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Trade? Forward or D tonight? |
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Rick Sadowski
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Some questions leading up to Friday's first round of the NHL draft:
Are the Avalanche actually going to trade Matt Duchene, or make any major trades this weekend? Seems almost every general manager except Joe Sakic has done something as of late morning Friday.
Latest talk has Carolina possibly looking to deal defenseman Noah Hanifan as part of a trade for a top-six forward. Who knows?
Who will be Semyon Varlamov's backup this season now that Calvin Pickard (unfortunately) is a Vegas Golden Knight? Spencer Martin? Will Sakic make a trade for one or get one July 1 when the free-agent market opens for business?
As for the draft at the United Center in Chicago, the Avalanche have seven picks (barring a trade), with the No. 4 selection in the first round.
The others (rounds 2 through 7 are Saturday): second round (No. 32), fourth round (Nos. 94 and 114), fifth round (No. 125), sixth round (No. 156) and seventh round (No. 187).
The Avalanche traded their third-round pick to New Jersey for defenseman Eric Gelinas on Feb. 29, 2016. They acquired their second fourth-round pick from the New York Rangers for defenseman Nick Holden on June 25, 2016.
Alan Hepple, Colorado's director of amateur scouting, said in a conference call earlier this week that they would use the No. 4 pick on the "best player available," which has been team philosophy for as long as I can remember.
While Hepple acknowledged the 2017 draft class isn't as deep as some in the past -- no Connor McDavid or Auston Matthew clones -- the Avalanche should get some very good prospects, especially with their first two picks.
Forwards Nolan Patrick and Nico Hischier are expected to be gone by the time it's the Avalanche's turn, but that could leave at least one of two highly-regarded defensemen -- Cale Makar or Miro Heiskanen -- available.
The 5-feet-11, 187-pound Makar had 75 points (24 goals, 51 assists) in 54 games for Brooks in the Alberta Junior Hockey League, where he received MVP and Defenseman of the Year honors. He's comitted to the University of Massachusetts in the fall.
The 6-1, 172-pound Heiskanen had 10 points (five goals, five assists) in 37 games while playing against pros for HIFK in Finland. He's a left-handed shot who can play the right point. He also had 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) in seven games at the IIHF Under-18 World Championship tournament.
“Cale Makar played Alberta junior level this year and Heiskanen played with the men, pro," Hepple said. "He didn’t get the points, he didn’t get the offensive numbers that we thought he would, but (he's a) very good skater, very good puck mover.
"Cale Makar, probably (played in) a little lesser league, but again great skater, put up great numbers and (is) a very good puck mover. We’ll have to see where that plays out, but again they’re two of the top guys."
Kelowna defenseman Cal Foote, son of former Avalanche defenseman Adam Foote, is expected to be a later first-round pick.
The Avalanche haven't used a first-round pick on a defenseman since taking Duncan Siemens with their second first rounder (No. 11) in 2011. That hasn't turned out so well.
Other forwards to consider: Portland center Cody Glass; Windsor center Gabriel Vilardi; Eden Prairie (Minn.) High School center Casey Mittelstadt; Tri-City center Michael Rasmussen.
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