Evan Rawal
2001. That’s the last time the Colorado Avalanche drafted a goaltender that they developed to play in the NHL.
Peter Budaj, a second round pick all the way back in 2001, was that goaltender. He never became a true starter at the NHL level, but was a very respectable backup from 2005-2019. And now he’s back in the organization, serving as the goaltending coach for the Colorado Eagles.
But 22 years is a long time to go without drafting and developing another NHL goaltender. The Avalanche hope that Justus Annunen is the guy that breaks through, but you just never know with goaltenders.
Scouts kind of feel the same way.
“One of the hardest parts of scouting is scouting goalies,” Hockey Prospect‘s Director of Scouting Jérôme Bérubé told me. “It doesn’t take much for a goalie to have a good year or have a bad year.”
One of the issues with goalies is that teams (typically) only carry two of them, so there’s just not enough playing time to go around. And unless that goaltender is already in your organization and you have the power to decide how much they play, you don’t have much control over them.
A recent draft pick for the Avalanche, Shamil Shmakov, is an example of that. After they drafted him in the 7th round in 2018, he came over to the US, but struggled to find a job. He played just 7 games in the USHL before heading back to Russia’s lower leagues, never to be seen again.
So what makes evaluating them so difficult?
“It doesn’t take much for a goalie who is on the right path to be an NHL goalie to get one injury, and everything goes south,” Bérubé said. “It’s the same goalie, he has the same physical abilities, but sometimes, something is off with his technique, he’s having a bad year, he can’t fix it, or (it’s) mental.”
The Avalanche have tried everything when it comes to goaltenders. They’ve drafted goalies out of Europe, Russia, Major Junior, the NCAA, and the USHL. Basically, anywhere you can look for a goalie, they’ve looked, but it hasn’t worked.
They’ve also drafted goaltenders of all different shapes and sizes. Three of the four most recent goaltenders they’ve drafted are over 6’3″, including Annunen.
That’s Bérubé’s preference as well.
“Usually, I would say, I have a bias for goalies with size,” he said. “I don’t mind smaller goalies, because I was really high on (Devon) Levi, but those goalies, they have to be pretty much perfect. A bigger goalie, you can make some technical mistakes here and there. A smaller goalie, they have to be perfect.”
What else would a scout look for?
“My favorite type of goalie are the ones that aren’t robots,” Bérubé said. “I like guys that have elite athletic ability. I don’t care if you’re 6’5″ or 6′, I want you to have elite athletic ability. The goalies I prefer are always the more athletic goalie. I like goalies that are calm, and technique has to be really good as well.”
If I was in charge, I’d draft a goalie every single year, especially out of Europe. You hold their rights a little longer, so you don’t have to rush to make a decision. That’s a little tougher to do when you don’t have a ton of draft picks to begin with, but that would be my philosophy.
Drafting goaltenders for the Avalanche has been hard, but as it turns out, they’re not the only ones who find scouting them to be very difficult.