The Colorado Avalanche had a busy Day 2 of the 2026 NHL Draft, and one of the players getting the most attention is their first-round pick, Egor Shilov. Shilov is committed to Penn State for the 2026-27 season, and is likely several years from sniffing the NHL/AHL. But, there is one thing that I’ve heard that has gotten me excited about the pick.
Shilov’s ability on special teams (power play and penalty kill) has been talked about highly. The power play is a spot where the Avs struggled for most of the 2025-26 season. It remains to be seen if that will get better in the upcoming season, with Dave Hakstol returning as the assistant coach/special teams coach.
In the 2025-26 season, the Avalanche scored 46 power play goals.
Specifically, the one quote that I’ve come across several times is: “He is trusted in all situations at five-on-five and on both power play and penalty kill units.”
That is so exciting to me.
Hopefully he turns out to be a hidden gem when it comes to special teams and we can move past the thought of an Avalanche power play that struggled heavily this past year. A lot can and will change by the time Shilov makes his NHL/AHL debut, but what I’ve heard about his special teams abilities makes me so thrilled for the future.
Egor Shilov’s lack of physicality
Another note about the Avs’ first selection is that he is not a physical player. That is disappointing because of the roughness of the game. It has me wondering where he could fit in the lineup. I thought perhaps he could play on a wing if the Avalanche continued their strong center depth by the time Shilov could eventually make his NHL debut, but with wingers being in puck battles and physicality along the boards, that doesn’t quite fit Shilov’s profile.
I suppose there is a chance that he gets better with his physicality and willingness to lay hits to opponents, but if that doesn’t end up happening at some point, it could be alright. Just like size, physicality doesn’t always matter.
If Shilov doesn’t develop better physicality skills, he’s going to have to put all of his focus in other areas of his game—ones where he’s best at and ones that he needs to improve. In reality, there is always room for improvement.
If the lack of physicality really bothered the Avalanche, I’m sure they would’ve thought twice about draftiing Shilov. They also have got to feel like most of his lacking skills are things that they can work with to have him get better. That’s the beauty of the way the NHL works now: There is not a need for players to be perfect the second they are drafted. It’s all a work in progress.
I’m sure that Shilov won’t either be the worst or the best player in this draft class. It will be interesting to see his development over the next couple of years compared to players drafted after him. Then, we will get to see whether or not his selection has paid off or if they made a mistake not going with someone else.
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