The Colorado Avalanche are today’s focus in an NHL off-season series examining each team’s prospect pool.

Tony Ferrari digs into the Avalanche’s strengths and weaknesses, latest draft class, positional depth chart and next player in line for an NHL opportunity. A player who no longer holds rookie eligibility in the NHL is considered graduated and no longer a prospect for these exercises.

Initial Thoughts

I’m not going to sugarcoat things. The Avalanche have one of the most barren prospect pools in all of hockey. 

They traded their one high-end prospect at the deadline this past year when they acquired Brock Nelson, sending Calum Ritchie to the New York Islanders. They recently acquired Gavin Brindley in a trade that saw Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood head to the Columbus Blue Jackets. That helped, but it’s not nearly enough.

Brindley is a fantastic middle-six prospect who brings a high-end motor and some impressive skill. He’s always been questioned because of his stature, but he’s never let that get in the way of his ability to make a positive impact. He struggled in his first full AHL season, but he was constantly using his speed and tenacity to get involved. His style of play should fit right in with the Avs’ top players.

Oskar Olausson’s time to prove himself is getting shorter, as the speedy Swede hasn’t found his footing in the AHL. The 22-year-old has shown himself to be an excellent transition player and a decent playmaker, but he hasn’t found a way to consistently impact the game offensively. Olausson is a good shooter, skilled passer and a decisive puckhandler. He has all of the tools, but he hasn’t figured out how to leverage them in the North American game. 

The Avalanche have a bit more promise on the back end. 

Mikhail Gulyayev is a potential impact player, with high-end skating and some nice puck-moving as a passer. Gulyayev plays the game with a ton of speed, and he could be a valuable depth offensive blueliner for the Avs one day. His KHL contract runs through this season so we could see him make the jump at the end of the year. His defensive game needs a bit of work, but he’s a fun player to watch. 

One of the Avs’ most promising defensive prospects, Sean Behrens, missed all of this past season with a knee injury he suffered during a practice scrimmage in October. Behrens has been a very successful defender who plays a sound two-way game and uses his skating to take the puck away. A healthy season will go a long way, but we may not see Behrens at full strength until the latter half of the season. 

Tory Pitner played his freshman season at the University of Denver and registered just one assist, but his game has always been centered on the defensive side of the puck. His best shifts are when the opposing team can’t get anything going, and Pitner closes lanes down and uses an intelligent stick to kill momentum. He’s not a fun player to watch, but coaches love a no-nonsense defender.

2025 NHL Draft Class

Round 3, 77th overall - Francesco Dell'Elce, D, UMass-Amherst (NCAA)

Round 4, 118th overall - Linus Funck, D, Lulea Jr. (Swe.)

Round 7, 214th overall - Nolan Roed, C, Tri-City (USHL)

In the third round, Colorado picked Francesco Dell’Elce, a 20-year-old defender from UMass. He had a unique path, going from prep school in his original draft year to the BCHL and then the NCAA this past season. Dell’Elce has always had an offensive touch, using his skating to escape and open lanes against forecheckers, but he’s never been truly elite, which has held him back. The Avalanche made an interesting swing on a late bloomer. 

In the fourth round, Colorado took a bet on a big, Swedish blueliner who has shown some flashes of puckhandling and passing ability that could translate to the next level. In Funck’s own end, he is more of a stick-checker than a player who takes the body. He dislodges the puck, jumps on it and makes a quick first pass. He isn’t quite dynamic enough to be a big offensive performer, but he has the tools to be a solid, defensively focused transition defender. 

After splitting 2023-24 between high school and the United States League, Nolan Roed garnered some NHL attention as a draft-plus-one forward who put up almost a point per game for the Tri-City Storm. He’s heading to St. Cloud State next season, and his game will be tested there. His offense comes from being an off-puck complementary player to his linemates. Roed times play well and gets into pockets at the right moment. It will be interesting to see how his NCAA campaign goes in the fall.

Strengths

Most teams have at least one area of strength. The Avalanche have a couple of nice prospects, but calling any one position or any group of prospects a true strength is being too optimistic. 

For the most part, Colorado’s best prospects play Avs-style hockey. Brindley, Gulyayev and Olausson are all high-pace speedy players. Having a type and sticking to it is important. The Avalanche, at the very least, do that when they can. 

Weaknesses

While you could realistically say everything is a weakness, the Avs don’t have any players who realistically have a chance of playing center at the next level. 

A few players are listed as centers, but they are long shots to play, and if they do, they’ll likely move to the wing. Max Curran, Christian Humphreys and Nolan Roed are all potentially centers, but the upside is quite low. 

The Avs have no centers in the system if we're being blunt. Losing Ritchie at the deadline in March took away their top prospect and their lone center prospect. 

Hidden Gem: Mikhail Gulyayev, D

Just about every prospect in the Avalanche’s pipeline could be considered a hidden gem, but Gulyayev plays in the KHL, and he doesn’t get the love some of the top players from that league get because he doesn’t rack up an insane amount of points. That said, he’s a gifted skater and a puck-mover. The Avs thrive with defenders who can make plays on the back end and evade pressure. Gulyayev might be the next man up in that line.

Next Man Up: Gavin Brindley, RW

Colorado doesn’t have anyone who is immediately ready to jump into the lineup, but Brindley could make the most immediate impact if he’s called up. His speed and energy could bring some value to the bottom six, or he could be used in spots in the top six. He has the requisite skill, but he just needs a bit of time to adjust after a middling AHL rookie year. Brindley has the highest upside of any forward they have in the system, but that doesn’t mean he’s ready to jump into the NHL. 

Prospect Depth Chart Notables

LW: Nikita Prishchepov, Christian Humphreys, Cooper Gay, Chase Bradley, Taylor Makar

C: Max Curran, Nolan Roed

RW: Gavin Brindley, Oskar Olausson

LD: Sean Behrens, Mikhail Gulyayev, Francesco Dell’Elce, Saige Weinstein, 

RD: Tory Pitner, Linus Funck, Nikita Ishimnikov

G: Ilya Nabokov, Ivan Yunin, Louka Cloutier

For a deeper dive into the prospect pool with player rankings, check out the Yearbook and Future Watch editions of The Hockey News in print.