Colorado Avalanche rookie Nikolai Kovalenko making case to crack the top-six out of camp

The Avs drafted Kovalenko in the 6th round, 171st overall in the 2018 draft. As an undersized player, his path to the NHL was always going to be a long-shot but after years of development in Russia, it appears as though he could finally be getting that chance. The 24-year-old made his debut for the Avalanche last season in the playoffs, where he got into two games but did not record a point. Last night however, he had two points, both primary assists against the Dallas Stars.

Both plays were very nice, showcasing a mix of vision, technical ability, and puck protection. Furthermore, his first assist gave his team the lead while the second tied the game up. As such, both plays came at great times for the team, something the coaching staff surely noticed.

Avalanche fans have taken notice as well. With multiple strong pre-season showings under his belt now, the hype among the fanbase is starting to grow as many see him as a potential top-six solution for a team that is still missing huge pieces in Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichuskin.

Kovalenko has spent the majority of the past five seasons in the KHL where he has steadily become a major scoring threat. The last two seasons in particular were great as he scored just under a point-per-game with 54 points in 56 games during the 2022-23 season and 35 points in 42 games last season. He also got into 4 AHL games last season where he put up three points. All of this seems to be pointing to him becoming a full-time NHLer next season. Now we will just have to see what his ceiling at the NHL level is.