Before I spotlight our picks in this most recent draft, let me state that early indications are that not only was the top-end talent stronger than last year's draft, but the draft pool overall was much deeper and more talented.
Of course, that is just an initial impression and how it works out over time is still anybody's guess.
With the Avs first pick, 29th overall, we took Left Winger
Milo Holland. The big Texan kid has already been signed to a contract and the plan is for him to start the season on the Avs active roster. He projects to be a 2-way forward with his defensive read skills a particular strength. He has solid leadership skills, very good stamina, excellent checking skills, and plus puckhandling abilities. For such a big young man his strength and aggression ratings are quite low. There is also a concern that his game may wilt a bit under pressure, but overall he should be a talented addition to the team.
Our second round pick was Right Defenceman
Josh Hishon, the lone defenceman we took in this draft as it turns out. Like
Holland,
Hishon has already been inked to a contract and is expected to begin the season on the Avs active roster. Unlike
Holland, there is a pretty big gap between what our scouts think of
Hishon's potential future and the consensus take on this. If our scouts are correct, we got a steal here, and if not, well, he should still be a solid starting defenceman. While he has 2-way defenceman skills, he is particularly strong defensively with excellent stickchecking, good defensive positioning, solid defensive read abilities, etc. Then again, his offensive read skills are even stronger and his shooting range is tremendous. He has great determination but most of his other mental ratings are not great. But other than strength (and fighting) his physical ratings are quite good, especially his stamina and balance.
Hishon looks like he could be another fine addition to an already very strong defencemen corps for the Avs. But also possible is that our scouts are wrong about
Hishon and he is merely an adequate role-player in the NHL.
The Avs 3rd round pick was durable Right Winger
Bill Reynolds.
Bill Reynolds was one of my college English Lit professors and for a time was my academic advisor. A kind, geeky man with a high, funny, not very manly voice, he also had a sneaky, wicked wit when you got to know him. His wife, Maura, taught Latin (I took one semester with her, learned little, and had great fun). Less outwardly geeky, fairly attractive, and with a default setting of affectionate sarcasm, she was (is?) a gem of a woman. I miss them both and hope they are enjoying a blissful retirement in their golden years.
But I digress. The
Bill Reynolds we chose in the 3rd round is actually an ultra-durable, even if undersized, young Right Winger out of Irvine, California.
Reynolds profiles as a 2-way forward with strong stickchecking skills, good passing ability, strong defensive positioning, and solidly above average physical skills across the board.
He might be NHL-ready right now, but no decision has been made on that yet and he isn't signed to a contract at this time.
The Avs 4th pick was Denver-metro native
Bobby Newsome, a 2-way Center/Centre whose strength is, well, strength. Although he is relatively short he is solidly built and has plus bravery, stamina, and physical strength as well as great checking skills. Offensively his biggest strengths are in the areas of screening, passing, and puckhandling.
Newsome is another player where this is divergence between consensus perceptions of his potential and the Avs scouts beliefs about this. But he looks like someone who can bring value to the club in the future (if not even later this coming season) and has a skills set that is not well represented on the team in it's current makeup.
The Avs had 2 picks in the 5th round, having traded for San Jose's 5th round pick. With the first of these they chose Left Winger
Ken Rechlicz. The general consensus view was that this was an excellent pick by the Avs but our scouts are bit less high on
Rechlicz' future than others are. But either way,
Rechlicz is another forward who projects to be at least an average NHL'er in time and possibly more. As is standard for Avs forwards, he projects as a 2-way player with strong checking and defense read abilities and good passing.
Next post: the rest of the Avs picks this year.