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Colorado Avalanche 2021 draft picks: Where are they now?

By Graham Tiedtke

Sep 25, 2022; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Avalanche left wing Oskar Olausson (27) shoots the puck in the second period against the Vegas Golden Knights at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 25, 2022; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Avalanche left wing Oskar Olausson (27) shoots the puck in the second period against the Vegas Golden Knights at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /
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It usually takes several years for NHL Draft picks to make an appearance for the team that selects them. Other than special occasions (high-profile, top-notch players), once a player is selected, they go down to that team’s farm league or to a different hockey league to develop their craft until they are ready or close to ready to compete at the NHL level. So, you might be thinking: “Where are they now?” Where are some of the draft selections made by the Colorado Avalanche in recent years? Let’s take a look back just a couple of years.

Coming off of a somewhat disappointing 2022-23 season, it would be awesome to see the Colorado Avalanche have some production from its recent draft classes. The first class we’re going to look at hasn’t had a lot of NHL experience yet, but it’s a work in progress.

Here’s the team’s 2021 draft class:

Where are the Colorado Avalanche’s 2021 NHL Draft picks now?

Oskar Olausson: Olausson was a first-round pick of the Avalanche two drafts ago and was able to make it into one game for the team in November of 2022 against the Vancouver Canucks. Olausson played nine shifts in that game for a total time of 7:02. He did not register a single shot in the game.

Sean Behrens: Since being drafted by the Colorado Avalanche, Behrens has yet to play on the NHL level but has played 76 games on several teams, most notably the University of Denver, where he’s participated in 68 games and has six goals and 44 assists.

Andrei Buyalsky: Another player who has no NHL experience yet, Buyalsky is a center who has played at the University of Vermont over the last two seasons. He has five goals and 13 assists during his time there, all of those stats coming in his second season, as he played in 34 games as opposed to three games played the year before.

Taylor Makar: Yes, the younger brother of Colorado Avalanche star defenceman Cale Makar. Taylor Makar was a seventh-round draft pick of the Avs in 2021. He spent the last two seasons with the University of Massachusetts, participating in 49 games and accumulating 11 goals and two assists in that time after playing hockey in Alberta, Canada.

In four seasons for the Brooks Bandits (Alberta Junior Hockey League), Makar played in 104 games, scoring 20 goals and 44 assists.  Makar has yet to play in an NHL game for the Avalanche.

The lack of NHL experience in this draft class so far isn’t shocking, as I previously mentioned that it takes time for players to get to that level. We still could see some of these players participate in the NHL at some point, but we have to continue to let them develop elsewhere first.

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