Colorado Avalanche trade first-round pick: Was it a good move?

The Colorado Avalanche were about to make their first-round selection in the 2024 NHL Draft, with fans waiting anxiously to see who would become the next member headed to Colorado. Unfortunately, we have to wait another day, as the team traded the selection away to the Utah Hockey Club.

At first, I was very disappointed. It’s disappointing waiting all night for your team to make their selection only for them to trade it away. After a bit of reflection, I’m over it and am excited to see what they do with picks 38 and 71 on Saturday. The Avalanche obviously weren’t sold on the players that were available at pick 24, and they lacked a second and third-round pick in this year’s draft.

Now they have one in each round and a second in 2025. I want to say that that is a masterpiece of a decision by Colorado Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland, but we’ll hold off on that classification for right now. We’ll have to wait and see what the team does with those picks to make a fair judgement.

In the one Colorado Avalanche mock draft that I did, I had the team selecting Matvei Gridin, who went a couple of picks after the Avalanche’s initial pick at 24. Obviously, the Avalanche wanted to go a different direction, racking up a couple more picks, which I definitely understand.

Depending on who is available and what makes sense for the Avalanche, I would love for them to find a left wing on Saturday.

I’m very curious to see if whoever they select in the second round could find their way onto the ice for them early on. I know that it takes time for some players to find their way into an NHL lineup not only due to development but also the fact that they have to go through the troubles of moving to another country (if they decide to select someone from another nation).

That being said, in MacFarland we trust. There is going to me a lot more excitement on Day 2 of the 2024 NHL Draft, with the Avalanche having eight selections the rest of the way. Stay tuned!