The Colorado Avalanche need something to give in terms of draft pick performance in the near future. After trading away Calum Ritchie, who was the team’s best prospect before being traded, and their more recent draft picks still getting developed in their respective locations, one player whose time might be running out is Sean Behrens.
Behrens was the Avalanche’s second-round pick from the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. Though he was ranked as the #5 player under 25 years old on Mile High Hockey’s “Top 25 under 25” list, he suffered a torn ACL last season and was limited to one game in 2023-24, recording a single assist.
At the University of Denver, where he spent three seasons, Behrens played in 112 games and recorded 10 goals and 71 assists in three years.
The big issue at this point, in my opinion, is that we still don’t know if Behrens can be successful in the NHL—or the AHL, for that matter. He’s fallen far behind in terms of game action and the speed of the game, and it only gets faster in the NHL.
Behrens is under contract for the next two seasons.
Even as a defenseman, the Avalanche likely will want to see an uptick in his goal rate. His career-high is just four, as he reached that total once at the University of Denver and once on the U.S. National Development team.
However, if scoring goals is strictly never going to be part of his game, he will have to make up for that with physical play. If he’s able to do that, perhaps he might take the spot of Keaton Middleton, who is known as a physical presence.
There are some players with the Colorado Eagles who are likely strictly only meant for that team with little chance of being called up to the Avalanche in 2025-26. Behrens has got to hope that he’s not one of them. As a former second-round draft pick, the expectations are high for the 22 year old defenseman. It’s up to him to prove that he can bring more to his game in a quest to play NHL minutes.
If he can’t do that, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Avalanche consider moving him for someone they deem as a better fit for their system.