Ok, corny title I know but I stuck with it. The Avalanche have lost a lot of games over the past couple of months as well as traded away two very popular and young players along with a starting goalie that may or may not have given up on the team. Needless to say it has been rough being an Avalanche fan.
However of late the organization has begun signing a number of its top flight prospects to entry level contracts of late. Specifically they have signed Joey Hishon, last year's surprise first round pick, defensemen Tyson Barrie and Stefan Elliot, and goaltender Calvin Pickard. The team has also brought Super Joe (Sakic) in as part of the management team, but I'm looking at these signings in this writing. Now odds are none of these four players makes the team out of camp next year, however it is possible that at least a couple of them will get callups at some point during next season and we'll surely get a good look at them in training camp. So just who are these players?
We'll start up front with forward Joey Hishon. Hishon was taken in the first round of last year's draft by the Avalanche shocking pretty much everyone who follows hockey. Prior to the year Hishon was considered a first round pick by scouting services, however an injury which cost him two months (broken foot and MCL sprain) and questions about his size (5'10" and listed at 170 pounds) saw him fall completely off the mock drafts and out of the top 30 lists of scouting services. This didn't scare off Colorado though who saw great potential in him. Despite some minor injuries again this year, he has shown why Colorado took a risk on him by leading the OHL in points per game much of the year having 87 points in 50 games for the Owen Sound Attack. There is a good chance he'll be in Lake Erie next season.
As we move back from the forward rank we find two defensemen that just signed as well, both taken in the 2009 draft. The first of the two, taken in the second round, was Stefan Elliot. Elliot showed promise in his draft year playing for the Saskatoon Blades having amassed 55 points in 71 games as a defenseman. He continued his progress however, and may have given the organization confidence enough that they could include Shattenkirk as part of a recent trade, having had seasons of 65 point in 72 games and then 81 points in 71 games including a +62 this season. This season he is also likely to win WHL defenseman of the year and is up against fellow Av prospect Tyson Barrie. Hockeysfuture.com projects him to be a top four with a Rafalski-like skill set. I hope they are right because with his progress since being drafted the Avalanche used Shattenkirk, a potential top 2 with "Rafalski-like skill set" and playing great his rookie year to get their #1 d-man for the future.
Drafted in the next round in 2009 was Tyson Barrie. He has been similar to Elliot having had good numbers his draft year, then winning WHL defenseman of the year last year while playing for the Kelowna Rockets, and then being nominated again this year. The similarities done end there though. In addition to similar numbers with both players being better than a point per game the past couple of years and going head to head for defenseman of the year this year, both players project out to be top four puck moving defensemen with "Rafalski-like skills" (boy does that get thrown around quite a bit).
Drop back to goal and you find Calvin Pickard, younger brother of Nashville goalie prospect Chet. Calvin is one of the best goaltenders in the WHL but suffers from being on a bad team. He has been nominated for goalie of the WHL previously and was named to the second team all star team this year. He is the workhorse for his team playing in 68 of the team's 72 games this season and regularly gives his team chances to win games despite facing nearly 40 shots per game. It isn't uncommon to see him give up 3 goals but then find out that those 3 goals were on 51 shots in that game. He plays more minutes and faces more shots by far than any other goalie in the league. He has faced 25% more shots than the goalie with the most next shots against. He will likely be playing for the Monsters very soon and the Avalanche will be watching their best goalie prospect very closely.
These four players aren't likely going to be the answer to the Avalanche troubles this coming season but each of them could play prominent roles down the road. The Avalanche answers for next year might be as simple as finding a starting goalie now that they don't have a true #1 and staying healthy up front. Of course solidifying the blueline by signing a guy like Pitkanen might help as well but we'll see more of what the Avalanche will look like next year after the draft and once free agency begins.
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