As per Mike Chambers of The Denver Post, the Avalanche are one of the favorites to land American-born forward Derek Ryan, who has spent the past four seasons in Europe. Ryan spent his junior career with his home town’s Spokane chiefs. He never got drafted by an NHL team and went on to play university hockey at the University of Alberta in the Canadian CIS.
Ryan has drawn lots of comparisons to Tampa Bay Lightning center Tyler Johnson. They were both born in Spokane, played for the local Spokane Chiefs in the WHL and went undrafted.