2021 Avalanche draft class produces familiar theme

The 2021 NHL Draft is in the books and the Colorado Avalanche selected four players throughout the process as they added to their prospect pool.

Over the course of two days and 224 picks, the Avs found four players who fit the traits we’ve come to expect from the scouting department of the organization even though this was the first year of Wade Klippenstein running the draft board instead of the departed Alan Hepple.

Given the timing of that change, however, it might have been easier for the Avs to stick to what they’ve known in recent years than try to drastically change anything up so it’s not a major surprise to see the Avs produce a draft class that really adds more of the same to their prospect ranks.

After a large wave of pro graduations this past year, the Avalanche reserve list was down to 10 players so there needed to be some kind of infusion of talent into the organization and while a four-player draft class is still pretty small, it’s an important one as three of those picks came in the top 100 selections.

Let’s get to know the new guys to Colorado’s organization.

First Round – Oskar Olausson, RW, HV71 (Sweden)

The Avs started it off on Friday night by sitting tight and waiting for their pick at 28. With that selection, the Avs dipped into a market they’ve not explored much recently as they took Swedish forward Oskar Olausson.

The 6’1″, 180-pound forward is your typical Avalanche selection in that he’s a great skater who plays the game at a high pace and is at his best in transition. Olausson’s greatest attribute today is probably his skating but he has a lethal shot to boot and that’s where his most intriguing value lies.

With his size, Olausson has the frame to fill out quite a bit with significantly more muscle mass, which will allow him to take his offensive profile to a different level. At the moment, he’s a bit of a lanky kid who relies on his feet to get him open looks when he has the puck and has a real knack for finding the soft spots in the defense when he’s looking for the puck.

His shooting from distance looks better on tape thanks to an array of wide-open uncontested looks he won’t have on the smaller ice in North America but that ability might put him in some positions he otherwise wouldn’t find himself in (like, say, a second power-play unit).

Given his size, he’s going to need to learn to get more comfortable around the net and diversify his offensive profile a bit because he’s a little too one-note for my liking right now but the physical tools are there for him to become a pretty dynamic offensive threat.

Defensively, the effort and commitment look like they come and go at times and Olausson does have a tendency to drift through some games. When he’s locked in, it’s not hard to see a first-round pick. When he’s not, you wonder how this guy was a top-90 pick, let alone selected in the first round. Smoothing out that consistency will be a very important step for his development.

Where that development takes place is another important part of the story. Previous European selections by the Avs in Mikko Rantanen and Martin Kaut immediately came to the AHL to begin honing their skills. It went swimmingly for Rantanen, who won Co-Rookie of the Year honors in his only AHL season while Kaut has struggled to find his footing in the NHL and has spent the better part of three years with the Colorado Eagles.

Does Olausson make the jump to the Eagles next year and join a very crowded forward corps where he could be competing with Kaut, Shane Bowers, Jean-Luc Foudy, Alex Beaucage and Sampo Ranta, among others, for playing time? Or maybe he stays in Sweden and gets a full year in the SHL instead of spending so much of it in the J20 league?

Whichever direction will likely play a big role in his development and certainly his adjustment to North American hockey.

Second Round – Sean Behrens, D, USNTDP (USHL)

With the 61st pick they acquired in the Ryan Graves trade, Colorado got arguably one of the better value picks of the day when Behrens slipped to them.

Though he is yet another undersized defender at 5’10” and 177 pounds, Behrens certainly doesn’t play to his frame. He comes with the classic puck-moving ability you’d expect out of a smaller defenseman but with the added bonus of being an ultra-competitive defenseman who doesn’t shy away from the physical side of the game.

While Behrens certainly won’t overwhelm anyone with that physical attitude, it’s an important element of his game because he never backs down from a challenge from larger forwards. If he’s to succeed in pro hockey, that’s going to be a key element of his success.

While some might be thinking he’s more like a Sam Girard, I’d posit that a comparison to Jared Spurgeon is more apt, especially if he’s able to pack on some weight and fill out a little bit more over the next few years.

A very smooth skater, Behrens is headed to DU where the Avs can keep a close eye on his development as a member of the Pioneers. His puck-moving ability will fit in nicely to a program that has produced a number of quality undersized defensemen in recent years such as old friend Will Butcher and now-division rival Ian Mitchell.

Third Round – Andrei Buyalsky, C, Dubuque (USHL)

A center who turns 21 next month, Buyalsky came to North America this year for the first time after developing back in his native Kazahkstan for much of his career.

At 6’3″ but just 174 pounds, Buyalsky has the potential for great size but needs to significantly add weight to make it count as he’s far too lanky despite being two years older than most of his fellow draftees this year.

The age is a major concern here as using a top-100 pick on a player going through the draft a third time is a serious gamble by the Avalanche. His electric skating stands out when you watch him on video but knowing he’s more physically mature than a lot of his competition takes some of the shine off of the ease at which he can get around opposing players.

That’s basically the only move you see from Buyalsky when you watch his USHL film. He drives wide, uses his skating to beat defenders and then cuts hard to the net and tries to stuff the puck home. The finishing is a little lacking at times but he has a decent shot (the one-timer is especially solid) and he’s not shy about squaring up a puck when he has a chance.

His playmaking certainly stands out more than Olausson’s but it still doesn’t project to be very high-end. Buyalsky is an intriguing player because the raw skills are certainly fascinating and there’s a real chance he’s a late-bloomer coming from a country that struggles to develop NHL-caliber talent.

Buyalsky is off to the University of Vermont next year where he will need to make a concerted effort to bulk up and use the added power in his game. As a strong-skating center, there’s plenty to get excited about here but age is certainly a concern.

Seventh Round – Taylor Makar, C, Brooks (AJHL)

Makar is the younger of the Brothers Makar and is following in his brother’s footsteps first as a member of the Brooks Bandits, then in committing to UMass to play for the Minutemen in college, now finally to being drafted by the Colorado Avalanche.

While Cale was drafted with the fourth pick in 2017, Taylor was drafted with selection 220 (fifth from last). The large-bodied Taylor Makar is a 6’3″ 190-pound center who plays a heavy, deliberate game that doesn’t have eye-popping skill.

While the younger Makar is a decent skater, he’s clearly not in the same company as Cale as has had to work his tail off to even make himself a draftable prospect and the 20-year-old accomplished that goal today.

It’s a success story for Makar right now and a memorable day for the family after Cale signed a six-year contract extension earlier this morning.

As mentioned above, Taylor Makar is headed to UMass to follow in his brother’s footsteps, something Taylor also hopes to do by eventually playing for the Avalanche in the NHL. It’s a long road for him but this isn’t a family you make a habit of doubting.

Conclusion

In the end, the Avs added three slick-skating players to their prospect pipeline and a legacy player in Taylor Makar. The upside of each three varies but once again it is a draft class built around the merits of skating, speed, and skill.

With very different development tracks, this will be a truly fascinating class to follow as the world slowly resumes the pre-pandemic ways of life. This isn’t expected to be a class that contributes quickly to pro hockey, let alone the Avs in the NHL.

This is a class, however, that should begin to bridge the gap between the youth movement slowly taking over Colorado’s NHL roster right now. With Olausson leading the way, it’s a class that can do a lot of different things but has a special focus on shooting ability as well.