The Avalanche is scheduled to select 10th in the first round of the NHL draft proceedings in Buffalo, N.Y., on Friday night, and the goal is to have a repeat of 2015, when Colorado eagerly pounced on Finnish right winger Mikko Rantanen in the same slot.
“We always seem to get some surprises in the top 10 — just like we did last year that allowed us to get Rantanen — and I don’t see anything different this year that’s going to stop us to get a good player at 10,” Alan Hepple, the Avs’ second-year director of amateur scouting, said recently.