With the offseason quickly approaching, the Colorado Avalanche must set their sights on two key dates, June 28th and July 1st. There is a lot of work to be done to continue being a contender in the NHL and the work starts at the 2025 NHL Draft. While the Avs only currently hold two late round picks, there are plenty of talented players who could develop their game to an NHL level. Here are four players the Avs could target in round 4 of the 2025 NHL Draft:
1. Filip Ekberg
Ekberg is a player who has been ranked all over the place dating back to when he made his Swedish pro league debut at 15 and scored a hat trick. However, its been a turbulent road for him since then. Coming over to North America to play in the OHL has been a rough adjustment from a production standpoint scoring only 45 points in 53 games with the Ottawa 67s. The eye test tells a bit of a different story. I see a responsible yet undersized centerman who's always moving and looking to cause chaos for the other team. His shot isn't great but it can beat goalies with the right angle and his playmaking is far from elite but he's always looking up to make a play. To me, his hockey IQ and elite motor skills make him a prospect easily worth taking in the 4th round. NHL Central Scouting has him ranked #178 in North America but he just won MVP at the U18 Worlds playing for a strong Swedish team. It will be interesting to see where he falls come draft day.
2. Harry Nansi
Talk about a guy who works hard, Nansi has a top-10 work ethic in this draft class that unfortunately goes along with a season of underwhelming production. Just 23 points in 67 games this season for the Owen Sound Attack is quite underwhelming for Nansi. However, there is tremendous upside with Nansi who I could see becoming a very solid bottom-six player at the NHL level. Part of the issue with his production has to be the fact he played bottom six on a pretty bad OHL team, playing with linemates that were far worse than him. He played the top penalty kill unit for Owen Sound and exceled when I watched him. He blocks shots very willingly has great anticipation about when to attack versus staying passive. He is currently 6'3' and around 180lbs so a very solid frame for one of the youngest players in the class. The offensive instincts are rough for sure, he has a great initial forecheck but looks lost with the puck on his stick. A comparison could easily be a bigger Logan O'Connor when he first started with the Avs. LOC's offense has grown a lot which I can see happening with Nansi as well with the right development.
3. Aidan Park
Aidan Park is an over age prospect that I still can not believe wasn't taken last year. He continues to be extremely underrated for a reason that I do not know. In his original draft year, he scored 93 points in 56 games for Shattuck St. Mary's Prep School before playing in the USHL this year. If there were any doubts about whether his production would continue in a better league, they are now gone as he posted 66 points in 55, including 33 goals. Knowing his stats and the fact he wasn't drafted one might assume he doesn't have NHL size, but they would be wrong. Filling out a 6'1" frame with 187lbs the Michigan commit has the size NHL teams look for. Avs have a strong history of liking overage prospects, especially last year picking Ilya Nabokov and Nikita Prishchepov. Scouts praise his high motor and he clearly has knack for finding the back of the net, Park is without a doubt a guy the Avs should be interested in if he's available.
4. Topias Hynninen
Hynninen is another over-ager, this time out of Sweden. He went undrafted last season despite playing up in Liiga, the professional Finnish league with grown men. He plays the game incredibly smart, his experience in a professional league is evident. There is a maturity to his game that is lacking in a lot of CHL/North American prospects. He doesn't force plays and has excellent vision with decent hands. His shot can use work but he doesn't project as top line guy. The skating is an intriguing tool because he is fast and can often beat opponents, being a very willing forechecker but his stride looks a bit awkward at times. His production has improved and alerted NHL scouts. He scored 35 points in 51 games while playing on the top line for a rough Jukurit team, where his 10 points in 5 relegation round games saved them. He is an intriguing prospect for sure and a player that the Avs should consider on draft day.
Despite just two picks in the 2025 NHL Draft Avs fans should still be looking forward to seeing who the Avs select in the fourth and seventh rounds this year. Just last year the Avs drafted Nikita
Prishchepov in the seventh round and he's already played 10 NHL games. Alec Martinez, Mattias Ekholm, Viktor Arvidsson, (Colorado native) Jaccob Slavin, and the Avs' Devon Toews were all 4th round picks.