Eurolanche

Who will be Avs pick number 1?

Who will be Avs pick nr. 1?

This question is amongst most of the Avs fans for quite some time, so let’s take a closer look on our options.

Ever since Avs won in lottery the right to pick first above all teams, everybody was quite certain that Seth Jones will be the „chosen one“. Well based on today´s announcement by Joe Sakic, it is not the case anymore.

Seth Jones

Many articles have been already written about this young defender and many will be. He is the most promising defender in last decade and his maturity on ice is extraordinary. Lot of people compares him already to Lidstrom, but of course, only time would tell if he can fulfill his potential. Truth to be told, defensemen usually take longer time to adapt and to prove their qualities. Hence in my own opinion and even though Jones is a fantastic player, he should not be our pick nr. 1. He will show valuable to any team that gets him, but probably not now, more like in couple of years and Avs need good defender now!

Nathan MacKinnon

Young center played for Halifax in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in past season and as Avs have decided to take forward instead, he is probably their first choice. Skilled forward managed to score a hat trick in each game against Portland Winterhawks where Seth Jones played, which is kind of an irony. Message received though, loud and clear Nathan!

Jonathan Drouin

Team-mate of Nate (Nathan MacKinnon) from Halifax was a bit overshadowed maybe, but still showed some great skills in last and most importing games. He is one of the reasons that Halifax won the prestigious trophy in the first place, although he was not that visible as Nate. He still prepared many offensive chances for his teammates and still this young left winger managed to score 35 points in 17 games played in the play-off. With 105 points in the regular season (49 games) he can´t be overlooked when picking the right player for our offense.

Alexander Barkov

The last to mention prospect waiting in the line is Alexander Barkov. He holds dual citizenship in Finland and Russia and is the youngest player ever to play for Finland in WC (at the age of 16 on WC 2012). He also had a great season in Finnish elite league where just as 17-year old added 48 points in 53 games. Another 5 points added in play-off in 5 games makes him again an interesting option to consider. Mind you that he is from the same home town as Sami Aittokallio (Tappara).

Obviously, the choice is very important this year and will keep our focus on development about NHL Entry Draft 2013 and keep you informed.