Avalanche draft summary 2015-07-29 #17 : Kyle Connor : That pick was the hardest to make by far. It might seem like we reached to get him but we're confident he's a top 10 player in the 2015 draft and all the guys we wanted (Larkin, Pastrnak, Ehlers, Nylander) were gone by pick 17. It was between him and Barzal for us. But since we already have playmakers like Tanguay, Sedin, Tavares, Scheifele, Lindholm and Gaudreau, it seemed like going for a pure passer like Barzal wasn't the way to go. Connor is electrifying and can both pass and score. We believe he has top line center potential for sure. #47 : Colin White : Colin White was quite the easy choice for us. We believe his progression will be similar to Larkin's in his draft +1 season. He's got that grit, elite defensive play that we're looking for as an elite 3C or great 2C in the future. He was sick and injured a good bunch of last season and still produced on the second unit of the US development team. # 76 : Jack Roslovic : Jack Roslovic, meanwhile, was on the first line of that team and produced totally admirable numbers there. He's a strong complimentary player with great hands and scoring and playmaking ability. We believe he will become a top 6 player pretty fast. # 77 : Jimmy Vesey : Jimmy Vesey was the second best player in the NCAA last year behind Jack Eichel. Obviously, Vesey is quite a bit older and is probably NHL ready by now. We believe Vesey will go straight to Nashville's top 6 in a year once he's done with university. He's a steal in our mind, as we think he's probably better than whoever was being picked in that 40 to 50 range. #107 : Colton Parayko : Colton Parayko was a guy we targeted from the beginning with that 4th round pick. He's huge, great in all zones, is a great skater and has a bomb of a shot. He may make the Blues this year or next year. We believe he has top pair potential without a doubt and should be regarded as a huge steal in the near future. #137 : Esa Lindell : Lindell was another guy we targeted for our 5th round pick. He was named best dman of Liiga last year in his 19-20 years old season. He is coming to america this year and should see some time with the Stars. We expect him to play in the AHL for now though. We do believe he could have top pair potential as well if he can improve his skating a bit. He's huge and can play at both ends of the ice. # 166 : Brandon Hickey : Brandon Hickey is a defenseman that took a huge step last year when he played top pair in the NCAA for the whole year at 18. He can produce and be depended on is his own zone. We believe he should be a top 4 dman at the NHL level in a few years, although it should take more time than Parayko and Lindell. # 197 : Jake Walman : Walman is in the exact same boat as Hickey. He developed extremely well after his draft year and we were very surprised we were able to get him in round 7. It seems like people are avoiding NCAA players. We'll gladly pick them when they should have been gone for a while. Walman is probably a bit of a long shot but he does have a lot of potential. All in all, this draft went better than we could have expected. We believe our prospect pool and ou future is very interesting now and can't wait to follow these players' development in the next few years.