All that and more on this edition of Deen’s Daily — August 27.

Colorado Hockey Now

Mikhail Gulyayev was drafted by the Avalanche at No. 31 overall in 2023. He’s actually the last first-round draft pick they’ve selected.

This season, the 20-year-old defenseman enters his final year under contract with his KHL club. If he’s looking to make the leap to North America, it could happen in the spring. But most KHL prospects would rather play in the NHL instead of the American Hockey League.

This is going to be a big year for Gulyayev if he wants to get here in 2026.

READ MORE: Mikhail Gulyayev Could Make Jump to Avalanche in 2026

If you haven’t seen it already, Barrie’s Instagram post that announced his retirement on Tuesday was hilarious.

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A post shared by Tyson Barrie (@tysonbarrie4)

Around The NHL

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: As we await word on a potential sale of the Penguins from Fenway Sports Group to the Hoffman family, Dan Kingerski writes how the team can improve with three changes.

San Hockey Now: The Sharks announced a new deal with their arena. It’ll keep them in San Jose for a long, long time.

Boston Hockey Now: The Boston Bruins are slated for quite a bit of National TV coverage this season.

New Jersey Hockey Now: Young Devils defenseman has had quite the offseason of training.

Detroit Hockey Now: The Red Wings are hoping to emulate the step the Ottawa Senators took last year to qualify for the playoffs. Former Sens blueline Travis Hamonic sheds light on how his team did it. Also Lucas Raymond’s favorite European club soccer team sounds familiar to the hockey team he plays for.

The post Deen’s Daily: Gulyayev Enters Pivotal Development Year; Tyson Barrie’s Hilarious Retirement Post; Improving the Penguins appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

RG Media’s Sergey Demidov had an exclusive with the Avs’ 2023 first-round draft pick and was able to shed light on what’s to come for the young 20-year-old Russian defenseman.

Gulyayev has even played forward in some recent games.

RG MEDIA: Avalanche Prospect Mikhail Gulyayev Plays Forward, Eyes 2026 NHL Move

Kudos to RG Media for getting this story sent to me. I have some thoughts on what I believe should be a pivotal 12 months in the career of Gulyayev.

The Avs could use homegrown talent in their lineup. Not just because they need to eventually get better at developing talent later in the first round and beyond, but because having young contributors in your lineup on lower-cost entry-level deals massively boosts your ability to build a winner.

Gulyayev seems to be in good hands with former NHL coach Guy Boucher in the KHL. I think the idea that Boucher moved him to forward to help develop his offensive game is fascinating. But in a Jared Bednar system, it’s his defensive game that’ll ultimately lead to an opportunity. Gulyayev is going to have the odds stacked against him given that he’s on the smaller side. If he continues to develop his defensive game and can play a fearless brand of hockey, he’ll excel in the NHL. Or at least get a chance to do so.

But it’ll always be harder for someone like him to crack the Avalanche’s lineup on a permanent basis, especially if Samuel Girard, Cale Makar, and Devon Toews continue to make up half of the team’s depth core.

Between Gulyayev and goalie Ilya Nabokov, Avs fans have a lot to keep track of in the KHL. Both of them could make their way over as early as next spring, when their KHL seasons come to an end.

Gulyayev was non-committal in the RG Media piece about that plan, but his contract expires at the conclusion of this season.

The post Mikhail Gulyayev Could Make Jump to Avalanche in 2026 appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

Mikhail Gulyayev, the 31st overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft by the Avalanche, was injured in one of the preseason tournaments that his team Avangard participated in. The KHL preseason is quite long, as training camp opens well over a month before the regular season even begins. It’s not clear what the injury is, but the good news is that it doesn’t appear to be that serious, according to their head coach.

“According to Misha Gulyaev, he is confident that he will be healthy by the beginning of the season,” Avangard Head Coach Sergey Zvyagin said.

Gulyayev is coming off a strong rookie campaign in the KHL, as he established himself as a full-time player at just 18 years old on a very good team. As the season went on, he earned more and more ice-time and by the time the playoffs rolled around, he was a regular on the second pair. Given that it’s early in the year and there’s no reason to rush it, I wouldn’t be surprised if he misses some time. A young guy like Gulyayev might not want to risk losing his spot on the blueline, though.

It’ll be a few years before Gulyayev makes an appearance in an Avalanche uniform, as he made it pretty clear earlier this summer that he’s not coming to North America until he’s NHL ready. His KHL contract runs through April of 2026. If he has a massive year, maybe they could convince him to come over, but he seems content waiting things out until he’s ready to hit the ground running.

Avangard’s regular season starts on Sept. 4.

If you’re looking for updates and highlights on the KHL prospects the Avalanche have, you’ve come to the right place. I’ll regularly be posting updates, including video, on Gulyayev, Ilya Nabokov, Ivan Yunin, and Zakhar Bardakov as the season goes on for CHN+ members. Nabokov’s season begins on Sept. 3, and he’s certainly a player a lot of Avalanche fans are interested in keeping up with.

The post Top Avalanche Prospect Could Miss Start Of His Season appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

The post Avalanche Film Room: Gulyayev’s Dazzling Skating A Perfect Fit (+) appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

Doesn’t sound like he has much interest in that.

In a new interview on ResponsibleGambling.org, the 19 year old defenseman spoke about his plans to get to the best league in the world, and it doesn’t sound like that plan includes the AHL.

“My path to the NHL is to come and play right away,” Gulyayev told Sergey Demidov. “I’m following my dream and not interested in anything else. I’m not against the AHL; it’s a good league, but if I go to America and play, I will only play in the NHL.”

Gulyayev just completed his first full season in the KHL, which is pretty rare for an 18 year old defenseman. As the season went on, his role on the team grew and grew, which can only be looked at in a positive light. While the offense wasn’t necessarily there, he earned the trust of the coaching staff and by the end of the season, was seeing consistent time on the second defensive pair.

The Avalanche were very pleased with how his season went, as I asked Brian Willsie about him last month.

“That’s huge. That’s a tough league to play in as a young guy,” Willsie said. “We watched him closely. We obviously have scouts over there watching him, but with video now, we can watch all his games and his shifts. It’s not easy, and they don’t give opportunities out freely over there to young guys. That’s the way they do it. For him to get the minutes that he had and the opportunity was a great experience. Real good development year and we’ll watch him closely again.”

Before last season began, Gulyayev signed a one-year extension with Avangard of the KHL, so his contract doesn’t expire until 2025-26. It sounds like the Avalanche might be waiting a little bit for him to cross the pond.

To read the full interview, you can click here. The 19 year old talks about how often the Avalanche communicate him, meeting Joe Sakic, and his favorite player, Cale Makar.

The post Gulyayev Makes It Clear What His Path To The NHL Is appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

The news was first brought to light by Hockey News Hub on X. Although he’s not a fan of me, he provides great coverage of the KHL and Russian hockey in general for North Americans. The big change is that the KHL and the FHR have mutually agreed to part ways, meaning that the KHL is now its own organization.

Here’s a quick breakdown of what it means…

KHL clubs don´t need the IIHF Transfer Card to sign a player from a foreign league.
KHL keeps honouring players´ contracts with foreign clubs.
KHL will pause their season for Channel One Cup in December.
KHL clubs will release their players to #Olympics & #IIHFWorlds.

— KHL & EURO TALK (@vorkywh24) July 9, 2024

Keep in mind that Russia athletes are currently banned from the Olympics and IIHF-related events. As far as we know, that ban currently lasts through the 2024 Olympics and for 2024-25 IIHF events. We know that Russia is not involved in the 4-Nations tournament taking place with NHL players this coming February.

In addition to the above changes, the KHL announced that their season will now end in May as opposed to April.

How does this impact some of the top prospects for the Avalanche?

The KHL separating from the FHR is big news in that it should mean a separation of church and state, opposite to how things have been run for decades over in Russia. That should mean more freedom for some of the players over there. We recently saw Matvei Michkov terminate his KHL contract to make the leap to North America, although that process didn’t really seem all that simple. That move was completed before these changes were announced, though. Although details around these changes are still coming out, it would seem that if an NHL team wants to try and get a player to North America sooner, they would have to come to an agreement with the KHL club. Easier said than done, but still possible.

Colorado currently has three of their top prospects playing in the KHL – Mikhail Gulyayev, Ilya Nabokov, and Zakhar Bardakov. The latter two only have one year remaining on their KHL contracts, so if the Avalanche are patient, they might just get both of those players to North America after next season. As previously reported by CHN, we know Bardakov has interest in joining the Avalanche in 2025. He shares the same agent with Nabokov, who told CHN after the NHL Draft that they’ll come to a decision on Nabokov’s future “soon.”

The Avalanche currently don’t have a third goaltender signed for next season. Could they be trying to convince Nabokov to come over to North America a year early and play in the AHL? It’s possible, but with KHL training camps opening up in less than a month, and Nabokov being a pretty important player on his team, that would seem unlikely to me. Plus, as Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland told CHN earlier this month, the organization is pretty happy with Nabokov’s setup for the coming year.

“He was a guy that our goaltending department and our scouts had significant interest in, and was a key part in terms of moving back,” MacFarland said of Colorado’s top draft pick. “It’s something that as the year moves on, we feel he’s got a good development situation this year. We’ll attack that as the year moves along, but we want to see him have a great year, play a ton of hockey, and go from there.”

The prospect who this could impact the most is Gulyayev. One of Colorado’s first round picks in 2023, he signed an extension before the start of last season that keeps him with his KHL club until April of 2026. The 19 year old earned more and more ice-time as the year went on in the KHL, which is tough to do for a teenage defenseman in that league. As you’d expect, Colorado was pretty happy with what they saw.

“That’s huge. That’s a tough league to play in as a young guy,” Avalanche director of player development Brian Willsie said of Gulyayev last week. “We watched him closely. We obviously have scouts over there watching him, but with video now, we can watch all his games and his shifts. It’s not easy, and they don’t give opportunities out freely over there to young guys. That’s the way they do it. For him to get the minutes that he had and the opportunity was a great experience. Real good development year and we’ll watch him closely again.”

Although Gulyayev earned more ice-time as the year went on, he still wasn’t able to earn much time on the penalty kill or powerplay. He’s got skill offensively and you’d like to see that shine through, but it’s difficult for a teenager to earn those reps in the KHL when those spots typically go to veterans. Another year in the KHL playing against men in a very good league won’t hurt his development, but if there’s a way for the Avalanche to get him over to North America after next season, they should look into it. The changes mentioned earlier might make it a little easier for them to make that move, if they wanted to.

The post KHL And FHR Changes – Potential Impact On Avalanche Prospects Gulyayev, Nabokov appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

Wade Klippenstein, who has been with the organization since 2016 and was promoted to Director of Amateur Scouting back in 2021, is leaving on July 1 and joining Notre Dame Hounds Hockey as their Director of Hockey Development. The organization confirmed to Colorado Hockey Now that his contract is up and was not renewed, clearing the path for him to move on. He will not be at the draft table with the team in Vegas.

Notre Dame proudly announces Wade Klippenstein, from the Colorado Avalanche, as new Director of Hockey Development. Wade officially joins Notre Dame College on July 1, 202­­4.#NDProud #amcnotredame #NHL #NDhounds #ndhoundsalumni #ndhoundshockey #csshl #saskhockey #sjhl pic.twitter.com/ziQJBTRffr

— Notre Dame Hounds Hockey (@NDHoundsHockey) June 12, 2024

Prior to joining the Avalanche back in 2016-17, the 54 year old was in the WHL, spitting time between the Prince George Cougars and the Brandon Wheat Kings. He started as an assistant coach before moving into the front office at Prince George. With Brandon, he was the Director of Scouting until the Avalanche stole him away.

Drafting hasn’t been easy for Colorado, which we touched on earlier today, especially after round one. Klippenstein really hasn’t been in charge of the draft for very long with the Avalanche, but the 2023 Draft seems to have been a particularly strong one for the organization. Both Calum Ritchie and Mikhail Gulyayev had solid D+1 seasons and look to be on the right track. Sean Behrens, who was the second round pick during his first draft in charge, also looks to have been a strong selection.

As for who Colorado will replace him with, one name to keep an eye on is Scott Harris. He joined the Avalanche during the 2022-23 season and is currently their Director of Scouting Operations. That’s a pretty big title, so he likely already has a big role in who the Avalanche take in the draft.

Prior to joining Colorado, he was the Director of Amateur Scouting for the New Jersey Devils from 2019-2022. Some notable names that the Devils drafted during that time are Dawson Mercer, Luke Hughes, and Simon Nemec, all of which look pretty solid right about now. Harris also worked with Chris MacFarland in Columbus. Colorado also has Miroslav Zalesak, who runs their scouting over in Europe, and there’s always the chance they look outside the organization.

The post Director Of Amateur Scouting Leaving Avalanche Organization appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

With the 2024 NHL Draft a little over two weeks away, let’s take a look back at the last 10 years of first round picks for the Avalanche. They have gotten some very, very right, but they’ve also missed (and missed badly) on others. That’s just the way it goes.

2014 Draft

Let’s just get the worst one out of the way immediately. Conner Bleackley had a decent draft year in Red Deer that got him drafted 23rd overall by the Avalanche. Almost immediately after that, things fell apart.

I still remember his first training camp. He got put on the wing with Matt Duchene and Ryan O’Reilly for scrimmages. That’s about as good as it gets for a young player, but it was painfully obvious the guy was not in shape. He got beat up in the scrimmages, and the organization just wasn’t happy with his performance. He got sent back to Red Deer and a year later lost the “C” from his jersey. The Avalanche had already made the decision not to sign him, so they moved him at the deadline in a package to bring in Mikkel Boedker. Arizona didn’t sign him either, so he re-entered the draft. St. Louis took him with a 5th and got some AHL games out of him, but he was never very good at that level. Just a total miss of a draft pick. It’s rare for first rounders to not even get a contract, so that tells you how bad it got.

On the board when the Avalanche selected: Jared McCann, who has three straight 25 goal seasons, went one pick after Bleackley. Two picks later, some guy named David Pastrnak went…

2015 Draft

Has anyone ever gone back and looked at this draft? It’s absolutely stacked. Connor McDavid at #1 helps, but look at the guys taken after him. Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner, Timo Meier, Kyle Connor, Matt Barzal, Travis Konecny, and plenty of others. Some pretty good names, but the Avalanche hit a real home run here, drafting Mikko Rantanen 10th overall. Yeah, you aren’t changing that draft pick.

2016 Draft

You can’t go back and change history, but I often wonder if anything would have been different if the Avalanche had let Tyson Jost stay at North Dakota a little longer. The 2016-17 season was awful for the franchise, and they were desperate for something good to happen. In that desperation, they signed Jost after a strong Freshman year in College and threw him right into the NHL. Maybe another year wouldn’t have changed anything, but Jost came into the NHL and was pretty much always the same guy from day one until the day they traded him. Not a lot of offense and didn’t have the size or skating to make up for it.

On the board when the Avalanche selected: The players taken immediately after Jost aren’t much better, but at 14th overall, the Bruins snagged Charlie McAvoy. Two picks later, Jakob Chychrun went to Arizona.

2017 Draft

Is anyone complaining about Cale Makar? Didn’t think so.

2018 Draft

Oh, Martin Kaut. Another one of those guys where I often wonder if anything would have changed had the Avalanche handled things a little differently.

Kaur’s best moments, without question, came in his first 9 games in the NHL. He looked tenacious on pucks and was even bringing a little offense. The Avalanche already had their minds made up, though. Once he hit 9 games, he was heading back to the AHL and not playing another NHL game so that they wouldn’t burn a year of his entry-level contract. Granted, the NHL shut down right after Kaut played his 9th game, but Colorado was pretty set with this decision. Kaut wasn’t invited into the bubble when the league returned, and they probably could have used him. That team got pretty beat up and were missing several regulars by the time they were eliminated by Dallas. If Kaut had gone into the bubble and built on what he had started earlier that season, would that have changed his trajectory? We’ll never know…or maybe we do.

Kaut never hit his stride in the NHL after that. His attitude didn’t help. He felt he deserved to be in the NHL, even though he didn’t play all that well in the chances he got. Granted, he wasn’t given much opportunity when you look at his ice-time, but they wanted him to take the bull by the horns. That never happened, and he just wasn’t that type of guy. He was dealt for Matt Nieto and is now back in Europe.

On the board when the Avalanche selected: K’Andre Miller, a solid top four defenseman for the Rangers, went six picks after Kaut.

2019 Draft

This is one I’d say the Avalanche did fine in. Bowen Byram at 4th overall and Alex Newhook at 18th. Byram had his share of health problems, but he still played a very important role on the team when they won the Stanley Cup back in 2022. His best hockey came during that Stanley Cup Final, and Game Six might still be his best NHL game to-date. He just didn’t have a good season this year, stagnating and getting stuck down the depth chart, so Colorado moved him for Casey Mittelstadt at the NHL Trade Deadline. A savvy move, if you ask me.

Alex Newhook showed promise, but never took that next step with the team. That doesn’t make it a bad pick, though. Newhook is still a solid NHL player. The hope was that he’d take the job of 2C after Nazem Kadri left in free agency, but when that didn’t happen immediately, the organization seemed to move on pretty quickly. He was dealt last summer for a 1st and a 2nd, which eventually turned into Ross Colton. Montreal is pretty happy with Newhook after his first year.

On the board when the Avalanche selected: In this fantasy world, the Avalanche could have had an absolutely stacked blueline, because Thomas Harley went just two picks later to the Dallas Stars.

2020 Draft

Colorado took Justin Barron 25th overall, and he did sneak into two NHL games for them before they moved him in a “win-now” trade. That “win-now” trade sure worked out, though. I would venture to guess all Avalanche fans are pretty happy with Artturi Lehkonen.

2021 Draft

That 2021 draft was a weird one. Teams weren’t really able to scout in person because of COVID, and the first round seems to be full of a lot of misses. Colorado took Oskar Olausson 28th overall, and while I think there was progress from Olausson in the AHL this season, I’m not so sure I see an NHL player there. He missed the end of last season because of shoulder surgery, so he’ll be rehabbing this summer.

On the board when the Avalanche selected: The players taken immediately after Olausson in the first round don’t look all that much better. When you get into the second round, you get Olen Zellweger, who is a nice prospect for the Ducks. There were some good players taken later in the second, like Logan Stankoven, but we’re talking 20 picks after Olausson, so a lot of teams missed on him.

2023 Draft

This one is far too early to really make any judgements, but I imagine the Avalanche are very happy with the early returns on Calum Ritchie and Mikhail Gulyayev. Both had strong D+1 seasons, especially Ritchie, who looked like a different player after shoulder surgery. I’ve heard from reliable sources that the Maple Leafs would have taken Ritchie with the very next pick if the Avalanche hadn’t, so he was wanted by other squads. Gulyayev will spend a few more years in Russia unless his contract gets bought out, so Colorado will have to be patient with that pick.

The post Revisiting Recent Avalanche Drafts; What They Got Right…And Very Wrong appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

I thought we might get some action this past week with no NHL games on the schedule, but that wasn’t the case. Still, people have questions and I’ve (kind of) got answers. Could the Avalanche look at Patrick Kane? What would I give up for Kakko? And what should the Avalanche do with their first round pick this year?

Without further ado, let’s get to the questions.

From Krazy Karl Keen: Evan, when does a player’s No Trade Clause kick in?

A no-trade clause, or any type of clause in a contract, typically kicks in on July 1, which is the date of the new calendar year for the NHL.

For example, Ross Colton didn’t have any clauses in his contract during the first year of his contract, which was last season. On July 1, his no-trade clause kicks in. And next July 1, it goes from a full no-trade clause to a modified no-trade clause.

From Bryce: Will the Avs look at Patrick Kane?

I do believe the Avalanche talked to Patrick Kane last year, but specifically on bringing him in on a one-year deal. Word on the street this year is that Kane is looking for a bit of term. I wouldn’t go there.

I’ll admit that Kane looked a lot better than I thought he would last year after coming back from hip resurfacing surgery. He scored at nearly a point-per-game pace, but that still doesn’t make me feel comfortable giving him any sort of term. If he was interested in another cheap one-year deal, you would have to consider it, but it doesn’t sound like that’s what he’s looking for. He also wouldn’t be my first choice, considering off-ice fit and everything. He’s an offense-first type of guy, and I don’t know if that’s what the Avalanche should be looking for at wing.

From Xarxex: What would be a realistic ask for Kaapo Kakko from the NYR?

As much as I like Kakko and think he can still be a solid player in the NHL, he’s not someone I would necessarily trade for. His qualifying offer is $2.4 million, but he’s likely to ask more, one year removed from 18 goals and 40 points. My interest in him would be solely if the New York Rangers chose not to qualify him, which seems unlikely. There’s probably some team out there that would be willing to send the Rangers some draft picks and pay Kakko what he wants, but the Avalanche probably aren’t one of those teams. They’re low on draft picks and giving someone coming off a 19 point year $3M+ would be very risky.

My guess is some team out there would still be willing to give up a second round pick for him. The Avalanche don’t even have one until 2026.

From multiple people: How long until an outdoor game with Avs v Utah? With Salt Lake being closer, do you think the NHL will push to do the “regional rivals” thing with the Avs even though it’s just a team moving?

Some of us in the media have talked about this. I wouldn’t be surprised if Utah opens their season next year against the Avalanche to try and build some sort of regional rivalry there. I know I’m looking forward to a team being relatively close to Denver as far as travel goes. It’s so close that I might even consider making a road trip out of it.

I hadn’t thought about an outdoor game between the two teams, mostly because I’m completely over outdoor games at this point in time, but that would make a lot of sense. It might not be for a few years, though. We got Seattle/Vegas this year in the Winter Classic about two years after Seattle came into the league, so that could give you an idea on a potential timeline for an outdoor game.

From Brendan: With how much KHL you’ve been watching, what are the biggest differences between a KHL and NHL game? Style and rules

The KHL definitely focuses more on the skill side of it than the physical side. That’s what made Nikolai Kovalenko such a unicorn over there. He wasn’t afraid to throw his body around, which is why many Russians considered him to be the most NHL-ready player in their league.

KHL players are just not really taught to dump the puck in. They want to hold onto it and try to create something, even if that means regrouping multiple times in one possession. It’s one of the reasons why I find the KHL far more entertaining to watch than the AHL. It’s not perfect hockey, but it’s at least fun to watch.

They have some fun rules that I would love the NHL to adopt as well. For one, if a team has a penalty that carries over into the next period, even overtime, the opening face-off the next period is in the offensive zone for the team that has the powerplay. If you want to promote scoring, that’s one way to do it.

On the flip side, the KHL seems to review everything. There were times I wasn’t even sure what they were reviewing. I’m not in favor of more reviews, so leave that over there.

I’m excited to watch more next season with Mikhail Gulyayev, and maybe whoever the Avalanche take in the first round.

From multiple people: Should the Avs keep their first round pick or trade it? Which prospects do you like at #24?

It really depends on who is available. I’ve checked out a few players that might be available at #24, and haven’t come away terribly impressed. The one guy I would love to fall is Igor Chernyshov. He’s a big winger who can grind it out and play a skilled game at the same time. If he is available at #24, I wouldn’t hesitate to pick him. Elite Prospects has him rated at 19, but the Russian factor is always in play.

I’m iffy on whether or not the Avalanche should trade the pick, but I see both sides. They really need to rebuild this prospect pool, because they’re currently paying the bill for not drafting and developing players over the last few years. On the flip side, with Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar in their prime, you should never rule out trading your first rounder. If anything, based on what I’ve seen of the guys in the draft around #24, I’d consider trading down and maybe accumulating another pick. If anything, another draft pick gives you more ammo to use in any trade.

From Ryan: Are the Avs changing their jerseys? Tell me no.

I haven’t heard anything about new jerseys. I’m also someone who doesn’t really pay attention to that kind of stuff.

From Kyle: Do you think the Avs will be active on the trade front this off season?

I wouldn’t put anything past Chris MacFarland now. Last summer, he was extremely aggressive in the trade market, making moves for Fredrik Olofsson, Ryan Johansen, and Ross Colton, while moving out Alex Newhook. Granted, they didn’t all work out, but he was aggressive and busy. That continued at the trade deadline.

This summer, their hands are tied a little bit more by the Nichushkin and Landeskog situations. They’d have to move someone out to make room for a new player, and who could that even be? After the Byram move, the Avalanche don’t exactly have the depth to move a Girard or Manson, and up front, the only guy I could *maybe* look at is Colton. That being said, the Avalanche finally have a center setup they like, so that wouldn’t make much sense.

I’m sure they’ll make some moves, but I’m not banking on them matching the volume of moves they made last summer.

From Anthony: With the rumors of Val leaving for home to play in the media league, does that violate the terms of the program? How can he be a active participant/tested while living abroad? Is this grounds for contract termination?

I don’t think him playing in this league is grounds for termination. This doesn’t sound like much of a league. If anything, it sounds like a glorified beer league. NHL players are allowed to play in Da Beauty League in the summer, so I don’t see how this would impact the termination side.

As for him leaving, I’m not even sure. There’s still some mystery around the program, and it’s been years since anyone has been placed in Stage 3. I’m sure the Avalanche are doing a lot of work behind the scenes to see what they can do if/when he’s reinstated, because I don’t believe he’ll play another game for this franchise. MacFarland and Landeskog certainly chose their words very carefully a few weeks ago. From everything I’ve heard, people don’t think he’s taken this process seriously from the beginning. Will that change? We’ll see.

From Katie: Are there any Avs players that stay in CO during the off-season, or do they all disperse to the various corners of the globe?

Most of them disperse. In fact, pretty much all of them disperse and then resurface around August or September.

The post Avalanche Mailbag: Patrick Kane, Kaapo Kakko, And Trading The 1st appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

That season came to a close on Saturday, as Gulyayev’s Avangard squad was shutout in game seven of the second round, ending their playoff run.

There’s a lot to be excited about when it comes to Gulyayev, but as with any 18 year old defenseman, plenty of room for improvement. Let’s start with the positives.

Between the regular season and playoffs, Gulyayev ended up playing 76 games. That’s essentially an entire NHL regular season. The fact that Gulyayev was able to earn the trust of the staff to play that much is a testament to his abilities, and at no point did he appear in danger of losing his spot. The opposite, actually, because as the season went on, he played more and more.

For the first few months of the year, the young defenseman was typically playing around 13-15 minutes. After Christmas, he was given a bigger role, and the staff started playing him anywhere from 15-18 minutes a night. Considering he played for one of the top teams in the league, earning that trust was huge. Gulyayev was used almost exclusively at even strength, so he didn’t benefit from any time on the powerplay or penalty kill.

On the ice, he was mostly used on the right side, and as a left shot, does seem very comfortable playing his off-side. His skating is fantastic, and really is the backbone of his game. He’s not a big guy, but he can escape a forecheck with his skating ability and makes a strong first pass. He seems tailor-made for how the Avalanche like to play.

Gulyayev with an assist in his first career playoff game. His Avangard currently stomping Lada in Game 1. pic.twitter.com/Px56PEGrA8

— Evan Rawal (@evanrawal) March 1, 2024

Avs 2023 1st rounder, Mikhail Gulyayev is someone to keep your eye on!! #GoAvsGo
pic.twitter.com/zke0UqQ1jw

— WorldWide Hockey News (@WWHockeyNews) October 7, 2023

Mikhail Gulyayev with his 4th goal of the season today, and currently leads all defensemen in ice time through two periods on Avangard. pic.twitter.com/lDyfP8IzVR

— Evan Rawal (@evanrawal) January 31, 2024

Avalanche 1st rounder Mikhail Gulyayev’s KHL season came to an end today.

64 regular season games, 12 playoff games. 6 goals, 15 points total.

Averaged 15:38 in regular season and 17:24 in the playoffs.

Not a bad rookie KHL season at all. Turns 19 on April 26.

— Evan Rawal (@evanrawal) March 30, 2024

What you would like to see next year is a little bit more on the offensive side of things. It makes sense that he would play it a little safe as a youngster to earn the trust of the staff, but he’s got the skill to make an impact offensively. It just wasn’t on display a ton this year, because he typically sat back. I don’t know if that’s on him or the coaching staff, but hopefully you see a little bit more offense from him in his second full year in the KHL. His toolset is too big for him to be relegated to playing it safe. Some powerplay time would be nice for him.

Unfortunately, it will be at least two more years before anyone sees him in an Avalanche uniform. Early in the season, he signed an extension in the KHL, which will not expire until April of 2026. I imagine the Avalanche will be able to get him over for development camp in July, just like last year, so they can work with him a little more.

Overall, a very impressive season for an 18 year old playing in a professional league. There’s a lot to be excited about with him, and there’s a reason why Colorado didn’t want to move him in any deadline deal.

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