Colorado Avalanche Draft: Which Young Gun Will Help the Avalanche the Most?

At least the Colorado Avalanche can say that all of this losing can yield something good.  If you need proof, look no further than Matt Duchene.  After finishing in the bottom of the Western Conference in the 2008-2009 regular season, the Avalanche drafted Duchene with the No. 3 overall pick, and Duchene has brought his great energy and ability to the team.

Now, the Avalanche find themselves in a similar position.  After dropping their ninth straight game—and 19th out of the last 20—the Avalanche are once again primed to pick at the very top of the NHL Entry Draft.  So which potential diamond in the rough would best help the Avalanche?  Let's have a look.

Topping most NHL draft boards is Gabriel Landeskog.  Landeskog, out of Stockholm, plays in the OHL on the Kitchener Rangers.  He is 6'1" and weighs 207 pounds.  Not huge, but he's very strong on the puck.

The word on Landeskog is that he has a seamless combination of the smooth, skilled style one would find in the Swedish leagues and the more physical brand of hockey you find in North American junior leagues.  So he won't just stick handle around you, he'll run right through you as well.  He could potentially draw similar comparisons to another Swedish player that used to be on the Avalanche—Peter Forsberg.  Obviously, that is yet to be determined.

His stats for the Rangers this season are very good, as well.  In 51 games he has 65 points (36 goals, 29 assists).  He has also logged 61 penalty minutes, so you know that Landeskog doesn't spend all of his time dancing—he gets his hands a bit dirty as well. He also tallied 23 points (8 goals and 15 assists) in 20 games for the Rangers in the OHL playoffs last year.

Personally, it's hard to argue with where this guy is ranked.  With his combination of size, strength, physical ability and puck-handling, he makes an ideal candidate for the Avalanche.  The Avalanche need guys like this who can play both a physical game and a skilled game.  Right now, the Avalanche are too dependent on their speed and not on their physical strength. 

The next most talked about prospect is another Swede.  Adam Larsson turns a lot of people's heads for the Avalanche, and there's a good reason why.

Larsson is another big guy.  A defenseman, he is 6'3" and weighs 220 pounds.  This sort of a defenseman is obviously appealing to the Avalanche, who are woefully small on the blue line; such size is an obvious improvement.

He currently plays in the Swedish Elite League and has nine points (one goal and eight assists) in 37 games.  His offense is clearly not why people would want him.  In the same number of games, he has 41 penalty minutes.  This guy is a big, strong, hard-hitting, stay-at-home defenseman that could really benefit the Avalanche greatly. 

The only downside to picking Larsson is the fact that the Avalanche have so many defensive prospects in the system as it is.  They are also getting a few skilled players, who are pretty darn big themselves, back from injury.  If the Avalanche were to draft Larsson, who would be the odd man out?

The Avalanche currently have three very strong prospects playing in the WHL.  Stefan Elliott is a great offensive defenseman with about 80 points in the WHL this season.  He's not exactly small, either. 

Then there is Tyson Barrie, who is also playing quite well, but more closely resembles John-Michael Liles in size and ability.  Barrie's size could work against him.  Why add another defensive prospect to a team that is a bit defenseman-heavy?

A third option that many are throwing around is Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Nugent-Hopkins is a guy that looks like a lot of the Avalanche right now in size.  He's an even six feet, but weights only about 160-165 pounds. 

Though his size is not that big, his numbers are.  Nugent-Hopkins has an astonishing 94 points in 64 games (24 goals and 70 assists)—outstanding numbers that make any great sniper lick their chops to have a set-up guy like that on their team.  Some experts are saying that Nugent-Hopkins reminds them of another Avalanche player who also happened to be from Burnaby—Joe Sakic.

As skilled as Nugent-Hopkins clearly is, there are two things working against him.  First, the Avalanche currently have a ton of centers on their roster.  That, of course, could be remedied in the offseason if the Avalanche had the inclination. Something like that already seems to be in the works since the Avalanche recently signed Joey Hishon, their first round pick from the 2010 NHL draft, to an entry level contract for next season.

Also, his size can't possibly help him in this situation.  Again, the Avalanche are already a team that is terribly small anyways.  Looking at several of the other forwards on the team, one can begin to see the size issue:

Matt Duchene:  5'11", 200 pounds

Paul Stastny:  6'0", 205 pounds

Ryan O'Reilly:  6'0", 200 pounds                                                 

Philippe Dupuis:  6'0", 196 pounds

Mark Olver:  5'10", 170 pounds     

Joey Hishon:  5'10", 170 pounds

These forwards need to get bigger, not smaller.  Nugent-Hopkins definitely is a very skilled player, but he doesn't fit the biggest need for the Avalanche right now.

That need is size and strength.  Of all of these potential draft prospects, the one that gives us the most size and strength—in an area that is really going to need it—is Gabriel Landeskog. Larrson also makes a lot of sense. However, there are so many defensive prospects for the Avalanche right now, it just seems like Landeskog would have the biggest impact the fastest. 

Obviously, the only way the Avalanche can guarantee getting whoever they want is to get the No. 1 overall draft pick.  That is still up for grabs, but no matter how you look at it, the Avalanche are going to get a very talented player.