CHICAGO - The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club made seven selections at the 2017 NHL Draft held Friday and Saturday at the United Center in Chicago.

CHICAGO--The Colorado Avalanche chose defenseman Nick Leivermann in the seventh round (187th overall) at the 2017 NHL Draft on Saturday.

CHICAGO --The Colorado Avalanche picked forward Denis Smirnov with the 156th overall selection in the sixth round of the 2017 NHL Draft on Saturday at United Center.

CHICAGO--The Colorado Avalanche picked Russian center Igor Shvyrev with the 125th selection at the 2017 NHL Draft on Saturday.

CHICAGO --The Colorado Avalanche picked goaltender Petr Kvaca with the 114th overall selection in the fourth round of the 2017 NHL Draft on Saturday at United Center.

CHICAGO--The Colorado Avalanche selected forward Nick Henry of the Regina Pats (Western Hockey League) in the fourth round (No. 94 overall) at the 2017 NHL Draft on Saturday.

CHICAGO--The Colorado Avalanche picked defenseman Conor Timmins with the No. 32 overall selection in the second round of the 2017 NHL Draft on Saturday at United Center. He was the first player chosen on the second day of the league's annual summer selection.

CHICAGO--There are a lot of qualities that NHL draft prospects possess.

Loyalty is one that was probably high on the Colorado Avalanche's list when it came to Cale Makar.

It's the reason why the defenseman is going to UMass next season before he exploded onto the amateur hockey scene the past two years. Loyalty helped him stay true to his Brooks Bandits teammates, helping win an Alberta Junior Hockey League championship, and become the highest drafted player in the league's history on Friday night.

Q. You've been gaining momentum the past few weeks. Did you think you could go as high as No. 4?

CALE MAKAR: To be honest, I didn't really know. I was coming in here, and I keep telling people it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I never knew what was going to happen, so it was just fun to sit in the stands.

Q. Did you ever get any inkling that the Avalanche would pick you at No. 4?

CALE MAKAR: I think my meeting went pretty well with them at the Combine, but other than that, yeah, I couldn't tell you. It's just kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing.

CHICAGO--The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club selected defenseman Cale Makar (mah-KAR) with the fourth overall pick in the first round of the 2017 NHL Draft tonight at the United Center in Chicago.

Makar, 18, is the highest-ever draft pick from the Alberta Junior Hockey League, surpassing current Avalanche forward Joe Colborne (Camrose Kodiaks), who was selected by the Boston Bruins with the 16th overall pick in 2008.