Notebook: Do the Avalanche Finally Have Exciting Prospects Again?

With a month of the regular season already behind us, the Avalanche are inching ever so close to having their entire top-six forward group back. And assuming they don’t lose other bodies, they’re nearing a reality where the only two forwards missing would be Ross Colton and of course, Gabriel Landeskog.

Artturi Lehkonen returned against Seattle last week and has played some of the best hockey we’ve ever seen from him. He’s averaging more than 24 minutes per game and has two goals and four points in three appearances. Lehkonen had shoulder surgery in May, following Colorado’s six-game series loss to the Dallas Stars, and has spent nearly six months recovering. Despite the arduous process to get back up to speed, Lehkonen hasn’t missed a beat. And he’s playing an insane amount of minutes.

Entering 2024-25, Lehkonen had played more than 25 minutes on three occasions. He’s eclipsed that number twice already since returning and will likely continue to play heavy minutes for as long as he’s the left-wing option on the top line with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. Valeri Nichushkin’s return on Friday should offer similar results. The Russian forward has a history of making an impact upon returning from a lengthy absence. And unlike Lehkonen, he’s not coming back after physically recovering from an injury.

But as a result of their absences to start the season, along with the injuries later suffered by Jonathan Drouin, Ross Colton, and Miles Wood, the Avs have needed to use more rookie forwards than they’re used to. Some of them were probably rushed to the NHL (see Matt Stienburg), and others were already in the fight for a roster spot (see Nikolai Kovalenko). But no matter how they’ve gotten here, and regardless of whether they’re still here or will remain when the missing forwards return, there’s something a little bit different about this group.

Calum Ritchie scored his first NHL goal before getting returned to the Oshawa Generals of the OHL. Ivan Ivan has three goals and five points in 15 games while Kovalenko has two goals and six points. Another rookie, Nikita Prishchepov, who was drafted in the seventh round in June, has done an admirable job despite not yet recording his first point — albeit he’s been close to scoring nearly every game.

This begs the question: Do the Avalanche finally have an exciting group of prospects again?

It sure seems like it.

I often think back to the days of Martin Kaut and Sampo Ranta — how that was supposed to be the next pair of forwards to develop into permanent NHLers. Neither did enough to impress and both are out of the NHL. Then there was Alex Newhook, who’s often linked with defenseman Bowen Byram — a much stronger group of prospects. While both are full-time NHLers — and Stanley Cup Champions — the Avs instead used that duo to acquire their No. 2 and No. 3 centers, Casey Mittelstadt and Ross Colton. The focus then shifted to Jean-Luc Foudy and Oskar Olausson. And while both are still in the system, they’ve either dealt with injuries (Foudy) or have been underwhelming (Olausson).

This latest crop looks to have some promise. Kovalenko is the oldest of the bunch and should be around all year. As for Ivan, I know I’ve written about this before but he’s at least making the front office second guess sending him down or taking him out of the lineup. Prishchepov will be back in the minors as soon as the reinforcements are back — probably on Friday when Nichushkin enters the lineup. But he’s shown that he could be a player, too. And lastly, Ritchie. He’s the youngest but also has the highest upside.

There’s a reality where all four of these guys are key pieces of the Avs’ lineup within the next 12-24 months. There’s a reality where Colorado, facing a cap crunch, could shed a veteran or two and replace them full-time with one of these more cost-effective options. Such is the way of the NHL in a hard salary cap world. After Andre Burakovsky, Nico Sturm, Nicolas Aube-Kubel, and Nazem Kadri left via free agency in 2022, the team didn’t have young up-and-comers to step in for them. They struggled with depth issues all year as a result.

They might not be the sexiest names. But, guys like Prishchepov, Ivan, Kovalenko, and Ritchie can help extend a Cup window. The Pittsburgh Penguins were famous for this for well over a decade.

Perhaps the Avs finally have the pieces in place to feel good about their next crop of depth forwards. And had it not been for the injuries, they might not have even known what they had.