OffThePost.org

Well, this might be a bit of a quiet thread going forward. With both Newhook and Byram effectively graduating, that leaves the cupboard pretty barren. Some not-great drafting coupled with going-for-it trades have left the prospect base wanting, and that's to be expected.

Top prospects at this point are: Oskar Olausson, winger, playing his first season in the AHL, and Sean Behrens, defenseman, playing at the University of Denver. A few others could make noise but probably not more than grinder-types.

Martin Kaut and Shane Bowers don't count as "prospects" anymore and since they still can't seem to make any headway, I think they're just plain busts. Minor league journeymen at best.

One of only two members of this year's Avs draft class, goalie Ivan Zhigalov wins OHL player of the week honors.

https://twitter.com/OHLHockey/status/15 ... 0799228932

Also, somewhat surprising news, Assistant GM and Eagle GM Craig Billington, who has been in charge of player development forever, has taken a new role within the organization. He is now Director of Goaltending Evaluation/Special Projects, whatever the hell that is.

Player development has not been great since 2009, so maybe this is an attempt to fix that. Or Billington just wants a lesser role, I don't know.

Well, he's definitely not a prospect but Alex Galchenyuk, who earlier joined the team on a PTO and was later released due to injury, is currently tearing it up in Loveland with the Colorado Eagles, so it appears it's only a matter of time before he gets signed to an NHL deal and called up.

Scott Wheeler of the Athletic is starting up his annual prospect pool rankings and, no surprise, the Avs are dead last. Not only are they dead last, Wheeler admits he couldn’t even come up with 15 legit prospects to talk about. Avs went for broke last season to win it all and it worked. Now we’re witnessing “broke.”

There are a couple potentially good players in the mix (Olausson, Behrens, Foudy) but no real impact prospects.

It sure as hell made sense and paid off. They've graduated a bunch of guys but also took advantage of their window. Shouldn't be any complaints, in my opinion.

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Thanks Chuck, E.L. and Harmy!

Oh there's a legit complaint in that drafting and development were not handled properly in the formative years, and still isn't being handled well now. Well, the development part is doing good now, Greg Cronin and the Eagles are turning out legit NHL players, not impact players but players nonetheless, so no complaints there. The drafting part...still a very slow work in progress. And it's been way, way too slow to change.

Don't get me wrong, I'd rather have a team that absolutely NAILS their lottery picks and screws up everything else outside of that than a team that gets diamonds in the rough in the lower rounds but whiffs when the big pick comes up. Los Angeles is a prime example. They got plenty of good depth pieces but Alex Turcotte is a total bust, and it already looks like they may have made a mistake picking Byfield over Stutzle. Still, a good scouting department can find viable NHL players in those rounds, and they have not done so since 2009. Sakic/McFarland keeps changing the head scout (Pracey-->Hepple-->Klippenstein) but he should be taking a hammer to his entire amateur scouting staff. It's especially important now since the Avs will likely (hopefully) not be picking with a high first rounder, maybe NO first rounder, anytime soon.

Leave the pro scouts alone though, those guys are golden. They found Toews, Nichushkin, Lehkonen, Burakovsky, and now Rodrigues. Perfect fits, all of them.

Ahh ok, so it's not as simple as the cupboards are bare because of what they did to acquire pieces for a Stanley Cup winner.

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Thanks Chuck, E.L. and Harmy!

No, sadly. The prospect base was pretty threadbare even with guys like Barron and Helleson in the mix. And some key prospects like Newhook are simply not cutting it. They were hoping he'd be the next 2C, they'll be lucky if he's even a viable middle six winger. And at present he's not even looking like an NHL player. No shots taken whatsoever in 2 of the last 3 games. Kurtis MacDermid played a far larger role in generating offense last night than Newhook has the last ten games or so. Along with Jost, this is the 2nd time the scouts have looked at a viable 2C candidate with potential, used a first rounder on him, and totally misjudged his skating. Like Jost, he's too slow on his skates and there isn't enough in the other areas of his game to compensate.

Jean-Luc Foudy sets a career high with 27 points in 31 games, he had 26 points in 65 games. He's a weird anomaly thanks to the pandemic, as he is 20 years old and currently playing his third season in the AHL. Thanks to junior hockey being shut down and exceptions made in the AHL due to COVID, he hasn't played in juniors at all since he was drafted.

He's not really star material but if he can be a good middle six contributor that'll be a HUGE win for a scouting staff that's been almost completely unable to find legit prospects picked outside the top ten of any given draft. It most certainly is a win for Greg Cronin and the Colorado Eagles, who have actually been churning out legit NHL depth talent, and despite a depleted roster thanks to injuries on their roster and the parent club, they've continued to win and be in the thick of the playoff picture. The other night they won decisively despite a third defensive pairing consisting of two forwards.

Can't remember if I related this story or not but current Altitude TV analyst Eric Lacroix said he just assumed Foudy was a Francophone on account of his name, greeted him in French and according to him, Foudy looked at him like he was an alien or something.

He's certainly not a prospect but Alex Galchenyuk is busy trying to reinvent himself as a player at the age of 28 for another shot at the NHL, and he couldn't have asked for a better coach to help him do that.

https://theahl.com/galchenyuk-invested- ... ith-eagles

I gotta admit I didn't know what to make of Greg Cronin when he first arrived in Loveland after his not-great stint with the Islanders, but he's been phenomenal at developing talent. He changed Ryan Graves from a career minor-leaguer to a guy who's likely going to cash in this summer as a top-four defensive talent, and the story goes it was a sit-down between Cronin and Graves that triggered the change. He's now trying to do the same with Galchenyuk. We'll see if it works.

So far the reports I'm hearing about Merkley are...less than promising. The speed, talent, and creativity are all there, but poor decision making and super-soft play have not impressed Eagles fans.

This is one of those deals where the Avs don't really have anything to lose though. Kaut was never going to pan out. Getting Nieto back has already paid dividends.

He ain't a prospect but Brad Hunt, upon clearing waivers and reassigned to the Eagles, was named captain of the team. Guessing the Avs and Eagles are both hoping he doesn't get called back up anytime soon, though it sure feels like whenever they pin a C on a guy in Loveland, they end up hardly playing there on account of injury callups.

Avs sign Western Michigan University captain Jason Polin, who led the NCAA in goals with 30, to an entry-level deal. He'll report to the Eagles on an ATO agreement.

Avs have also brought aboard 2019 pick Matthew Stienburg (and in case you're curious, it's pronounced "Steinberg." Normally a guy taken with the first pick in the third round, a guy who projects to be a 4th line grinder and nothing more, would not warrant much attention. But Alan Hepple, who has since been replaced as Head of Amateur Scouting in Denver, all but admitted that the guy or guys they wanted to take with that pick were taken, so they had to ask for more time and eventually selected him. His old man is Trevor Stienburg, a former first round pick who played briefly with the Quebec Nordiques and reportedly remained friends with Joe Sakic, though it wasn't Sakic who pushed the team to take his kid.

They reportedly have not officially signed him yet but he will report to the Eagles on what I'm assuming is another Amateur Tryout.

And the Avs dip into NCAA free agency again.

This time they snag Stienburg's teammate from Cornell, defenseman Sam Malinski.

He's a little on the old side at 24, but displays a shiftiness in his puck skill and skating that could translate well to the NHL.

https://twitter.com/MitchLBrown/status/ ... _&ref_url=

Avs really like players from the collegiate ranks who wore a C on their jerseys. Malinski, Polin, and previously, Logan O'Connor--though he never actually wore the C, was going to wear it when the Avs signed him and he turned pro.

Malinski and Livingstone (who went to Nashville) are considered what you see is what you get. They're either close to ready or will never be. I like Malinski's skill set, not a bad guy to bet on.

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Geez, ANOTHER college freebie.

This time it's center Ondrej Pavel (not to be confused with the former NHL goalie with a similar name), also from Minnesota State-Mankato. Sounds like a Lars Eller-type. Big, kinda mean and physical, wins faceoffs, kills penalties, brings good defense but not much offense or speed. Okay.

Avs may have something in Sam Malinski. 6 points in 7 AHL games, including their OTW playoff opener.

The guy who scored the OT GWG is named Gustav Rydahl, a guy they acquired right at the trade deadline for Anton Blidh (who, even as a depth tweener pickup was a complete and total bust) and frankly I wish they'd hold onto him. Big dude, looks mobile, can play center or wing, plays a mean, physical game, and...*gasp* can win faceoffs!!!!!

Also, he's apparently not one to shy away from dropping the gloves, so I'd take him over fecking MacDermid in a heartbeat.

Reportedly already signed a deal to play in Sweden, I'd like to see if the Avs could find a way to let him stick around. Most Euro contracts come laden with out clauses, shouldn't be that hard to convince him to stay. I've no idea if he's a legit NHLer, but if he could play a small role on the 4th line...why not?

Well now...Ryan Merkley is interested in one of his old rookie cards it seems.

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