DENVER—The Colorado Avalanche planned to use the draft to upgrade their defense. The Avalanche followed through by drafting three defensemen and two goaltenders in the 2007 entry draft that ended Saturday.
“In a perfect world my No. 1 priority was to try to upgrade our back end when it came with our prospects this weekend,” Avs general manager Francois Giguere said. “We already had a lot of good, young forwards playing in our system, but what we didn’t have a lot of good, young defensemen.”
Giguere began the task Friday by selecting Kevin Shattenkirk, with the 14th overall pick on the draft. The Boston University-bound defensemen earned raves for his offensive style and leadership skills while the captain of the U.S. Under-18 hockey team at the World Under-18 championship this past April in Finland.
“Our scouts came back raving about him when they came back from the world championships,” Giguere.
The Avalanche followed that up Saturday with several more defensemen prospects including Colby Cohen, who they took with the first of three, second-round picks. Cohen, 18, played in 53 games for the Lincoln Stars of the United States Hockey League in 2006-07, leading all USHL defensemen in scoring, with 60 points.
“He has good size (6-2, 200 pounds) and a lot of skill,” Avalanche chief scout Ted Hampson said of Cohen, who was ranked 25th overall by the NHL Central Scouting Report.
Colorado took Trevor Cann, a butterfly goaltender, with their second choice of the second round. Cann finished last season with a 23-32-1-4 record with the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League.
“We felt he was the best goaltender in the draft,” Hampson said. “We watched him play on a national team and we didn’t see anybody better.”
The Avalanche also chose winger T.J. Galiardi, 19, from Dartmouth of the Eastern College Athletic Conference, in the second round. He was second on the team in scoring last year, scoring 14 goals and 17 assists.
Colorado selected took center Brad Malone of Sioux Falls of the U.S. Hockey League and goalie Kent Patterson of Cedar Rapids of the USHL in the fourth round. Malone is from a hockey family. His dad, Jim, was fourth round, 27 years after his father, Jim, was a first-round pick of the New York Rangers nearly three decades ago.
The Avalanche completed the draft by taking center Paul Carey in the fifth round, defenseman Jens Hellgren in the sixth round and forward Johan Alcen in the seventh round.
“Overall, we are excited about what we’ve done,” Giguere said.
Giguere balked at any comment on the status of veteran goaltender Jose Theodore, who lost his starting job to Peter Budaj in the course of last season.
“I don’t want to state anything publicly until I’ve had a chance to talk to the player myself,” Giguere said.
Giguere said he would also begin sending out qualifying offers to the club’s restricted free agents on Sunday. He identified right winger Marek Svatos as one who receive such an offer.
