Avalanche Prepared for Atypical 2020 NHL Draft

This year, much like everything else in 2020, the NHL Draft will look different than it usually does. The process in preparing for the upcoming annual selection has presented a new set of challenges, but the Colorado Avalanche has utilized new tactics to prepare for this year's event.
The Avalanche's amateur scouts, led by director of amateur scouting Alan Hepple, haven't been able to meet in person since their mid-year meetings in January but have still convened regularly through video conferencing and phone calls over the last several months.
There was at one time an uncertainty as to when exactly the draft would take place, but the league announced last month that it will be held virtually this upcoming Tuesday and Wednesday, almost four months after its originally scheduled dates in Montreal.

The NHL announced the full order of selection for the draft on Tuesday and Colorado is set to make its first of six picks at No. 25. It is the latest the Avalanche has chosen in the first round since picking Jonas Johansson at No. 28 overall in the 2002 entry draft.
When the league paused on March 12 due to concerns around the COVID-19 pandemic, the scouts didn't know what was to come in the future and began preparing as if Colorado had the 29th pick, which would have been based on the standings at the time as the Avs held the third-best record in the league with 92 points and a .657 points percentage.
Making its first selection later in Round 1 is a good thing in the grand scheme of things for Colorado, as it means the NHL team played well during the season and qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It also forces the scouting department to look at a larger group of prospects for the opening round, something the Avs crew has had time to complete during the pause.
"It's a bigger range obviously. When we started this process, we didn't know if they were coming back to play and we kind of went with the premise that we were picking 29, knowing not what was going to happen," said Hepple. "We kind of looked at that and then when it finally played out at 25, we'd already covered all those guys. We covered a lot of names. We're hoping some guys drop and guys slide. So that's the good thing about, you know, being prepared and spending the last basically six months, getting prepared for this."
While the NHL season was on pause, junior leagues and other minor hockey associations around the globe had to suspend or cancel their campaigns as well due to COVID-19. That forced the Avs to further their evaluations of prospects through video of games that had already been contested as opposed to in-person sightings in the spring.
"We kind of hit the ground running. I mean, I've had over 100 of these (video) calls, whether it's been with prospects, my guys, you know, all over the world. You know, calls with the Avalanche and things like that," said Hepple on Friday. "So that just became a big part of my life, as far as video calls. We jumped on the video early. We've had guys at the Pepsi Center cutting video for us of games, so that was a big thing. We were dealt the hand we were dealt, and we just dealt with it, we figured it out in a way where we could watch games."

In addition to assessing the play of draft-eligible prospects on the ice, the amateur scouts are also tasked with learning more about each player and who he is as a person.
That is an undertaking that is typically easier done through word of mouth and in-person interviews with the players at the rink and the annual scouting combine, but the Avalanche scouts pivoted and added those meetings to the list of conversations that were conducted virtually this year.
"My guys have always been good at getting information and getting background stuff, so that was always going to be there," said Hepple. "They did it and then we interviewed every kid over a video call, and again, we just did what we had to do."
Colorado has drafted in the No. 25 spot on three occasions, selecting goaltender Marc Denis in 1995, defenseman Peter Ratchuk in 1996 and left wing Mikhail Kuleshov in 1999. Although the approach to picking later in the first round might seem different, the Avalanche will still focus on selecting the best player available.
"I think one of the biggest things is pick the best player," Hepple said. "You know, we've kind of got the criteria now, we're going with sense and we're going with speed and skill level. It's pick the best player and not worry about right-handed shot, left-handed shot or, you know, positional; we're picking the best player. That's kind of been the thing now, we kind of said everybody's in play, we're not trying target one specific area."
The Avalanche's other five picks in this year's draft also includes one each in the third (No. 75), fourth (No. 118), fifth (No. 149), sixth (No. 167) and seventh rounds (No. 211).
The picks in the first, fourth, fifth and seventh rounds are Colorado's while the selection in the third round was originally the Toronto Maple Leafs' and the sixth-rounder came from the Florida Panthers. The club sent its own second-round selection (No. 56) along with Arizona's third-round pick (previously acquired along with Kevin Connauton for Carl Soderberg) and Scott Kosmachuk to the Washington Capitals on June 28, 2019 in exchange for Andre Burakovsky.
Without a selection in the second round, the Avs are currently set to listen to other organizations call prospect names for almost two full rounds before un-muting themselves and stepping back up to the virtual microphone, unless there is a trade.
"I mean, that's the one we've talked about this year, we pick at 25 and then we pick at 75, we're going to go through 50 picks where people are going to fly off our draft board and things like that," said Hepple. "But, I look at the players as assets. I mean I want them all to play and, you know, we drafted them for a reason because we liked them, we have interest in the kid, but at the same time they're assets for [general manager Joe Sakic] to go out and do what he needs to do to get pieces and things like that. We make do with the picks and then if Joe has to trade some to get another piece to the puzzle on his end, I'm all for it. I mean we deal with what we've got and that's what we kind of planned on for the last six months."
As the draft advances on the second day with rounds 2-7and more and more players are being called, the Avs will be looking for some hidden gems with the concentration on the same skills that they targeted in Round 1.
"We try to stick with the hockey sense. You know, that's a mandate from Joe, he gives us that," Hepple said. "He likes the hockey sense and obviously you know we're a fast team, so that's the thing. Maybe it's a kid with hockey sense that maybe he's going to have to work on his skating, he might not be the biggest guy. So, he's got to have something that he can basically hang his hat on to get to the next level. So we try and stick with the same criteria, but knowing that not every box is going to be checked and they're going to have some flaws and it's going to take some time for them to develop. It is a bit of a challenge, but we try to stick with the same criteria."
Although the 2020 draft is unique, the Avalanche's goal remains the same as it aims to add quality players its prospect pool and boost its overall organizational depth.