Colorado Avalanche: A Brief Look at the Prospect Rankings

The Colorado Avalanche will have a low first round draft pick this year. Here are some potentials based on the newly released draft rankings.

The Colorado Avalanche are #3 in the entire NHL right now in the standings. That’s super cool until you think about the draft — that means they hold the #29 draft pick at the moment.

Well, you’re going to get a decent player in the first round, hopefully. If the scouts have done their job right, you should be able to pick up a player who will see NHL time eventually.

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The NHL released their final prospect rankings today. I haven’t noticed as much hoopla in years past — no calling it “The Conor McDavid/Jack Hughes/Rasmus Dahlin Draft” this season.

That said, the big name on the top of the list appears to be left wing Alexis Lafreniere of the Rimouski Oceanic in the QMJHL. He’s ranked #1 for North American skaters. Interestingly, the top-ranked European is out of Germany — left wing Tim Stuetzle of Mannheim in Germany’s top pro league.

Yeah, neither of those guys is going to fall to #29. So, let’s look at some of the middling players:

#20 NA: Brendan Brisson, center

#21 NA: Tyson Foerster, right wing

#22 NA: Mavrik Bourque, center

#23 NA: Justin Sourdif, right wing

#24 NA: Ty Smilanic, center

#25 NA: Daemon Hunt, defenseman

#10 E: Roni Hirvonen, center (Finland)

#11 E: Lukas Reichel, left wing (Germany)

#12 E: Marat Khusnutdinov, center (Russia)

#13: Daniel Torgersson, left wing (Sweden)

Those players are more likely ones the Avalanche have a chance at drafting in the first round.

I won’t call the season done until the NHL announces it. Therefore, I haven’t even begun to start looking into the prospects.

My hope for this year’s draft is to see the Colorado Avalanche get someone solid in the first round. I’d like to see them get some size and maybe some grit.

I can’t speak for the grit of the above players, but Torgersson comes in at 6-foot-3, 199 pounds. Foerster is 6-foot-2, 194 pounds.

I can’t say if the Avalanche need a forward or a defenseman more. It’s hard to predict because the player they choose when the draft eventually takes place — it’s been postponed indefinitely — will play at least another year or two with either his junior team or college.

The Avs, meanwhile, are well set up both in their current lineup and in players coming up the pipeline.

In the coming weeks, we’ll start looking at what the potential first-rounders bring to the table and how they could eventually help the Colorado Avalanche.