Avalanche's future exposed in stunning new report
Photo credit: Stefano Rubino / The Hockey News
Among NHL prospect pools, the Colorado Avalanche rank dead last. Years of trading away draft picks have kept them in contention, but without winning now, those sacrifices could prove meaningless.
It will be do-or-die for the Avalanche in the next couple seasons and with no clear future ahead of them, they need to produce results now.
Avalanche could be looking at years of misery ahead of them.
Nestor Quixtan of Mile High Sticking recently reported on the Avalanche's prospect pool. They are ranked dead last in the NHL and for good reason. They traded all their draft stock for disposable pieces that haven't gotten them results.
"Just take a look at the 2025 NHL Draft. The Avalanche entered the event with two picks. One in the fourth round and the other in the seventh. That was it. The club added one more via a trade. But let's get real. As much as we like to cheer for underdogs, many of these late-rounders will never suit up in an NHL game. Some will remain in the minors for several seasons. Others will move on to real life sooner rather than later." -Quixtan
As of right now Gavin Brindley is the team's top prospect. They have him projected as a middle six player, which isn't a bad thing but he is the only prospect in the whole system with that potential.
"When the Avalanche traded Calum Ritchie to the New York Islanders in the Brock Nelson trade, they pretty much got rid of their best forward prospect. That situation means that, unless the Avalanche suddenly stock up on draft picks in the next couple of seasons, it could be a sad, sad future devoid of high-end talent." -Quixtan
Following Brindley, you have defenseman Mikhail Gulyayev and goaltender Ilya Nabokov who are also pretty promising, but they both have yet to transition to the North American game.
There really isn't much else to be optimistic about when we look at the rest of Colorado's prospects. If the Avalanche can't deliver results now, they are going to end up suffering for years with nothing to show for it.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 9 | 17 ANSWERS Avalanche's future exposed in stunning new report Will Gavin Brindley end up being a second line forward in the NHL? | ||
| yes | 6 | 35.3 % |
| no | 11 | 64.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
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