Cale Makar and Ian Mitchell were the top NHL draft-eligible defensemen in the Alberta Junior Hockey League last season. They became the first two AJHL players selected in the 2017 draft, with Makar going to the Avalanche in the first round (No. 4 overall) and Mitchell to the Chicago Blackhawks in the second (57th).

The former junior-A rivals — Makar played for the Brooks Bandits outside Calgary, Mitchell with the Spruce Grove Saints near Edmonton — now have college hockey and Colorado in common. Makar, a freshman at the University of Massachusetts, could play for the Avs as soon as next season. And Mitchell is a freshman at the University of Denver.

Makar and Mitchell played for Canada West at the 2016 World Junior A Challenge in Bonnyville, Alberta.

“We’ve developed a friendship, having played with each other,” Mitchell said of Makar. “Getting to know him was cool. Obviously, he’s an elite talent. The Avalanche are lucky to have him.”

Makar and Mitchell are both 5-foot-11, right-shooting speedsters with dynamic offensive skills. At DU, Mitchell has quarterbacked the No. 1 power play with some of the country’s best forwards in Henrik Borgstrom, Troy Terry and Dylan Gambrell since opening night. Mitchell, 18, is still looking for his first NCAA goal but has contributed four assists for the top-ranked and defending national champions (4-0-2), who begin National Collegiate Hockey Conference play this weekend with a two-game series at Western Michigan (3-3-1).

“His instincts are really, really good and what he’s done already has surpassed where we expected him to be at right now,” DU coach Jim Montgomery said of Mitchell, the team’s second-youngest player. “In the first couple games he just wanted to pass the puck to the other guys on the power play. And why wouldn’t you want to just pass the puck to Terry, Borgstrom or Gambrell? But now he’s playing with them.”

Mitchellhas essentially replaced defenseman Will Butcher, the 2017 Hobey Baker Award winner now playing for the New Jersey Devils, on what could be the NCAA’s most dangerous power play.

“Monty’s put me there and I’ve tried to run with it,” Mitchell said of replacing Butcher. “Not many freshman get put in a place like that. I definitely feel very fortunate.”

Mitchell chose the Pioneers over North Dakota as a 16-year-old — making that decision three weeks before North Dakota defeated DU with a last-minute goal at the 2016 Frozen Four semifinals in Tampa, Fla.

“All my buddies were bugging me, saying I made the wrong choice,” Mitchell said. “But I don’t think so at this point.”

DU, of course, returned to the Frozen Four last April and won its eighth national championship at the United Center in Chicago. Despite losing Butcher and a handful of other graduated seniors, the Pioneers could be more talented this season.

“Getting an opportunity to play on a team like this, where you’re ranked No. 1 and being given a unbelievable opportunity to do something really special — it’s not just me but all the freshmen are trying to come in and make an impact right away to warrant that ranking that we have. We lost a lot of great senior players last year, so there’s a lot of us who have to step in and fill the void. It’s exciting coming to the rink every day, knowing we have a really good team and getting better each day.”

Footnotes. Senior goalie Tanner Jaillet could play consecutive games again, Montgomery said, after leading DU to a weekend sweep at Boston University and at Boston College last weekend. … Junior forward Colin Staub will continue to play with the Gambrell-centered line, with right wing Terry. Borgstrom is with Liam Finlay and Jared Lukosevicius. … Lukosevicius, who scored all three goals in Denver’s 3-2 NCAA championship game victory over Minnesota-Duluth in April, is still looking for his first goal of the season.