The Colorado Avalanche had two picks in the first round of the 2023 NHL Draft but then had to wait until round 5 to continue their draft class. To start off their day, they selected Russian defenceman, who is 6-foot-3 and 194 pounds. Ishimnikov played for the amateur team YEKATERINBURG JR.
Ishimnikov is the second Russian defenseman the Colorado Avalanche have selected in this year’s class—the first being Mikhail Gulyayev in the first round on Wednesday.
Being as tall as Ishimnikov is, he could fit into the Avalanche lineup at some point fairly nicely, given that the team likes to use its defenseman in the offensive zone. That’s a huge benefit of this selection and a very smart pick.
By the sounds of it—at least to Pavel Maliouguine of RecruitScouting.com, Ishimnikov will have to clean up his skating, as well as his mechanics.
That being said, Ishimnikov’s size is the big thing here. The hope is that he can turn into a physical defenseman in the NHL and make an impact sometime on one of the bottom lines.
With the 187th pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, the Colorado Avalanche selected defenseman Jeremy Hanzel, who is 20 years old from British Columbia, Canada. This selection marks the third defenseman the team has selected in this draft class. Hanzel is listed at 6-foot-1, 196 pounds.
He scored 13 goals and had 35 assists in 66 games during the 2022-23 season with Seattle in the WHL. It’s not spectacular production but it’s decent. One thing Avalanche fans just cannot do is compare these players to Cale Makar and expect that type of production.
With their final pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, the Colorado Avalanche took Slovakian center Maros Jedlicka. Jedlicka is 20 years old that is 6-foot-2, 198 pounds. He finished the 2022-23 season with 17 goals and 18 assists in 39 games for Slovakia in the international league.
A lot will happen from now and when any of these prospects take the ice for the Colorado Avalanche. Now it will just be a matter of how each of them does leading up to their big moments on the team. How will they fare with the Eagles? Time will tell. But one thing is clear: The Avalanche are in their championship window right now and needed to replenish their prospect pool.