Recap:

20. Sasha Mutala

19. Matthew Steinburg

18.) Alex Beaucage

17.) Tyler Weiss

16.) Brandon Saigeon

15.) Adam Werner

14.) Igor Shyvryov

13.) Ty Lewis

12.) Cam Morrison

11.) Nikolai Kovalenko

10.) Daniil Zhuravlyov

9.) Nicolas Meloche - rip





At number 8, is a prospect that really has grown a lot on me since the Avs selected them with their third pick in this past summers entry draft. Drew Helleson. The Avs invested a fairly high pick on this kid who was taken in the second round 47th overall. When you are a top 50 pick, your team is certainly expecting you to become an NHLer. So for the Avs to take this kid where they did says a lot about what they think of him as player. Helleson was selected from perhaps the most stacked and talented USNTDP team ever. A team with 8 first round selections this past draft, Helleson was the 10th player taken from that team. 10 players all taken from the same tam within the drafts first 47 picks, is absolutely nuts. Helleson kind of fell victim to that as well during the season. With so many talented players like that on the roster, he was essentially the teams third or fourth dman depending who you asked, and with so many top level forward prospects they weren't always being challenged when they were on the ice. However you can't blame Helleson for that and he did his job very well when he was on the ice.





Helleson played two seasons with the USNTDP, before he announced his commitment to Boston College where he will be playing this season alongside Avs top draft picks Alexander Newhook. (I don't care what anyone says, that is definitely going to be my college team this season and I encourage everyone to watch them closely). Helleson took advantage of a great opportunity at the WJC-18's this past season, I know I have said it in the past but this is a great opportunity for draft eligible players to raise their stock. Helleson answered a lot of questions about his puck moving ability and offensive upside while maintaining his strengths as a shutdown dman. While helping team USA earn the Bronze medal, Helleson posted 3 assists and was a +5 without taking any penalties over the course of 7 games for USA. I really started to like his game more and more when I went back and was able to watch film of him at this tournament. Helleson will be fighting this season to continue to make a name for himself with team USA and hopefully earn a spot on the WJC roster this winter. Certainly something to keep an eye out for in the coming months.





Helleson is a pretty simple defensman. He is a shut down guy and he has the size for it. He's listed as 6'3" 195lbs and can certainly add at least another 10 pounds to his frame. This is where college hockey will be good for him, along with playing against bigger and more physical competition. Coming into the draft, Helleson wasn't a player that I particularly spent a ton of time on and really didn't know all that much when the Avs drafted him. There were other dmen on the board at that time that I liked more than him. I was a little concerned about his skating and overall puck moving ability. But the more I actually dove into his game and watched his game ad read scouting reports from people who are a lot smarter than me, i felt more and more alright with the pick. Then I eventually began to love the pick.





While he is your tradition, big physical, shut down dman. That's not all he can do, and in today's game you can't survive doing just that. Take a look at a guy like Josh Anderson in the Avs system right now. A third round pick that was essentially wasted for lack of a better term, all because he was a guy that would have had a great career 25 years ago. But now, you have to be able to get up and down the ice and move the puck up and down the ice quickly as well. Helleson can do that. No he isn't going to be hitting you with home run stretch passes up and out of the zone but he is comfortable with the puck on his stick. He doesn't freak out or panic, he is going to make the easy, simple smart play to move the puck up to his forwards. And that is 100% alright. It gets the job done. And while he isn't the best skater in this draft class by far, he is a fluid skater. It's something that I really am not all that concerned with. He is above average certainly for your 18 year old dmen. Helleson can chip in at any point on the ice.





Where Helleson fits i on the Boston College blueline is going to effect what I want to see out of him. And right now I am not 100% sure where he will be slotted in on that lineup. If I had to take a guess I would imagine he'll be a second pairing guy. I'm excited to see his game in the NCAA level, especially on such a good team. I want to see an overall consistent year from him though. I want to see the coaching staff have faith in him. He can be a great penalty killer, as he did with team USA last season. He's not a guy you're going to plug in on the power play. But this kid should be putting up more numbers then a guy like Nate Clurman certainly. There is no reason not to expect a handful of goals and nearing around double digit points for this kid. But offensive production is not why the Avs drafted him. He is a shut down dmen and as along as he can go up against other teams top lines and hold them in check, i will be very happy with him.





When looking at Drew Helleson, I think you are looking at guy that will be at Boston College for two years. There is an outside chance he could be signed after this season and go spend a year maybe two with the Eagles, or on the flip side that he spends three seasons with Boston College. If I had to put money on it though, I expect him to be a very good collegiate hockey player. I think the Avs know what they want to see out of him and that they know what they want to do with him down the road. I think you are looking at two years at BC and then this kid will get a legitimate shot at replacing Ian Cole on a cheap contact. Now maybe he will spend a season with the Eagles but I really do like this kid. You can see where he fits in with the organization down the road if he can continue to develop. Something tells me we will be seeing Helleson with the Avs here in three or four years.