2015 NHL Draft: Colorado Avalanche draft review

[HF Article]

Photo: Left to right, the newest Colorado Avalanche prospects A.J. Greer (39th overall), Mikko Rantanen (10th overall), and Nicolas Meloche (40th overall) pose with team legends Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy at their introductory press conference in Denver (courtesy of AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post via Getty Images)


</p>The 2015 NHL Draft was an exciting weekend for Colorado Avalanche fans as they finally saw an ending to the Ryan O’Reilly saga. To top things off, the franchise walked out of the draft with a plethora of young talents to boost the strength of their prospect pool.

Headlining the team’s 2015 draft class is Mikko Rantanen, the top ranked European skater in the NHL’s final Central Scouting Services rankings.… read more

The post 2015 NHL Draft: Colorado Avalanche draft review appeared first on Hockey's Future.



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[maxim84]

Anyone heard what Sakic offered to CBJ for that potential move up? And was the offer turned down or they had some inside info about San Jose picking Meier

 

[tigervixxxen]

I don't think we've heard at all what was offered but Columbus fans said that they also were looking to get 10 in addition to 8 because they had three 2nd round picks. Roy said something like they thought they might trade down but gambled that who they wanted was there. So I don't really know which was more likely, moving up or down. Columbus really wanted a defenseman so not sure they would have even moved down.

 

[InjuredChoker]

I don't think we've heard at all what was offered but Columbus fans said that they also were looking to get 10 in addition to 8 because they had three 2nd round picks. Roy said something like they thought they might trade down but gambled that who they wanted was there. So I don't really know which was more likely, moving up or down. Columbus really wanted a defenseman so not sure they would have even moved down.

if jackets were confident that sharks take meier (or rantanne) and we take forward... then it would've made a lot of sense to move down.

or if all the D had been gone by #8, which was pretty unlikely.

 

[Hasbro]

Not sure the BJs would trust Roykic not to take Werenski at 8.

Of course if they had traded up to the exact spot one more loss would have got them, I'm sure I would have had a Grade A conniption.

I am a bit more interested what other potential ROR offers were out there.

 

[klozge]

I liked the draft but it's really difficult to evaluate it for me. Some bold and maybe smart decisions. Loved the Rantaanen and Mironov pick, though.

 

[AvsGuy]

This is the first draft I've followed this closely in a long time, and I loved it for the Avs. Rantanen was an incredible pick at #10 (no idea how the Sharks passed on him), Meloche is looking like a sure thing, and excited to see what we have in Greer and Mironov.

 

[Stories]

I liked the draft, overall. Like the high-reward, high-risk picks. (We'll see if I'm still saying this in 3-4 years)

 

[Hasbro]

For what it's worth I can't remember being this excited after an Avs draft since 1998.

 

[ASmileyFace]

For what it's worth I can't remember being this excited after an Avs draft since 1998.

I'd say that draft worked out pretty well for us too

 

[Pokecheque]

I'd say that draft worked out pretty well for us too

It did?

 

[landy92mack29]

Hockey's Future has added our draft picks ratings to their site
http://www.hockeysfuture.com/teams/colorado_avalanche/
The Avs ratings are:

Rantanen 8.0 D
Greer 7.0 D
Meloche 7.0 C
Beaudin 6.5 D
Mironov 7.0 C
Boikov 6.0 D
Olhaver 6.0 D

Rantanen as a D is a joke and Meloche as only a 7.0 C is pathetic as well. Beaudin should be a C or 7.0 D. Agree with the other 4 though. They only added these guys and didn't edit any other ratings.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Seemed like there were a lot more Ds overall than I recall, you sure none of the others were edited? The letter grading always seemed to be based on how close they were to pro but changing the baseline from C to D and not taking into account what a guy's actual floor/ceiling is seems to be going in the wrong direction.

Rantanen a D makes no sense, he's going to be playing pro somewhere. Saying he's unlikely to reach his potential too?

 

[landy92mack29]

Minnesota's rankings are out as well

1(20)-Eriksson-EK 8.0 C
2(50)-Greenway 7.5 D
4(111)-Stezka 7.0 D
5(135)-Kaprizov 6.5 C
6(171)-Boka 6.5 C
7(201)-Bouramman 7.0 D
7(204)-Sadek 7.0 D

Clearly no consistency in ratings for different teams when Eriksson Ek is 8.0 C and Rantanen 8.0 D.

 

[StayAtHomeAv]

Hockey's Future has added our draft picks ratings to their site
http://www.hockeysfuture.com/teams/colorado_avalanche/
The Avs ratings are:

Rantanen 8.0 D
Greer 7.0 D
Meloche 7.0 C
Beaudin 6.5 D
Mironov 7.0 C
Boikov 6.0 D
Olhaver 6.0 D

Rantanen as a D is a joke and Meloche as only a 7.0 C is pathetic as well. Beaudin should be a C or 7.0 D. Agree with the other 4 though. They only added these guys and didn't edit any other ratings.

My thoughts exactly.

8.0 D means he could be anywhere from 1st line to 4th line, and unlikely to reach his potential. I would be surprised if he didn't become at least a 2nd line player.

Sounds like Meloche has a realistic shot at being a #2 which would be an 8.0.

Beaudin has the raw skills to realistically become a 2nd liner, which would be 7.0.

 

[Hasbro]

I know the bench mark is if you get two players it's a good draft, but I'll be livid if it isn't 3.

It's looking that way for 2013 (MacKinon, Bigras, Geerstenn), but at the time there was the disappointment about it not being Jones and it felt like they were overcompensating taking mostly D Menthe rest of the draft.

 

[RoyIsALegend]

Rantanen (sure bet)
Meloche (close to sure bet)
Greer (should be an NHLer)
Mironov (should be an NHLer)
Beaudin (could be an NHLer)

Very little hope for Boikov and Olver(nice try sneaking back into the draft, Mark).