Avalanche Lose Rights To Two Former Draft Picks

Although not entirely a surprise, the Colorado Avalanche relinquished the rights to two of their former draft picks on Thursday.

Tyler Weiss, a 4th round pick in 2018, and Nick Leivermann, a 7th round draft pick in 2017, both came off the reserve lists for the Avalanche. Each of them played five years in the NCAA, but neither of them did enough to earn contracts. Both of them are now free to sign with any other organization. Although the Avalanche could technically bring both into the organization if they wanted, it seems unlikely now, since both have a chance to sign with whoever they want.

We've also confirmed that the following players, in addition to those we listed, came off their teams reserve list today.

Stanislav Demin CHI

Nick Leivermann COL
Tyler Weiss COL

Ben Brinkman DAL

John Adams DET
Kirill Tyutyayev DET

Jack Gorniak MTL

Gavin Hain PHI https://t.co/msssTQLZSH

— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) June 1, 2023

Leivermann, 24, was the Captain at Notre Dame this past season, and topped out offensively in his fourth year. The signing of Sam Malinski, who is the same age, seemed to make this decision a foregone conclusion.

Weiss, 23, was an undersized forward who never really took the next step at the NCAA level. He’s an undersized forward who hovered around a point-per-game the last three seasons, but never surpassed it.

By losing the rights to Weiss, the Avalanche are now looking at a 2018 draft that could go down as one of the worst in franchise history. Martin Kaut, the first round pick, was dealt at the deadline for Ryan Merkley, who was a scratch for the Eagles in the playoffs. Sampo Ranta, who was picked in the third round, just left for Sweden for two seasons.

The fate of that draft now sits on goaltender Justus Annunen and Russian prospect Nikolai Kovalenko, who will not be coming to North America until 2024, at the earliest. Annunen had a solid second season in North America, and seems to be on an upward trajectory. Kovalenko was one of the top scorers in the KHL, but there are questions as to whether that offense can translate to the NHL level.

Stay tuned to CHN over the offseason, as things will start to ramp up here real soon for Colorado and the rest of the NHL.