Avalanche Prospect Included in League-Wide Top-20 Offseason List

Scott Wheeler of The Athletic recently released his top-20 league-wide goaltending prospects, and one of the Colorado Avalanche’s own made the list.

It’s no surprise, but Ilya Nabokov, long considered the Avs’ goalie of the future, is the one who made the cut.

Nabokov, 23, was listed as No. 18 out of 20, sandwiched in between Detroit’s Michael Postava and Toronto’s Artur Akhtyamov. Listed at 6-foot-0, 179 pounds, the Avs’ top pick (No. 38 overall) in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft isn’t the biggest goalie around, especially in a league where towering netminders are becoming more common.

Here’s what Wheeler had to say about the Russian native.

Nabokov was my top-ranked goalie in the 2024 NHL Draft and the first goalie chosen, and established himself as one of the top goalies outside the NHL at an early age. He doesn’t have ideal size, but was an MHL All-Star in 2022-23, KHL rookie of the year and playoffs MVP in 2023-24, backstopping Magnitogorsk to a Gagarin Cup title, and again one of the top goalies in the league two seasons ago. His numbers took a big dip last year (.901), but he was still winning games. He’s a mobile and extremely technically and positionally sound goalie who gets to pucks, recovers quickly, sticks with scrambles and tracks well through traffic, but also stays controlled and has good hands. I don’t see much to pick apart in his game, and I expect him to play in the NHL and even be really solid as an NHL goalie. He’ll play for the Eagles in the AHL next year, and I expect him to have immediate success there.

The Avalanche are expecting a big year from Nabokov in 2026-27. He made his way to North America late last season, but this will be his first full year with the organization. That means attending training camp, potentially getting a preseason start with the Avs, and splitting duties with Trent Miner in Loveland with the Colorado Eagles.

If all goes well, I’d expect Nabokov to even get an NHL start or two during the regular season as the franchise continues to patiently develop their goalie of the future.