When looking at the Avalanche’s foreseeable future long beyond the coronavirus pandemic — meaning next season and beyond — Alex Newhook and a boatload of salary-cap space begin to paint a colorful picture in Colorado.
Newhook, the 19-year-old Boston College freshman who recently won the Tim Taylor Award as NCAA freshman of the year, is among the Avs’ two can’t-miss prospects and I suspect he’ll enjoy a stout NHL career.
The other? Bo Byram, 18, whom The Hockey News rated No. 1 among all 310 eligible prospects (Newhook is No. 13) in the magazine’s Future’s Watch. To be eligible, the player has to be 21-younger and in a team’s system — drafted, signed or acquired in a trade — or a young gun currently on the NHL team.