Cole Tuminaro

September 2026. Cole Tuminaro is a 6-foot-4, 225-pound right-shot defenseman the Colorado Avalanche valued enough to trade up for, moving to grab him 140th overall. He is a defense-first presence in the truest sense. He uses his frame to win board battles and close gaps, and his reach makes him difficult to beat off the rush. His skating took a real step this past season with the Chicago Steel. The offense is limited: 5 goals and 16 points in 54 games, with 148 penalty minutes that ranked eighth in the United States Hockey League. He is a re-entry who missed nearly all of his first draft year after shoulder surgery, so the runway is longer than his age suggests, and Cornell University is his next stop this fall. For fantasy the profile is narrow. The scoring ceiling is modest, and his value in deeper formats runs through hits, blocks, and penalty minutes rather than points. Size projects, but shutdown junior defensemen are slow to develop, and the puck skill remains simple. He is a monitor only in deep peripheral leagues, worth revisiting once he faces NCAA competition at Cornell. Andrew Epps