DENVER – It was an amazing ride that the 2017-18 Colorado Avalanche gave their fans. A huge turnaround from finishing dead last in the league the previous season ended with the Avalanche eventually falling to the Nashville Predators in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A look back at the 2017 draft saw Colorado try and build upon their defense, acquiring defenseman Cale Makar. Makar, had success in the World Junior Championships, winning a gold medal with team Canada. In seven games, Makar registered three goals and five assists.
Makar finished his season with University of Massachusetts-Amherst with 21 points in 34 games for the Minutemen.
Outside defensive draft picks, Colorado has been working to solidify their defensive core in the offseason. Mark Barberio just signed a two year contract to stay with the Avalanche.
Given Colorado’s draft history, the Avalanche will most likely take a center, having drafted nine centers in the first round since 2000.
The last center they drafted was Tyson Jost during the 2016 draft. Jost has proven to be a valuable addition to the offense, scoring 12 goals and 10 assists in 65 games. His plus/minus could use some improvement as he finished the regular season with a -10.
This year the Avalanche will look to add more to their offense. Rasmus Kupari could be what Colorado needs to accomplish that. Measuring in at 6-foot 1-inch and 183 pounds, the center from Finland played 34 games with Oulun Kärpät registering 14 points (6 goals and 8 assists).
In his most recent season with Kärpät, Kupari had a plus/minus of four over 39 games. Over half of the Avalanche roster last season had a plus/minus of zero or worse, meaning the Avalanche can really use a two-way forward.
The 18-year-old from Kotka, Finland recently won gold with team Finland in the 2018 U18 World Junior Championships. Scoring two goals and an assist in four games during the tournament.
His performance in 2018 was an improvement over the previous year. In the 2017 tournament, Kupari helped the Finnish U18 team get silver in the World Championships while scoring three assists in seven games.
While Kupari may be lighter than the other centers already on Colorado’s roster, his height would be a good fit with the rest of the centers who range from 6-foot 3-inch Carl Soderberg to 5-foot 11-inch Tyson Jost.
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