The 31-in-31 Offseason Series is an annual event here at DobberProspects! Every day in December we will be bringing you a complete breakdown of a team’s prospect depth chart, riser & fallers, and top prospect ranking. 

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With such a deep lineup on a team expected to make a long playoff run, prospects can’t just take up a roster spot for the sake of development – they have to contribute on the ice to a winning squad. Luckily, the Avalanche are making a good habit of being patient with their prospects. Cale Makar could have eased into the NHL a year earlier, but instead, he played an extra year of college and stepped into the lineup fully locked and loaded. Mikko Rantanen was NHL-ready when he was playing in the AHL, but that year of patient adjustment to the pro-level prepared him to score 20 as a rookie. Meanwhile, doing the opposite and rushing Tyson Jost only led to more AHL bouncing and an uncertain place in the lineup going forward, so don’t expect the Avs to make that mistake again. As such, I would expect patience on all prospects below, regardless of their upside. 

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GRADUATING TO NHL 

• Logan O’Connor played on the fourth-line and penalty-kill during the playoffs and passed the eye test. He signed a contract extension and looks to have the 13th forward spot penciled in. He’s not a bad option for streaming hits, but he won’t be playing a huge role on the club. 

ON THE CUSP 

• Martin Kaut is ready for an NHL third-line role, but he will need a great camp to secure it on such a deep Avs roster. He may be best suited to stay in Europe (on loan) for 2020-21, which is what the team opted for during their Covid postseason run.

• Conor Timmins was given cups of coffee last season and looked close…then got hurt again. He needs to stay healthy and could be a regular by 2021 if he does.

• Bowen Byram has nothing left to prove in the WHL. He’s ready for his NHL introduction, but there’s only so much ice-time to go around. He’s a good bet to be a graduate, rather than “on the cusp”, but it’s no guarantee. 

GRADUATING FROM JR/NCAA TO PRO 

• Alex Newhook is a good candidate to turn pro later in the season after his sophomore NCAA year concludes (i.e the Makar timeline), but we will have to see how the league schedule works out. Colorado chose not to burn a year of Kaut’s ELC and they may do the same here. 

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RISERS 

• Alex Beaucage is one of the best goal-scorers in the QMJHL once again and has us patiently waiting for a pro debut next year.

• Justin Barron was drafted higher than expected and then got some attention during Team Canadas’ WJC training camp, which always boosts the player’s fantasy stock. 

FALLERS 

• Vladislav Kamenev couldn’t stay healthy when spots were available and has now headed to the KHL. The Avs retained his rights, but it’s hard to imagine him getting a chance in this deep lineup anytime soon. 

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PROSPECT DEPTH CHART 

Prospects ranked as a combination of upside and NHL ETA 

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TOP 20 PROSPECTS

Prospects ranked and tiered as a combination of upside and NHL likelihood

1. Alex Newhook
2. Bowen Byram
   

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3. Justus Annunen
4. Martin Kaut
5. Alex Beaucage
6. Conor Timmins
7. Shane Bowers
8. Justin Barron

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9. Adam Werner
10. Sampo Ranta
11. Nikolai Kovalenko

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12. Jean-Luc Foudy
13. Colby Ambrosio
14. Drew Helleson
15. Jacob MacDonald

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16. Daniil Zhualyov
17. Ty Lewis
18. Nick Henry
19. Mathew Stienburg
20. Sheldon Dries

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Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @soboleskih for up-to-date Colorado Avalanche prospect content. 

-Hayden Soboleski