Avalanche Adds to Prospect Pool and Roster Flexibility During NHL Draft Weekend

Since Colorado’s offseason began, the team has made four trades, re-signed two defensemen and drafted nine players at the 2026 NHL Draft. On June 16th, the Avs traded forward Ross Colton and goaltender Isak Posch to the Nashville Predators in exchange for goalie Magnus Chrona along with third-round picks in 2026 and 2027. Nine days later, Colorado acquired forwards Fedor Svechkov and Zachary L’Heureux from Nashville in exchange for forward Jack Drury and a third-round pick in 2029. On Thursday, Colorado made its third trade of the offseason involving a player on its NHL roster when it acquired a 2026 second-round pick, a 2027 third-round pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick from the Columbus Blue Jackets for forward Valeri Nichushkin.  

As for the two forwards Colorado acquired from Nashville, Avalanche President of Hockey Operations Joe Sakic said the team sees Svechkov as a similar player to Drury, and someone who can play his role, while L’Heureux is the type of player Colorado is looking for. 

Sakic said those trades were salary cap-related decisions to free up some cap space in addition to accumulating draft capital that was used this weekend and more picks that be used in potential future trades. 

“We couldn’t have brought everybody back,” Sakic said on Friday. “You see where we are now after the two signings today.” 

Those signings were one-year and five-year extensions for Brent Burns and Brett Kulak, respectively.  

“That [defense] corps was a really good corps,” Sakic said. “We were a tight defensive team. Everybody (including forwards) makes an impact and makes a difference when they’re committed to the defensive side of the game. And our d-corps—and we wanted to bring them back. I thought Brett, when he came in the deal with [Samuel] Girard, he was outstanding for us. He fit perfectly. The type of player that we wanted, and at times in the playoffs, we thought he was one of our most consistent players, never mind just [defensemen]. It was important. And obviously, Burnzie brings his leadership. I thought he had a really good year last year.” 

As for free agency that begins on Wednesday, Sakic said the team is still looking to sign two forwards and a defenseman. He also said that extension talks with Cale Makar and Artturi Lehkonen, who are extension-eligible starting July 1st, will start in mid-July.

With the aforementioned added draft capital that Colorado acquired, it added nine prospects to its organization. Those nine picks were tied for the most for the franchise in an NHL Draft since the start of the seven-round format.

The Avalanche selected three forwards, four defensemen and two goaltenders in the NHL Draft, starting with center Egor Shilov from the QMJHL’s Victoriaville Tigres.

“We were really high on him,” Avalanche Director of Amateur Scouting Nick Pryor said about Shilov. “Our staff, our analytics department, the scouting staff through and through was high on him. It’s a high-talent player. We see him as a guy with a high offensive upside and a lot of skill, dynamic skill [and] playmaking. So we were really excited to get him in that spot where we got him.”

The next player Colorado drafted was Red Deer Rebels (WHL) forward Beckett Hamilton, whom Pryor called a high-energy speed player.  

“We like the pace of play that he plays at,” Pryor said about Hamilton. “And the drive that he plays with...Beckett’s north-south game is what was really attractive for us.” 

Additionally, the Avalanche made a mid-draft trade, acquiring forward Fabian Lysell from the Boston Bruins for Ivan Ivan.

With the first of its two fifth-round picks, the Avs traded up to select defenseman Cole Tuminaro from the USHL’s Chicago Steel. Pryor gave a lot of credit to Avalanche Head College Scout/Amateur Scout Mike Battaglia, who has had high praise for Tuminaro since September.  

“Every time I talked to Mike, he always mentioned Cole somehow,” Pryor said. “We could’ve been talking about something totally different, but he would keep coming back to Cole...We just felt with Mike’s level of excitement, like I said, the whole season, from his first viewing of Cole of the year, that this is a guy that we wanted to target and move up and try and get.” 

The two goaltenders the Avs selected were Tobias Tvrznik from the Wenatchee Wild (WHL) and Alexandre Raymond from the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (QMJHL), both of whom the Avs’ goalie department, led by Director of Goaltending Evaluation/Special Projects Craig Billington, were high on.  

“[Billington] was super ecstatic to get Tobias, and then to get Alexandre late in the Draft,” Pryor said. “Both guys they were higher on than where we got them, which makes you feel good. I gotta give credit to Craig. Craig puts a lot of work into it with his goalie department and [Avalanche Goaltender Scout] Pavel Francouz and Rick Wamsley. They spend a lot of time on that, and they’ve got my full trust and the organization’s full trust when it comes to evaluating the goalies, and they were super excited.” 

Several of the players Colorado’s prospects, including some of the players it drafted on Saturday, will be in attendance at Avalanche Development Camp, which begins its open-to-the-public sessions on Tuesday.