Mile High Draft Review
2017-09-27For a team and GM that used up alot of young assets to aquire players for a cup run, the Avalanche were looking to turn the page and find value in their mid round picks in effort to sustain long term success and strengthen their chances to be a perennial playoff team. "We want to create a model where our scouts work hard, and we make the most of the picks we do have, ideally we dont want to empty the cupboards every year to go on a run but we felt we made the moves we had to make, and ultimately came up a few games short of our goal to bring a cup to Denver." Despite the plethora of young assets and draft picks Lycar moved in his first season as GM the Avalanche still drafted 11 players in the 2017 EHE Entry Draft.
Originally going into the offseason, the Avalanche didnt have a first round pick. GM Lycar was able to swing a trade with Edmonton, sending goaltender Martin Jones to Northern Alberta for Tyler Toffoli, Robin Lehner and the 26th overall pick. With that pick the Avs selected Czech forward Filip Chytyl. Below we will talk about each pick, plus comments from GM Lycar.
Round 1 (26th Overall) - Filip Chytyl
"We felt we hit a homerun here, Filip was one of the youngest players in his draft class, at 6 foot 2 and already weighing 190 lbs, he still has room to get bigger. He's a guy our scouts loved at the U18s, got better as the year went on and when he was available at 26 we ran up to the podium and took him as soon quick as possible." Filip is currently vying for a roster spot on the New York Rangers of the NHL and pundits believe he has made the Rangers choice a very hard one, its unlikely he stays in the NHL for a full 82 this year, but dont be surprised if he cracks the opening night roster. "We are so excited to watch Filip progress, and we are damn happy to have him here in Denver."
Round 2 (53rd Overall) - Morgan Geekie
"A skilled forward, one of the best points per game in the Western League amongst draft eligible prospects. The analytic community raves about this kid."
Round 2 (57th Overall) - Tucker Poolman
"Tucker is going to play for us very soon, we expect him to push to make the Winnipeg Jets of the NHL this season, will likely split time between them and the Manitoba Moose of the AHL. Tucker is a big right handed shot D man with offensive upside, those arent easy to come by. We expect him to be a top 4 guy for our club in the not so distant future."
Round 2 (58th Overall) - Henrik Haapala
"Having three picks in the second round and not another till the fourth, we felt we could safely grab Haapala here but didnt want to wait any longer, absolutely tore up Liiga last year with Tappara scoring 60 points in 51 games, excited to watch him develop as he singed with Florida this summer of the NHL and is expected to play on their second line along side Vincent Trocheck."
Round 4 (115th Overall) - Zachary Lauzon
"Another good value pick for us here in the fourth round, Zach went 51st overall in the NHL draft to Pittsburgh so to get him here is a win for our club. Zach also won the Kevin Lowe award for best defensive d man in the QMJHL this season, the same award current Avs player of the EHE and Pittsburgh Penguin of the NHL Kris Letang won back in 2007."
Round 4 (117th overall) - Tyler Steenbergen
"Took a bit of a risk here, but Tyler scored 40 goals in the Western League last season, we love kids who compete and create offense, he does both."
Round 5 (135th Overall) - Denis Smirnov
"Undersized kid but put up huge numbers as a freshman at Penn State, looking to see what he does as a sophomore this season, a guy we had on our radar all year."
Round 5 (153rd Overall) - Calle Rosen
"We went into the draft targetting the two Swedish defenceman that the Leafs of the NHL signed this past summer, Rosen and Borgman, when that snake Kevin Lacy took Borgman in the fourth round we didn't want to wait any longer to take Rosen. He's a young kid who moves pucks and skates well, to play for the Avalanche of the EHE, those are the things we look for out of our D man. Currently Calle is competing for a spot on the Leafs third pair in the NHL, with Martin Marincin, Travis Dermott and Andreas Borgman."
The Avs closed out the draft selecting, Tim Soderlund, Oscar Steen and Will Reilly.
"We were very happy with our draft, and are looking forward to getting free agency kicked off" said GM Lycar as he concluded his presser.
As it stands as many as 4 of the Avs draft picks will play games in the NHL this season if not fulltime, with the likes of Chytyl, Poolman, Haapala and Rosen.