Brendan Lemieux’s rise to the NHL began when he was 3 months old, when he sat inside the Stanley Cup after his father raised it. It was June 1996, and Claude Lemieux had helped the Avalanche capture the Cup in the franchise’s first season in Denver.

Eighteen years later, Brendan Lemieux — a nephew of sorts to Avs brass Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy, Claude’s teammates in Denver from 1995-99 — is a candidate to become the Avs’ first-round selection in the 2014 draft. Sakic and Roy won’t pick Lemieux at No. 23 because of their strong ties to his family, or because Brendan was born in Denver, but they undoubtedly could use a player of his ilk.

Brendan is built like his father, emotionally and physically, and Claude Lemieux did just about everything in his 20-year NHL career that ended in 2009 at age 43. The four-time Stanley Cup winner would shoot from anywhere, throw his body at anyone and chirp with the best of them. He had 379 career NHL goals and 1,777 penalty minutes to prove it.

The Avs, who formerly interviewed Brendan Lemieux at the NHL combine in May, could use more nastiness in their young and talented forward corps.

“I can’t really pick, and I have to go with the flow and see what happens on draft day. But if the Avs were to select me, it would really be a dream come true,” Lemieux said.

Lemieux, 18, is projected in the NHL as a power forward who will score goals in a variety of ways and, naturally, will stir the pot. His game is part Gabe Landeskog and mostly Jamie McGinn. He’s not as skilled as Landeskog but is just as tough and fearless as the Avalanche captain, and he’s physical and mean like McGinn.

Brendan amassed 27 goals and a team-high 145 penalty minutes for the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League last season, his second year in the Canadian major-junior system after originally choosing the NCAA route and committing to North Dakota. Lemieux began the 2012-13 season with the Green Bay Gamblers of the United States Hockey League, a junior-A stop before heading to North Dakota.

His coach at Green Bay was Derek Lalonde, a former University of Denver assistant who’s now the head coach of the Detroit Red Wings’ ECHL affiliate.

“What he is now will translate exactly what he’ll be in pro hockey,” Lalonde said of Lemieux. “He’ll be a north-south winger. He’ll play with energy. He’s going to score gritty, hard goals and be hard to play against. When we had him, he was still learning how to channel his emotions correctly. He was getting better at it, but it’s something he will battle with. A guy that plays with that type of emotion, that high care level, is the guy you want.”

Lemieux, 6-foot and 206 pounds, said he left Green Bay because he sought the best opportunity to improve his draft status. He is ranked 28th among North American draft-eligible forwards and defensemen.

“It had nothing to do with his character. He was doing fine. I liked him. I liked coaching him,” Lalonde said.

When factoring in North American goaltenders and European prospects, Lemieux might drop out of the first round. Most draftniks believe he will go late in the first round or early in the second.

Claude Lemieux was the 26th pick in the 1983 draft, by Montreal in what then was the second round.

Mike Chambers: mchambers@denverpost.com or twitter.com/mikechambers

Like father, like son

Brendan Lemieux plays like his father, Claude Lemieux, left, did in the NHL, with big numbers in goals and penalty minutes. Last season with the OHL’s Barrie Colts:

• Brendan had team highs in playoff goals (seven) and penalty minutes (16).

• He ranked second on the team with 27 goals in the regular season, and first in penalty minutes with 145.