Colorado Avalanche: Top 10 prospects entering 2020

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Adam Werner, Colorado Avalanche (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images) /

The Colorado Avalanche have an embarrassment of riches in their prospect pool. Which of their prospects are worth getting excited about?

Few teams in the NHL have it better in both the present and the future than the Colorado Avalanche. In the present, they’re legitimate Stanley Cup contenders despite suffering countless injuries. They have an MVP candidate (Nathan MacKinnon), a Calder Trophy candidate and a future Norris candidate (Cale Makar), and surprisingly solid goaltending.

In the future, the Avalanche might be even better. General Manager Joe Sakic has done an outstanding job improving a prospect pool that was once as barren as Death Valley into one of the most impressive prospect pool in the NHL. The Avalanche had a perfect storm in 2019 and they took advantage of it. They might not have the overall depth of other teams, but they have a potential first-line forward, top-pairing defenseman, and franchise goalie.

Before I begin, I’d like to clarify my definition of who a “prospect is” because everyone seems to have a different definition of it. For me, a prospect is any player who meets the following criteria. First of all, they must be under 25 years old as of the start of the 2020-21 season in October.

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Secondly, they must have played in no more than 30 NHL games in any season, or no more than 40 in any two consecutive seasons.

Also, my evaluation depends on several things. First of all, how great can the prospect be? Secondly, what’s their floor? Thirdly, what’s their likelihood of success?

I like to start off with goaltenders because I feel they deserve to be their own separate category from skaters. So let’s get started.

Goaltenders

1. Justus Annunen

Acquired: 2018 NHL Draft (3rd round, 64th overall pick)

Age: 20

Stats (Liiga): 23 games, 1.77 GAA, .929% save percentage
Stats (WJC U20): 6 games, 2.57 GAA, .921% save percentage

I haven’t gotten to see much of Justus Annunen this season for various reasons. One of them being that he’s not even his team’s starting goaltender. But when I’ve seen him, I’ve been very impressed. Annunen’s .929% save percentage is tops in Liiga as of March 13. His athleticism and calmness in the net are both outstanding.

At 6’4″ and 216 pounds, he has the frame to be a quality NHL goaltender. More importantly, Annunen knows how to use his frame to his advantage. He’s still quite raw and has never been a starter as a professional, but he has the upside to be a starting goalie in the NHL. I’d like to see him get more playing time next season, whether that’s in Finland or North America.

Had I ranked Annunen with the skaters, he’d probably have been either fourth or fifth.

2. Adam Werner

Acquired: 2016 NHL Draft (Round 5, 131st overall pick)

Age: 22 (turns 23 on May 2)

Stats (NHL): 2 games, 3.42 GAA, .914% save percentage
Stats (AHL): 31 games, 2.92 GAA, .909% save percentage

Adam Werner has proven to be a quality depth goalie and could eventually be an average backup goalie in the NHL. Werner’s size stands out, as he’s 6’5″ and is very lanky. He’s made some big strides in his game this season, as he’s been much more consistent than in previous seasons. I have Annunen over Werner because Annunen has an unquestionably higher upside.

Other Goalies

Petr Kvaca is an unsigned prospect and likely won’t be much more than a depth goalie. Trent Miner and Shamil Shmakov have both taken a step backward, though I’m still optimistic about Miner.

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