Mikhail Maltsev: A scouting report on the newest Avs forward

Since the Avalanche traded Ryan Graves to the New Jersey Devils last week, a lot of you have probably asked “Who is Mikhail Maltsev and what kind of player can we expect him to be?” I pretty much had the same questions. So, I asked a currently employed NHL scout who has seen Maltsev play a lot and got this answer:

“Maltsev is going to be a good player,” said the scout, who asked not to be named in order to speak more freely.

But wait, there’s more.

“Upside is third-line center, at worst fourth-line center,” the scout said. “He’s smart, got size. He’ll be good in Colorado.”

Maltsev, 23, played 33 games in his rookie season for the Devils, posting six goals and three assists, with a minus-4. His Corsi for percentage, at even strength, was a very respectable 51%. He’s 6-foot-3, 198 pounds, so not a small dude.

If he projects into what my scout says is a good third-line center, or even a good fourth-line one, that still would still be of value for the Avs. The Avs also got a second-round pick in the Graves deal (61st overall) which they will choose this coming weekend in the NHL draft.

As I said before, I think Joe Sakic did as good a job as he could here, in getting some assets back for a guy who probably would have been taken by the Kraken in the expansion draft Wednesday. Then, they would have lost Graves for nothing.

One thing we already know about Maltsev: he’s going to have to get a new number. His number 23 is already permanently taken with the Avs.

Here is video of all Maltsev’s goals in the 2021 season: