Connor McDavid, #17, of Team Canada trips over the stick of Brandon Carlo, #26, of Team United States in a preliminary round game during the 2015 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships at the Bell Centre on December 31, 2014 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Team Canada defeated Team United States 5-3. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
Welcome to NHL draft week. The Avalanche has the 10th, 40th, 71st, 101st, 161st and 191st picks Friday (Round 1) and Saturday (2-7 rounds) in Sunrise, Fla. Colorado traded its fifth-round pick (No. 131) to Montreal last summer in the P.A. Parenteau for Daniel Briere swap (which, however ugly, freed Colorado of $4 million next season).
Alan Hepple is Colorado’s new director of amateur scouting. His predecessor, Rick Pracey, was fired last summer/fall and is now a scout for the Philadelphia Flyers. I hope to talk to Hepple before and during this week’s draft.
With the 10th pick, and by position, the Avs will get the draft’s fifth-ranked center (Pavel Zacha), the top-ranked left wing (Lawson Crouse), the No. 2 right wing (Timo Meier) or the No. 2/No. 3 defenseman (Ivan Provorov/Zach Werenski). I don’t believe RW Mikko Rantanen will be on the board at No. 10, and I don’t think C Mathew Barzal (5-11, 175) or LW Kyle Connor (6-1, 177) will be in consideration because of their lack of size, relative to Zacha (6-3, 210) Crouse (6-4, 215) and Meier (6-1, 209).
Assuming they don’t trade the pick, the Avs will select the best player available at No. 10, regardless of position, but they won’t pick a 180-pound forward or a goalie. What they need — big forward, skilled D — will be available at No. 10.
Terry Frei’s is about the Avalanche’s quest to get better on the blue line. Free agency begins Wednesday, July 1.
Any player scheduled to enter UFA on July 1 is permitted to meet and speak with other NHL clubs starting Thursday (June 25). Shopping time.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie)
Good read about the draft’s top-10 defensemen — a list that has two NCAA guys (BC’s Noah Hanifin, Michigan’s Werenski) among the top three.
Colorado Springs native Brandon Carlo, who played midgets for the Colorado Thunderbirds, is ranked No. 9 among draft-eligible North American defensemen, and 25th overall. The 6-foot-5 American all-star would look great in an Avs sweater, but he probably won’t be on the board at No. 40 — Colorado’s second-round pick. The Avs would likely have to put together a trade for Carlo, who played the last two seasons for the WHL’s Tri-City Americans. Carlo was often paired with Denver Pioneers standout D Will Butcher for the recent U.S. World Junior team and is eligible to play in his second World Junior Championship this coming winter.
I have tracked down Carlo’s cell and hope to write more about him this week. His former midget coach with the Thunderbirds, Angelo Ricci, will accompany Carlo and his family to the draft.
huge Avs fan here in CO and graphic designer. Takes a look at some of my old concepts and a new one!
— Justin Cox (@justin_coxy)
