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Hepple on the upcoming NHL draft; 6-game preseason sked released |
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Rick Sadowski
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With the 16th pick in the 2018 NHL draft in Dallas the Avalanche select:
“The best player available,” director of amateur scouting Alan Hepple said Wednesday during a conference call.
No surprise there; that’s been the team’s MO forever.
Hepple did say this draft – first round June 22, rounds 2-7 June 23 -- will be more challenging than the previous three since the Avalanche made the playoffs and won’t have a lottery pick.
As of now, the Avalanche have eight picks, two in the second round (the second from Nashville as part of the Nov. 5 three-way trade with Ottawa that sent Matt Duchene to the Senators).
Hepple expects Ottawa to keep No. 4 pick; the Senators have the option of using it, transferring it to the Avalanche to complete the Duchene trade, or giving Colorado its first-round pick in 2019. They don’t have to decide until they are on the clock.
The Avalanche picks: first round (No. 16), second round (Nos. 47 and 58), third round (No. 78), fourth round (No. 109), fifth round (No. 140), sixth round (No. 171) and seventh round (No. 202).
“The one thing that we’ve looked at in conversations with (general manager) Joe (Sakic), he likes hockey sense, he likes speed,” Hepple said. “That’s kind of what we’re kind of pushing. Size has become a little bit of a different thing now in the National Hockey League … you have to have speed, you have to have hockey sense to compete.
“They’re all going to have flaws through that 3 to 7 round, but if we can pick up the one with hockey sense, that can figure out the game, figure out the speed level and the quick level, then he has a better chance than most.”
The Avalanche had the No. 4 pick last year and selected defenseman Cale Makar, who as a freshman at UMass/Amherst this year had 21 points (five goals, 16 assists) in 34 games.
They used their second-round pick (No. 32) on defenseman Conor Timmins, who will be at training camp in the fall after signing his entry-level contract. He had 41 points (eight goals, 33 assists) in 36 games for Sault Ste. Marie of the OHL, with 18 points (five goals, 13 assists) in 23 playoff games.
“We’ve targeted players, probably a bigger group than we had last year at No. 4,” Hepple said. “It’s a bit of a challenge. You’re trying to guess who other teams are taking, to figure out 1 through 15, who’s going to be gone, who’s going to be left. At the end of the day you can only take what’s left to you when that 16th pick comes around.
“I think the top end is fairly solid. There are some good players in the next 15 to 20 picks. There’s players we like, players with lots of upside whether it’s a D-man, a forward. There’s some small, skilled defensemen. Maybe we can tell three, four years down the road what (the draft) has turned out to be, but right now looking at it there’s some good players in this draft, they’re going to play in the National Hockey League.”
Among the players on the Avalanche radar:
Left wing Joel Farabee (US National Development), defenseman Filip Johansson (Sweden), defenseman K’Andre Miller (US National Development), right wing Vitaly Kravstov (Chelyabinsk, KHL), center Rasmus Kupari (Finland), defenseman Ryan Merkley (Guelph, OHL), right wing Serron Noel (Oshawa, OHL), defenseman Bode Wilde (US National Development).
“They’re all interesting names,” Hepple said. “We like them all, some better than others.”
*****
The Avalanche released a six-game preseason schedule on Wednesday that includes three home games and three away.
They’ll play Vegas, Dallas and Minnesota twice each. All six games can be heard on the Altitude Radio Network, Altitude 950. Altitude TV information will be announced later.
Single-game tickets for the preseason and regular season will be made available for purchase when the season schedule is announced.
The preseason schedule (all times Mountain Time):
Tue, Sept. 18 – VEGAS, 7 p.m.
Sat, Sept. 22 -- at Minnesota, 4 p.m.
Mon, Sept. 24 -- at Vegas, 8 p.m.
Wed, Sept. 26 – DALLAS, 7 p.m.
Fri, Sept. 28 – MINNESOTA, 7 p.m.
Sun, Sept. 30 -- at Dallas, 4 p.m.
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