DENVER,—The Colorado Avalanche traded up in the second round to select goalie Calvin Pickard and made three deals during the second day of the NHL draft on Saturday.
“It is a good fit to be drafted by Colorado,” Pickard said. “I and cool and collected and I play aggressive and will work hard and hopefully crack the lineup.”
Pickard, a 6-1, 195-pounder, played the past season for Seattle of the Western Hockey League. His brother, Chet, is a goalie in the Nashville Predators system.
“It was a situation where we were very surprised to see him on the board, and he adds to the tremendous depth we’ve been building to go along with Brandon Maxwell and Kieran Millan from last year,” Colorado director of scouting Richard Pracey said. “Pickard was a workhouse in the Western Hockey League and at 17, his saves and minutes played were key factors in knowing how much he was impacting the game in giving his team the chance to win.”
The Avalanche sent its second-round pick—No. 47 overall—to Los Angeles to set up Pickard’s selection at No. 49. They also received the 109th choice, but sent that pick to Dallas to move up in the fourth round.
The Avalanche and Dallas swapped third-round spots. This time, Colorado moved from 77 to 71 overall and grabbed left winger Michael Bournival from Shawingan of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
“Speed was a big part of the attraction,” Pracey said. “He averaged a point a game at Shawingan and played for the Canada National teams at the year end tournament in April and in the summertime in August.”
Colorado got the No. 95 pick from Dallas by trading the 109th choice acquired from the Kings and used it to select defenseman Stephen Silas. The Avalanche grabbed goalie Sami Aittokallio with their other pick in the fourth round.
“It is going to be a development process for Aittokallio and we will have the luxury to allow him to develop in the Finnish Elite League,” Pracey said. “There is no fast track to bring him over.”
Defenseman Troy Rutkowski and right winger Larry Walker were taken in the fifth round, and Colorado added center Luke Moffatt in the seventh.
