Rookie Rewind: Tyson Jost

ColoradoAvalanche.com is profiling players who just completed their rookie seasons with the organization. This installment takes a look at forward Tyson Jost.
Tyson Jost is on track to follow his offseason plan to get stronger, faster and be NHL ready for the upcoming 2017-18 season.
The 5-foot-11, 191-pound forward is coming off a stellar season with the University of North Dakota and a short six-game stint with the Colorado Avalanche to finish off the campaign. He also had an honorable showing at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship with Team Canada.

BCHL Years

Prior to enrolling at North Dakota last fall, Jost spent two full seasons with the Penticton Vees in the British Columbia Hockey League. He won a league championship with the Vees in 2014-15 before having a tremendous offensive year in 2015-16, one in which he was named the recipient of the Vern Dye Memorial Trophy as the BCHL Most Valuable Player. He ranked third overall in scoring that year after recording 104 points (42 goals and 62 assists) during his 48-game campaign. His assists total led the BCHL while his 2.17 points-per-game average was the highest in the league.

A First-Round Pick

During the 2016 NHL Draft, Jost was selected in the first round at No. 10 overall by the Avalanche.
Colorado executive vice president/general manager Joe Sakic recognized Jost's talent and saw potential for the forward to one day play in the top league in the world.
"He's just a great hockey player," Sakic said in an interview on draft day. "He does everything well. He skates, he has great vision and plays a great 200-foot game. We're very excited that he's on board and were able to get him."

Donning The Green Sweater

During his freshman season with the Fighting Hawks, he tallied 35 points (16 goals and 19 assists) in 33 games. The St. Albert, Alberta, native registered four multi-goal contests and finished second on the team in total points. He also shared the club lead with five power-play goals. His 35 points ranked third among all National Collegiate Hockey Conference freshmen, and he tied for eighth in the NCHC in goals.

Team Canada

Part way through the campaign, Jost helped Team Canada to a silver medal at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship in Montreal/Toronto in December and January. The centerman put up one goal and three assists in seven games during the tournament.
The Canadians lost a heartbreaker in the championship game, losing in a shootout to the United States.

Joining The Avs

After his impressive season with UND and showing his ability to play in big games at the international level, the Avalanche inked Jost to three year, entry-level contract on March 29.
Two days after signing his deal, Jost made his professional debut on home ice in front of his mom and grandfather against the St. Louis Blues. The Avs went on to win 2-1 in a shootout.
"It was awesome, it was nice to get that win, too, in the shootout," Jost said afterward. "It was a great game, and it was everything that I expected. It was a pretty surreal experience. It was great to come up with these guys and get used to everything and also to have my family in the crowd, too. It was everything I dreamed of, even more."

Lit It Red

Jost went on to finish the season in Colorado as he played in the team's next five games to close out the year.

In the home finale on April 6 against the Minnesota Wild, Jost scored his first NHL goal. His grandfather was also in attendance for the game and was in tears of joy knowing all of Jost's hard work over the years was paying off.
"It's special. It's nice to do it in front of the home crowd," Jost said of his goal. "Hopefully there's going to be many more of those at home and on the road, too."

2017 Avalanche Development Camp

Jost is always looking to develop as a hockey player and will put in any work and time to do so. For the second straight year, Jost came out to Colorado's annual development camp for prospects and rookies in late June to work on fine-tuning his skating and shooting skills.
"I can take the things that I learned last year and bring those here and take the things that I've learned here and kind of combine them together and take them into [training] camp next year," Jost said at the camp.

The Future

As he looks ahead to next year and potentially his first full rookie season in the NHL, Jost knows exactly what he wants to do.
"I want to make an impact next year for the Avs and crack that lineup," Jost said. "I'm excited to do that."