After five weeks of counting down the Colorado Avalanche organization’s Top 25 Under 25, the list is complete, and the conversation now shifts toward rookie camp, which is less than a week away, and the 2026-27 season, which begins at the end of the month.
This year’s rankings were built by seven Mile High Hockey staff writers, all weighing in on players in the Avalanche organization who were under 25 years old as of September 1, 2026. The result was a list that featured plenty of movement, a few surprise splits, and one clear name still sitting at the top.
Ilya Nabokov holds on to No. 1 as he begins his North American career in Colorado, even though five different players earned first-place votes. Behind him, the biggest climbs came from Christian Humphreys and Francesco Dell’Elce, who each jumped nine spots. Both are now on Entry Level Contract watch this spring.
The staff also added a reader poll on X for each player, asking whether the ranking was Too High, Too Low, or Just Right. Two results stood out above the rest: Tory Pitner drew the strongest “Too High” reaction at 62%, while Axel Eloffson landed the strongest “Too Low” response at 61%. Sean Behrens at No. 9 produced the most balanced result of the group, with the three choices split almost evenly.
Here’s how the full Top 25 shook out:
- Nikita Novosyolov
- Axel Eloffson
- Teddy Lechner
- Ivan Yunin
- Luka Cloutier
- Matthew DiMarsico
- Shawn Carrier
- Domenick Fensore
- Tory Pitner
- Jake Fisher
- Beckett Hamilton
- Linus Funck
- Alex Gagne
- Egor Shilov
- Zach L’Heureux
- Fabian Lysell
- Sean Behrens
- Nikita Prishchepov
- Francesco Dell’Elce
- TJ Hughes
- Christian Humphreys
- Fedor Svechkov
- Mikhail Gulyayev
- Gavin Brindley
- Ilya Nabokov
In Other News...
Avalanche Face A Tough Lehkonen Decision Before His Price Climbs
Artturi Lehkonen is heading into a season that already carries more than the usual contract-year noise. The Avalanche winger is set to play on a $4.5 million cap hit, and with unrestricted free agency looming next summer, Colorado is staring at a familiar front-office balancing act: reward a reliable player now, or wait and risk the market pushing his price beyond what the club can comfortably manage.
Joe Sakic has not sounded eager to rush the issue, and that makes sense with the Avalanche trying to keep an eye on projected salary cap space. Lehkonen is also at a point in his career where the next contract could be the one big payday, especially as he approaches 32. For Colorado, the challenge is clear enough - if they believe in his value, the cost may only get steeper the longer they let it sit. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Still Have One Blue Line Question To Solve
With training camp and the new season drawing closer, one of Colorados quieter offseason questions is whether Nick Blankenburg fits back into the picture on the blue line. The defenseman joined the Avalanche last season and, for a team that is always trying to balance depth, flexibility and cap space, he represents the kind of low-cost option that can matter more than it first appears.
The catch is that the Avalanche are working with limited salary cap room, so even a modest move has to be fit in carefully. A Professional Tryout deal or a league-minimum contract would be the simplest path if Colorado wants to keep Blankenburg around, but the roster math still has to work out first, which leaves one more item on the offseason checklist before the back end feels settled. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Face A Bigger Question Than Cale Makars Payday
Cale Makars next payday is the kind of number that can reshape the Avalanches books, but it is not really the hardest part of the conversation in Denver. Around the NHL, the lesson is familiar by now: elite players are worth elite money, yet winning teams still have to survive the cap with enough room left for the rest of the roster to function. The sport keeps proving that stars can drive a contender, but they cannot carry one alone.
For Colorado, that is where the real pressure starts. Paying a player at the very top of the market is one thing, but building a lineup with enough depth, reliable role players and balance around him is another challenge entirely. The highest-paid player in hockey does not automatically lift the Stanley Cup, and the Avalanche know the harder question is not just what Makar costs, but how the rest of the roster gets built around him. [Read more 🡒]