (37 goals, 77 assists).

Schuldt has a solid frame at 6-foot-1, 205 pounds. The 23-year-old has served as captain for the last three seasons for St. Cloud. He’s also a left-hand shot, which has become something of a rarity for the Avs. (Both Makar and Conor Timmins are RHD while Erik Johnson and Tyson Barrie are as well.)

Andrew Shortridge, Goalie

Wouldn’t it be nice if the Colorado Avalanche’s goalie dilemma was once again that they have too many good goalies? Well, Andrew Shortridge out of Quinnipiac University is a good goalie. The 23-year junior is 17-4-2 this season.

The 6-foot-4, 186-pound goalie features the kind of lanky frame prized in the modern NHL. He also boasts a 1.39 goals against average and .944 save percentage this season.

Jake Kielly, Goalie

I really want the Colorado Avalanche to have the right kind of goalie problem again, so let’s look at another net minder. The 6-foot-2, 201-pound Jake Kielly leads the NCAA with 22 wins in 34 games (22-10-2) and has a 1.92 goals-against average, five shutouts and .928 save percentage for Clarkson University.

Thanks to those numbers, he’s earned the ECAC Hockey goaltender of the week honors three times this season. He’s a candidate for the Hobey Baker Award. He’s also on the watchlist for the Mike Richter Award for top NCAA goalie.

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Any NCAA player the Colorado Avalanche signed in free agency would be eligible to join the team right away. Like I said, the team has shown a propensity in recent years for gravitating to NCAA players, so they might well be considering some of the above prospects.

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