It’s mid-level prospects — mostly overaged — fighting for an opportunity to gain the coach’s trust as a depth forward. It’s guys like Zakhar Bardakov, now 24 years old, who was an overage seventh round selection by the New Jersey Devils four years ago. It’s undersized forwards like Gavin Brindley and Danil Gushchin, both of whom were acquired from other franchises this offseason. It’s Ivan Ivan, Nikita Prishchepov, and maybe even Taylor Makar.

But none of those names are likely to blow the doors off. They’re not highly touted prospects around the league with overhyped potential to be top point producers. But, aside from Mikhail Gulyayev and Ilya Nabokov (both playing in the KHL), they’re the best the Avs have.

Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis recently released his prospect rankings, and he has the Avalanche ranked 29th out of 32 teams. The Athletic’s Corey Pronman has them in a similar position.

Such is usually the case with teams that are at the peak of their Stanley Cup contending window. For just about a decade, Colorado always had one of the best prospect pools. In the 2010s, the team was waiting on Mikko Rantanen or Cale Makar’s arrivals. They had Alex Newhook, Bowen Byram, Tyson Jost, and others coming up through the system.

But the talent on the ice was lacking. They were often missing the playoffs, hovering around the middle-of-the-pack, while juggling a rebuild with a team that can’t get over the hump and qualify for the playoffs.

But then Rantanen arrived. Makar followed a couple of years behind. And then Jost, Newhook, and Byram all entered the league and were eventually traded away.

The Avalanche’s pipeline could be an issue in a few years, or even as early as 2027. But right now, it makes sense for them to be ranked where they are, given their window to win. Top prospects like Calum Ritchie became trade bait, and first-round picks are being sent out the door regularly.

At some point, they need players to develop through the system. They need a third, fourth, or fifth round draft pick to become an NHL regular if they want to extend their Cup window with this core.

They need to hit on their high picks, whether they’re taken late in the first round like Gulyayev or early in the second or third rounds like Nabokov and Francesco Dell’Elce.

This year might be a pivotal season for some of the prospects I listed above. Some of the guys fighting for ice time if or when injuries arise to the main roster. We might even get a look at Sean Behrens at some point this year. Gulyayev could make the jump in April and, if the Avalanche solidify their playoff spot, he could get into a game or two before the playoffs begin.

But if the Avalanche plan on rising up these rankings, even if it’s to the middle of the pack, they’ll need some of those later round picks to hit. They’ll need to balance trading draft picks to win now with making worthy selections to improve the future of the team. They have their core, but the guys around the core are eventually going to be interchangeable.

Having prospects develop into those roles is the most efficient way to build a winner.

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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.

Gagne was originally drafted in the sixth round of the 2021 NHL Draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning. He became an unrestricted free agent on August 15 after four years of college.

The native of Bedford, N.H. spent four seasons at the University of New Hampshire, compiling seven goals and 41 assists in 139 collegiate games. In his senior year, Gagne served as captain for the second season in a row and posted a career high with four goals, 13 assists, and 17 points.

Listed as 6’5, 225 lbs, Gagne became the first of the new wave of college free agents to land an NHL contract.

The post Avalanche Sign Defenseman Alex Gagne to Entry-Level Deal appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

“Going back to his draft year, he’s a high-motor, tenacious player that plays with really good pace. That book has just traveled and followed him to pro hockey,” Avs GM Chris MacFarland said about the 20-year-old Florida native on Friday at a media conference. “When we were talking with them, he was a player that our pro scouts piggybacked on to what our amateur side was seeing and thought it was a good player that plays the way we like to play.”

The move freed up $7.75 million and added a highly-touted prospect to the development pool. But there are still moves to be made for the team to solidify its bottom six. The top six are locked in with Gabe Landeskog’s return and multi-year contracts for Nathan MacKinnon, Valeri Nichushkin, Artturi Lehkonen and Brock Nelson. Martin Necas is in the final year of his contract this upcoming season. The unknown is Jonathan Drouin, who is an unrestricted free agent come July 1.

The Avs were eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in seven games by the Dallas Stars. MacFarland and president of hockey operations, Joe Sakic, said in their end-of-the-season exit conference that they felt they had the team to win a Stanley Cup. Offseason changes were undoubtedly going to be made.

“When you have expectations to try and win, you’re going to make decisions on trying to win. I think that’s what we’ve done and this year it didn’t work,” MacFarland said. “We all still feel the sting of that, but we feel we have a good hockey team and a competitive team, and it just didn’t work.”

Avalanche management still has work to do. MacFarland mentioned that a qualifying offer needed to be made to defenseman Sam Malinski, along with “holes” in the roster requiring attention.

“We’ve got (Zakhar) Bardakov coming over, so we’re excited to see what he can do in that mix in training camp. We know what we’ve got in terms of cap space and roster holes, so you do the math, you try and figure out what’s the average that we can spend and how do we put it together and make the math work,” MacFarland said. “We’ll look at anything we can to improve, including the back end. The only area really that we’re probably set as we sit tonight is in net.”

Colorado has one pick each in the third, fourth, and seventh rounds in this year’s draft. Stay tuned for more action in the near future.

The post Avs Still Have Work to Do After Coyle, Wood, and Brindley Trade appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

But now more than ever, when the cupboards are bare after years of trading away your best assets, signing College free agents has become more of a necessity.

The payoff isn’t always a hit but when you find a gem, it could help fill a massive need for years to come. Two of Colorado’s 18 regulars were college free agents who came in through the pipeline after signing with the Avalanche. One of them is already a Stanley Cup champion.

The Avs announced on Tuesday that a couple of college free agents agreed to terms on a two-year entry-level contract. Both will have their contracts begin next season.

The first, Cooper Gay, is a 23-year old who was invited to Colorado’s development camp last fall. The team has had its eye on the 6’4, 209-pound forward throughout the season as he elevated his game to new heights.

Gay just finished his junior year at the University of St. Thomas, where he amassed career highs in goals (19), assists (11), and points (30) in 35 games. He had more points this season than he did in his first two years combined.

The second, Isak Posch, was one of the more underrated netminders in College this year. At 23 years old, Posch had a 12-10-0 record with St. Cloud State University, but the record doesn’t tell the whole story. The Swedish native had a .923 save percentage, which ranked second in the NCHC conference. He was also one of four goalies to record multiple shutouts, finishing with three.

Both are expected to be key pieces of the Avs’ system next year, whether in the AHL or ECHL.

On the low end, they’ll provide depth and veteran leadership for a farm team without as many prospects coming through it these days. But on the high end, they could eventually transform into championship-caliber players worthy of long-term extensions like Logan O’Connor or key depth pieces like Sam Malinski.

The post Avalanche Sign College UFAs Isak Posch and Cooper Gay appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

One guy who certainly didn’t expect to get taken that high was Nabokov himself.

In a new interview with VSEProSport, the 21 year old goaltender said more NHL teams started reaching out after the end of his KHL season, but he was still caught off guard when the Avalanche selected him. He couldn’t attend the draft because he didn’t have an American Visa, but even if he had, he didn’t expect to go so high.

“I was shocked that they chose me so early,” he said. “They immediately called me, congratulated me, said: ‘Welcome to the organization.'”

While he says he hasn’t heard from any players in the organization, he did get a call from Joe Sakic right after he was selected.

In the interview, he also discusses other things, such as training after a short summer. A KHL player recently said that Nabokov’s mental game is comparable to that of Ilya Sorokin. It wasn’t always like that for him, and he talked about that.

“I used to dig a lot into myself,” he said. “And now I understand that the season is long, the games go every other day, and there is no time to dig into myself. I played the match – I forgot. I worked with a psychologist in the playoffs, she taught me some of the chips that I use now. I do both breathing exercises and meditations. There are different exercises that help.”

One of the reasons why Nabokov was often overlooked in the draft is because he’s a smaller goalie, something he is well aware of. A few of the goalies he says he likes to watch are Juuse Saros and Igor Shesterkin, who are two of the smaller goalies in the NHL. Nabokov knows he’s on the smaller side, but said he tries to compensate for it “with my fast game, fast movements in the goal.”

Nabokov got his first win of the season on Thursday against Evgeni Kuznetsov and SKA, and held his team in the game early on with 19 saves in the first period. Here’s one of his better stops on the evening.

35 saves on 39 shots in Metallurg's 5-4 OT win today for Nabokov. pic.twitter.com/2MiDHRUESP

— Evan Rawal (@evanrawal) September 5, 2024

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One of the players that Nabokov knocked out of the playoffs last season on his way to a KHL championship was impressed by what the young goaltender was able to do. He even went as far as to compare one part of his game to one of the top goaltenders in the NHL.

Stéphane Da Costa, who was your classic AAAA player during his time in North America, has been one of the top players in the KHL for about a decade now. His team, Avtomobilist, was knocked out of the KHL playoffs last year by Nabokov’s Metallurg club in 7 games in the conference finals, so he saw first-hand what the Avalanche prospect is capable of.

During his time in the KHL, Da Costa has played with and against some goaltenders who have gone on to have success in the NHL. One of those goaltenders is Ilya Sorokin, who was Da Costa’s teammate for three seasons with CSKA. Since coming to North America, Sorokin has established himself as one of the best goalies in the world, although he’s coming off his worst season in the NHL.

In a new interview, Da Costa said that Nabokov has a trait similar to Sorokin, something that should help him when he eventually makes his way to North America.

“He and Sorokin are very calm,” he said. “They don’t have extra nerves. After missed (saves), they don’t freak out, they don’t lose heart. He played very well in the playoffs.”

I won’t claim to be an expert on goaltenders. It’s a very specialized position, which is why more and more teams are starting to invest in goalie scouts and coaches. The Avalanche have one of the best coaches in the world in Jussi Parkkila. However, it does seem like, more than any position in hockey, mental strength plays a huge role in whether or not a goalie can succeed at the highest level. Considering they’re the last line of defense and there’s no one behind them to cover up for any mistakes, it’s important for them to be mentally strong through both the good and the bad. You can never get too high or too low, regardless of the situation.

Da Costa got a glimpse into that aspect of Nabokov’s game. The 21 year old only gave up more than 3 goals in a game during the playoffs last year five times, and each time, the Avalanche prospect bounced back, going 4-1 after those games. The only loss among those five came in a 1-0 game where his team didn’t give him any goal support.

This coming year will be a great test for Nabokov. After a fantastic rookie season, it’s up to him to prove it wasn’t a fluke. The good news is that he plays behind a very good team who seem to have a really good coach, so all the pieces are in place for him to succeed. If he’s able to repeat last season’s success, the next step for him might be crossing the pond and coming to North America in 2025-26.

The post Mental Game Of Nabokov Compared To Top NHL Goaltender appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.

In late November, sources told Colorado Hockey Now that Zhuravlyov left the organization and returned to Russia. They drafted him in 2018, but Zhuravlyov spent the last four years in the KHL.

Before the Avalanche suspended him, he was struggling at the AHL level. He had played 14 games for the Colorado Eagles with one assist and was a minus-1.

Zhuravlyov was considered to be a legitimate NHL prospect, but he was unable to climb the organization’s depth chart. He could be flashy but his skating remained an issue. The 6-foot defenseman is also a little bit on the light side at 165 pounds.

It is unclear if Zhuravlyov ever plans to return to the United States. His career arc likely includes remaining in Russia to play with the AK Bars Kazan of the KHL.

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Englund was the 40th overall pick in 2014 by the Ottawa Senators and played a total of 33 games over five years for them. He has three assists and is minus-12 in those games. Englund has played 297 AHL games between the Belleville Senators and the Colorado Eagles. He has just ten goals and thirty-nine assists. His role with the Eagles has been primarily a bruiser and hard hitting defenseman very similar to Kurtis MacDermid. He has been on the penalty kill in Loveland and will probably play the same role in Denver as well.

The recall is more than likely being done due to Kurtis MacDermid leaving the game last night with a lower body injury after only a 1:46 of play. He will join in on an already banged up Avalanche squad to play the St. Louis Blues tomorrow night. The Blues have been struggling as of late, just recently losing eight straight.

Over the summer, the Avalanche signed a new one-year, two-way extension with Englund that is coming in handy now. He has never played in an Avalanche sweater in the last two seasons in the organization. So look for the tall, lanky hard hitter on Monday night as he will likely be on the third pairing for the Avalanche.

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Not a great showing by the lads, as they were behind 3-0 after one period and 5-0 after two. Jean-Luc Foudy avoided a complete whitewash with a goal in the third. Trent Miner was the goalie for the Avalanche and he looked shaky in the first two periods, but nobody really played too well in front of him.

Miner, a seventh-round pick from 2019 and a teammate of Bo Byram with the Vancouver Giants, played mostly with the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL last season and was 16-12 with a .910 save percentage. He later played five games with the Colorado Eagles, where he is likely to split net duties with Justus Annunen this year.

The Avalanche had a top line of Ben Tardif, Ben Meyers and Foudy. Oskar Olausson and Alex Beaucage were given nights off so others could play. The second line was Sampo Ranta, Tarum Fizer and Cameron Wright.

Wyatt Aamodt and Danila Zhuravlov were paired as the top two on defense.

Greg Cronin, who is coaching this Avalanche Rookie Faceoff team, will practice the squad today in San Jose before playing the Arizona Coyotes tomorrow.

There is still no word as to when regular Colorado Avalanche training camp will start. It should be some time this coming week.

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