After months of pondering a potential trade of the No. 27 NHL draft pick, the Avalanche used their original first-rounder after all. And an extra one.
With the 27th pick, they selected Calum Ritchie, an 18-year-old center from Oakville, Ontario, who averaged a point per game as an assistant captain for the Oshawa Generals last season in the OHL. Then at No. 31 overall, the Avs took Mikhail Gulyayev, an 18-year-old defenseman from Russia.
Ritchie has good size (6-foot-2, 185 pounds) and a complete skillset. He’s an all-situations center when healthy, but he was playing through a shoulder injury for the entirety of the season, lowering his draft stock. It culminated with a procedure to repair the shoulder six weeks ago.
“It’s a dream come true to get drafted by Colorado,” Ritchie told ESPN after the pick. “It’s unbelievable. I can’t put it into words.”
The Avs arrived at draft day in Nashville with two first-round picks — twice as many as they had the day before. Trading Alex Newhook to the Canadiens on Tuesday allowed Colorado to add the 31st pick at the end of the round, which could be used either as trade fuel or as a way to bolster a weak prospect pool.
First-year general manager Chris MacFarland opted for the latter by taking Gulyayev, who is undersized at 5-foot-10 but a fierce skater with a strong offensive game that fits Colorado’s mold of blueliner. Gulyayev kept an impressive pace with 25 points in 22 games playing junior hockey in Russia last season. He appeared in 13 KHL games, playing limited minutes. Gulyayev is under contract in Russia through 2025.
The last six rounds of the draft take place Thursday (9 a.m. MT, NHL Network, but the Avalanche won’t pick again until the fifth round, at No. 155 overall.
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