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Still no Matt Duchene deal ... yet; draft haul looking impressive |
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Rick Sadowski
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The Avalanche added six more prospects in the NHL draft on Saturday, giving them three defensemen, three forwards and one goalie over the two days.
I'm not a draft expert by any means, but by all accounts it appears Colorado did pretty well. We won't know for certain for at least a couple of years because none of these guys will be playing in the NHL in 2017-18. More on that later.
As of now, Matt Duchene is still with the Avalanche.
I guess whether that changes in the coming weeks will depend on how serious general manager Joe Sakic is when it comes to acquiring a quality defenseman, as well as how serious any of his colleagues are interested in Duchene.
Sakic told reporters Friday that he didn't like the offers he's received to this point, but he would continue to listen.
“We’re open to ways to improve our club, but there’s nothing to talk about really," he told AJ Haefele of BSNDenver.com, who was in Chicago for the draft. "Matt’s a great hockey player. Why wouldn’t you want him on our team?
"We need to add skill and speed to our lineup. When it comes to bringing in a younger guy, we’re deciding on the direction to go. Are we there yet? We’re building to get there. That’s not an overnight thing, but we love the younger guys we do have."
If the Avalanche wanted defenseman Travis Hamonic, the New York Islanders traded him Saturday to Calgary. I thought they coveted some of Carolina's young defensemen and might have gotten one Friday in some sort of package deal involving the Hurricanes' first-round pick (No. 12).
GM Ron Francis wants to add a top forward and told the (Raleigh) News & Observer that he had trade talks that involved moving that pick, but he kept it to take Czech center Martin Necas.
“You have to look at the value of what you’re getting,” Francis said. “For where we are and what we’re building, there wasn’t anything we felt comfortable giving up pick No. 12 for prior to making the selection.”
It's been reported that Nashville would like to add Duchene, but they've not been willing to trade any of their top defensemen.
The free agent market opens for business July 1, but Sakic said he doesn't intend to do anything significant when it does.
As for the draft, which resumed Saturday with rounds 2 through 7, here's a recap. The Avalanche didn't have a third-round pick, having traded it in 2016 to New Jersey for defenseman Eric Gelinas. Yeah, that worked out well.
Round 1 (No. 4): D Cale Makar, Brooks (AJHL)
Makar, 18, is 5-feet-11, 187 pounds, a highly-skilled defenseman who will attend the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in the fall. He led all league defensemen with 75 points (24 goals, 51 assists) in 54 games, with 18 points (five goals, 13 assists) in 13 playoff games.
Round 2 (No. 32): D Conor Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie (OHL)
Timmins, 18, is 6-2 and 184 pounds. He was projected as a late first-round pick. He had 61 points (seven goals, 54 assists) in 67 games, with eight points (one goal, seven assists) in 11 playoff games.
Round 4 (No. 94): RW Nick Henry, Regina (WHL)
Henry, 17, is 5-11 and 190 pounds. He had 81 points (35 goals, 46 assists) in 72 games to finish second in scoring among league rookies. He had 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in 22 playoff games.
Round 4 (No. 114) G Petr Kvaca, Ceske Budejovice (Czech Republic)
Kvaca, 19, is 6-1 and 174 pounds. He has spent the past five seasons in the Ceske Budejovice system, had a league best 1.41 goals-against average and .940 save percentage for the Tier II team.
Round 5 (No. 125): C Igor Shvyrev, Magnitogorsk Metallurg (Russia)
Shvyrev, 18, is 6-0 and 205 pounds. He played for Stalnye Lisy Magnitogorsk of the Russian junior league and the KHL's Metallurg Magnitogorsk in 2016-17. He had 70 points (21 goals, 49 assists) in 40 games with Stalnye Lisy and played 10 games with Metallurg.
Round 6 (No. 156): LW Denis Smirnov, Penn State (Big Ten)
Smirnov, 19, is 5-10 and 185 pounds. Born in Moscow, he played three years in the USHL (one with Indiana, two with Fargo) before heading to Penn State, where last year he led all NCAA freshmen in scoring with 47 points (19 goals, 28 assists) in 39 games.
Round 7 (No. 187): D Nick Leivermann, Eden Prairie, Minn., High School
Leivermann, 18, is 5-11 and 194 pounds. He was Eden Prairie's captain and is a Notre Dame commit. He had 34 points (10 goals, 24 assists) in 21 games, with four points (one goal, three assists) in two playoff games. He had one assist in eight games for Bloomington in the USHL.
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