Colorado Avalanche Mock Draft 1.0: Planning for an uncertain future

The Colorado Avalanche own seven picks in the 2024 NHL Draft, their first coming in at 24th overall. It’s possible that they decide to trade that pick away for a player who is fully ready now—someone who has been in the league for a number of years—but with their current salary cap restraints, that doesn’t seem likely.

They definitely want to plan for now, with their championship window still open. Although, who knows if it is anywhere close to closing. Probably not, but you never know. A lot can happen in such a short period of time. Can they overcome a few months of missing Valeri Nichushkin? Can Gabriel Landeskog make a return in 2024-25? Those are just two—mind you, the most important two—questions they have to have answered.

I’m of the mindset that they should prepare as if neither player is going to make a return anytime soon. Unfortunately, that’s a reality they have to face and with very minimal cap space.

The Avalanche can add some quality players this weekend, so let’s take a look at a possible scenario for them.

1st Round: Pick 24, RW Matvei Gridin

Matvei Gridin is a player that could possibly fill in for Valeri Nichushkin or on a lower line (pending a line change that sees an already-developed player bumped up). The 6-foot-1, 185 lb Russian had 46 goals and 56 assists in 100 games with the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the USHL over the last two seasons.

His hockey IQ appears to be out of this world, as he’s said to be where he’s meant to be more times than not. Playing a fast mental game is very important in the NHL, and that’s something the Colorado Avalanche would love to have not only in the offensive zone but in the defensive area as well.

He is also said to be a pass-first type of forward, which isn’t the most ideal, but it can still be beneficial with a team like the Avalanche, who have other playmakers across all of their lines. It doesn’t concern me that much, especially because in the NHL, there is time to grow.

4th Round: Tarin Smith, D, Everett Silvertips WHL

Special teams is where Tarin Smith excels according to scouting reports. The Colorado Avalanche certainly could use that, especially on the penalty kill, where they ranked near the middle of the league.

Smith is listed at 6-foot-1, 176 pounds and is a left handed defenseman. The Colorado Avalanche can definitely use a left-handed defenseman as Jack Johnson is nearing the end of his career. Perhaps Smith could develop into a role that replaces Johnson in the future.

Smith is a two-way defenseman who can make some offensive plays but is more of an assist guy. He played in 78 games with the Everett Silvertips, and while he only put up nine goals, he assisted on 36 goals, all coming last year. He played in 67 games last season alone.

The Colorado Avalanche certainly need help in the defensive area to take a lot of heat off of goaltender Alexandar Georgiev (or whoever may be in goal by the time Smith could play for the Avalanche).

5th round: Timur Kol, D, MHL

We have reached a point in the NHL Draft where players selected could very well never play for the team that drafted them, and that’s okay. The first step in a potential NHL dream is getting your foot (skate?) in the door, and that starts with being drafted (or potentially not).

The Avalanche take another shot at a defenseman, this time Timur Kol out of Russia.

Kol is a 6-foot-3, 198 pound defenseman who has great transition skills. He is yet another player who can also play an offensive role.

The Colorado Avalanche could use another defender who has very good puck skills. Although he might never make it to the Avalanche, they could take a chance on him and see if he will ever develop into a player they deem worthy of a call up.

6th round: Veeti Louhivaara, G, Finland

At this point in the NHL Draft, why not add another goaltender into the mix? Veeti Louhivaara is an 18-year-old from Finland. He’s got great size already, at 6-foot-4, 198 pounds, but definitely has some things to work on including tracking the puck, and moving from goalpost to goalpost.

Upon reading scouting reports of Louhivaara, he does a good job of puck handling and being able to track the puck, allowing for glove saves. I personally feel like that was an issue of the Colorado Avalanche last year: Not enough glove saves.

The beauty of this pick is that he can spend time in a lower league to develop.

Another positive of his, according to David Phillips of FC Hockey is that he has a calm presence about him, which is essential as an NHL goalie.

Currently, the Colorado Avalanche are pretty well set with Alexandar Georgiev and Justus Annunen. That being said, perhaps Louhivaara could turn into something good for this team later down the road.

7th round: Luke Ellinas, LW, Kitchener ON and Jack Bodin, D, Sweden

We round out this Colorado Avalanche 2024 NHL mock draft with Luke Ellinas from Kitchener, Ontario, and Jack Bodin from Sweden.

Ellinas is a left-handed shooter who played in 112 games over the course of the last three years. Although he only played in one game in his first year with the North York Rangers, he scored a goal in that single game. He followed up with 44 games played and 11 goals with 12 assists the following year.

In his final year there, he played in 67 games, scoring 16 goals and 17 assists. He added five goals and three assists in 10 games during the playoffs in 2023-24. Per OHLWriters.com, Ellinas is a strong forechecker.

As for Bodin, if you’re a team interested in a hitter, this is your late-round player you could target. He doesn’t have stellar numbers (six goals and six assists in 46 games last year), but that’s not always what you look for in defensemen, especially in the later rounds. Bodin can be a big body who can get after the puck and lay down some hits.

The Colorado Avalanche will need some help in that department with Jack Johnson nearing retirement and Cale Makar not being that physical presence (which is more than okay).