The Colorado Avalanche suddenly have a plethora of draft picks in the 2026 Entry Draft. They have one third-rounder, two picks in each of the fourth and fifth rounds, and a whopping four selections in the seventh round.
As a team that is in its championship window, they don’t have a need for a player to hop into the lineup immediately, and that’s a good thing. The urgency to play young players early isn’t there.
With that being said, Colorado can take some risks. While they don’t want to be careless with their selections, taking a flier on a player in the later rounds doesn’t sound so bad. You won’t get top talent in the later rounds, which is obvious. They will be looking for potential diamonds in the rough.
However, since they just acquired a third-round pick, that changes things a little bit. This is around where guys could still take a little bit of time in the system but then make an impact on the NHL team later down the road, as opposed to seventh-rounders, who very well might never sniff the NHL. They did this with Ilya Nabokov in the second round of the 2024 NHL Draft. They wanted to get Nabokov to North America fast so he can learn the American game. He’s on his way to being Trent Miner’s backup right now.
Maybe in a couple of years, he will make his debut in the NHL. Scott Wedgewood is getting closer to the end of his career, and the club will have a sense of when that time might come. But, as we all know, a lot can happen. There are some things out of anyone’s control, too. We unfortunately had to say goodbye to Pavel Francouz all of a sudden after he suffered an injury.
The Avalanche drafted three goaltenders two drafts ago—in 2024. I think that the two after Nabokov were just fliers, which is exactly what you have to do sometimes.
They could also be used as trade assets before they come close to hitting the ice with the Avs or the Eagles. Perhaps the Avalanche continue down that road—trading young assets for top players who can make a difference now, while they are in their championship window.
There are often players in the draft of any sport where they have some risks attached to them. Every team does their due dilligence and research of every available prospect. We may have an idea of the type of player our team will likely target, but the teams themselves, with the help of their scouts, know each and every detail in what they are looking for.
The Avalanche won’t draft a player with more of a dump and chase style of play. They’ll want to take players who can step up and dish out some hits and have fearlessness when chasing the puck. I think that a good example of that type of player is Nikita Prishchepov, who they took in the seventh round of the 2024 Draft.
However, Prishchepov is probably a good example of a player who, despite a solid first showing, hasn’t made his way back up to the Avalanche since his first set of games. There’s not really a sense of urgency with getting him, or anyone really, into the NHL at this time. It was just disappointing to me that he didn’t get called up again.
That could change with a couple of players, though. There are some players such as Brent Burns, Josh Manson, Nazem Kadri, and Brock Nelson, who are getting up there in age. It could very well be the final year of Burns and Manson in Colorado, which could mean the Avs want to think about getting some defensemen prospects developed quicker.
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