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Avs lose quite possibly their best development guy in Greg Cronin, who leaves the HC gig with the Colorado Eagles to take the job with the Anaheim Ducks.

I had my reservations when they hired him after a not-great assistant coaching stint with the Islanders, but he won a lot of people over fast. Ryan Graves credits him a great deal for turning him from a career AHLer who just wasn't putting it together into a top-four NHL defenseman who stands to cash in this summer. He's brought along a lot of players despite the lack of draft quality, and the Eagles were successful on their own merits as well.

Also a generally amiable guy who's fun to listen to. The Boston accent certainly helps.

Assistant coach Aaron Schneekloth is promoted to replace Greg Cronin as Eagles head coach. This is the guy most everyone was rooting for to take over as he started with the Eagles as a player back when they were still in the Central Hockey League before it folded and essentially got absorbed into the ECHL, and has worked his way up ever since. He was also with the Carolina Stingrays back when Jared Bednar was an assistant coach there so there's that connection as well.

I was going to joke that I wasn't surprised Cronin was out as a minor league coach and now I see he'll be HC for the Ducks. Wow.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

People seem high on Nikolai Kovalenko, son of Andrei I assume, who had a big year in the K and is coming over in 2024 in all likelihood.

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Yep, he sure is.

So, people in the know are relatively high on him but he’s anything but a surefire thing. He’s not big, he’s also not fast but skilled and scrappy, the grand hope is that he fills out a depth role. If he turns into a reasonably good third line banger everyone will be thrilled with him. He’s certainly had enough development/shakedown time in Russia.

Interestingly enough, the Eagles have been red hot of late, despite no real prospects on the roster (Oskar Olausson, who isn't really a legit prospect anymore anyway, had season-ending shoulder surgery). 8-2-0-0 in their last 10 and in second place behind the stupid Baby Kraken.

Since clearing waivers and going down, Ivan Prosvetov is doing his best Ken Dryden impression and has been lights-out during this stretch.

Good job by first year head coach Aaron Schneekloth, who I believe is one of the original Eagles back when they were still part of the now-defunct Central Hockey League.

Calum Ritchie is now up to 68 points in 42 games in the OHL.

Avs fans will have to wait a bit longer on Nikolai Kovalenko, as his team won their first game of the KHL playoffs. He played a not-insubstantial part in that win too. Ironically, I believe he faced off against another player who is now an Avs prospect, Zakhar Bardakov.

Speaking of the KHL playoffs, Mikhail Gulyayev is PPG so far, 2 points in 2 games. Just 18 years old.

It's officially "contracts for next year" season, and the Avs waste no time signing AHL standout Ivan Ivan (yes, that's his name, and he's Czech, not Russian) to a two-year ELC.

https://www.nhl.com/avalanche/news/aval ... -ivan-ivan

27 points in 51 AHL games with the Eagles so far. Definitely projects as a bottom six forward at any level, but appears able to play both center and wing, and if he finds his way in the NHL could be a much-needed win in the development category for the Avs.

So I guess Nikolai Kovalenko is now free to join the Avs since his team got eliminated in the KHL playoffs, BUT...and tell me if you've heard this before because I have plenty of times...he's hurt.

Avs make it through the deadline without having to give up any top prospects. In fact they only give up one, and got one back in return.

Of course things could change in a hurry this offseason but I imagine they want to keep guys like Sean Behrens (defenseman at DU) and Calum Ritchie (center playing in junior) since it's very likely a big-name roster player is going to be dealt.

https://www.espn.com/nhl/insider/story/ ... ers-future

ESPN Prospect Rankings, Avs are ranked 22nd, which I think is way too generous. They have two kids with legit NHL upside in Sean Behrens (D) and Calum Ritchie (C) but beyond that...oof.

They list AHL forward Oskar Olausson but he looks like a total bust at this point. Has made virtually no progress in the minors and doesn't seem able to switch his game from dynamic junior scorer to AHL/NHL lunch pailer.

In case anyone cares, the Sabres are ranked #1.

Avs ink their top defensive prospect, Sean Behrens of recent National Champs (and now most successful program in NCAA hockey HISTORY) Denver University to an ELC. He also signed an ATO with the Colorado Eagles and is currently on their roster. He's already played a regular season game for them but is unlikely to suit up for any playoff games. Someone online described Behrens as "Radko Gudas, except smaller." So I guess we'll see how he pans out in the NHL.

Avs top forward prospect Calum Ritchie is still playing for the Oshawa Generals in the 2nd round of the OHL playoffs, I'm guessing he'll be signed once those (and possibly the Memorial Cup) are all done.