The Avalanche prospects will take part in a pair of Rookie Showcase games this weekend with players both new and familiar to watch on the ice.<\/p>\n
Gavin Brindley<\/p>\n
Acquired via trade from the Columbus Blue Jackets on the day of the 2025 NHL Draft, Brindley spent the 2024-25 season with the AHL\u2019s Cleveland Monsters, posting 17 points (6g\/11a) in 52 regular-season games while appearing in four playoff contests. The No. 34 overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft played two seasons at the University of Michigan, totaling 91 points (37g\/54a) in 81 contests that included two trips to the Frozen Four. In 2023-24, Brindley was named Big Ten Player of the Year after posting 53 points (25g\/28a) in 41 games. Internationally, Brindley helped Team USA win gold at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship while posting 10 points (6g\/4a) in seven games at the tournament.<\/p>\n
Avalanche Director of Player Development Brian Willsie said Brindley\u2019s skill and compete level stood out to him when he watched him play at Michigan and added that a player\u2019s first year as a pro is a big step.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think you learn a lot going through your first year [as a] pro,\u201d Willsie said. \u201cI know I did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sean Behrens<\/p>\n
After missing the entire 2024-25 season due to a knee injury, Behrens is ready to return to the ice. The No. 61 overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft made his pro debut at the end of the 2023-24 season by appearing in one regular-season game and a playoff contest. Before making the jump to pro hockey, Behrens spent three seasons at the University of Denver, posting 81 points (10g\/71a) in 112 games while helping the Pioneers win two National Championships. Behrens was teammates with Brindley at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship and posted three points (1g\/2a) in seven games, taking home a bronze medal for Team USA.<\/p>\n
Willsie said it\u2019s exciting for Behrens to return to playing real games after spending his first year as a pro rehabbing from an injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor him to come in and just get his feet wet, it\u2019s good to have this leading into NHL camp,\u201d Willsie said.<\/p>\n
Nikita Prishchepov<\/p>\n
In his first year as a pro, Prishchepov played 10 games with the Colorado Avalanche while spending most of the season with the AHL\u2019s Colorado Eagles. In 51 regular-season games with the Eagles, he posted 23 points (9g\/14a) in addition to appearing in three playoff contests. In his last year of junior hockey, Prishchepov posted 67 points (22g\/45a) in 63 regular-season games as well as 11 points (3g\/8a) in 14 playoff contests with the QMJHL\u2019s Victoriaville Tigres.<\/p>\n
Prishchepov has the most NHL games of anyone on the Avs\u2019 Rookie Showcase roster, and Willsie said he\u2019s had a great summer of training.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will look for him to springboard from this weekend [into] NHL camp and see what he can do next week,\u201d Willsie said.<\/p>\n
Maxmilian Curran<\/p>\n
Curran had a big year in 2024-25, leading the WHL\u2019s Tri-City Americans with 74 points (22g\/52a) in 65 regular-season games in addition to three points (1g\/2a) in five playoff contests. Willsie said Curran\u2019s game became more well-rounded this past season after he played both center and wing.<\/p>\n
\u201c[He] learned under (Americans Head Coach) Stu Barnes, who has been a mentor there for him as a head coach,\u201d Willsie said. \u201c[He] put on a bit of weight, too, [which] we look for in a big player. He has a big frame and broad shoulders.\u201d<\/p>\n
This summer, Curran was traded to the Edmonton Oil Kings where Willsie said he will look for Curran to be a key player.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Avalanche prospects will take part in a pair of Rookie Showcase games this weekend with players both…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":153934,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-153933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153933\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}