The Top 25 Under 25 is a collaboration by Mile High Hockey staff members. Six writers have ranked players under the age of 25 in the Colorado Avalanche organization as of September 1, 2025. Now, we’ll count down each of the 25 players ranked (plus one Honorable Mention).
After leading his WHL team, the Tri-City Americans, in points with 74 in 65 games last season, there’s a little bit of momentum behind forward prospect Max Curran. The soon-to-be 19-year-old still has one year in the WHL ahead of him before hopefully earning a contract from the Colorado Avalanche to play pro hockey in the AHL the following year. First, Curran will be playing on a new team in the upcoming season as he was traded to the Edmonton Oil Kings this summer. It’s a good opportunity for him as Edmonton has a strong program with some top NHL prospects.
Also, as part of his accomplishments built over the 2024-25 season, Curran was named the WHL’s Scholastic Player of the Year. Which sets up an interesting decision for him as the NCAA might be a better path for him than the AHL so early in his career and could be a true test of the new options for players. A NHL contract is tough to turn down, though, so we will see how it all unfolds.
Curran holds international potential as well as he is on the radar for this winter’s Czech World Juniors team after participating in multiple national teams including the Hlinka Gretzky tournament, Under-18 World Juniors and most recently the Five Nations Under-20 tournament.
Curran was drafted in the fifth round at 161st overall as part of Colorado’s mega nine-pick 2024 draft class. The intrigue on the left shot forward is obvious, he has good size and an impressive six-foot-three frame to build on with clear offensive ability. Curran possesses a nice shot but he doesn’t use it enough as evidenced by his 22-goal output last season, which at least was up from five the year before. His game is rather raw and the skating can be at times, though agility is more an issue than straight line speed. But the upside is real and the Avalanche will have to figure the best path for Curran to take advantage of his talents. Which is why our ranking of him and outside opinions are so varied.