Avalanche Select Romaine and Zhigalov at 2022 NHL Draft

After not having a pick in the 2022 NHL Draft until the sixth and seventh rounds, the Colorado Avalanche made two selections on Friday afternoon at Montreal's Bell Centre . The club selected defenseman Chris Romaine with the 193rd overall pick (sixth round) and goaltender Ivan Zhigalov with the 225th overall pick (seventh round).

The Avalanche originally entered the 2022 NHL Draft with picks in the third, fifth, sixth and seventh rounds, but relinquished their third and fifth round picks to the New York Rangers in exchange for acquiring goaltender Alexandar Georgiev ahead of the first night of the draft on Thursday.

The club's first choice of the 2022 Draft was Romaine, out of the Milton Academy in Massachusetts. The 18-year-old Braintree, Mass. native will play Division l college hockey for the Providence College Friars next fall.
Through 18 games this past season with the Milton Academy, the right shot 6-foot, 194-pound blueliner totaled 22 points (9G, 13A).

With the final pick for the Avalanche and the final pick of the entire 2022 NHL Draft, Colorado selected netminder Zhigalov from the Sherbrooke Phoenix out of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL).
Zhigalov, hails from Minsk, Belarus, but has spent time playing over in Russia as well. The 19-year-old right catch, who stands 6-foot-3 and 168 pounds, posted a 26-9-3 record, a 2.84 GAA and a .892 SV% in his first season of North American hockey with Sherbrooke.