Tyson Jost: The Right Pick for the Avalanche?

The Avs went into this draft with great depth down the middle, needing some young skilled wingers, size, and prospects on the back end. So why not draft a 5’11 center? This pick is confusing for 3 reasons. 1). Jost is a tier 2 junior player. In Canada, tier 2 is the level below the WHL, OHL, and QMHJL. Lots of players who don’t make those 3 leagues play Tier 2, or Junior A as it is also known as. So, Jost is good against players who aren’t good enough to play with the best teens in Canada. Tier 2 players who are drafted into the NHL rarely make an impact. Since 2009, 13 players have been taken from Canadian Junior A in the first 3 rounds of the draft. Here is the full list: Dylan Olsen, Brandon Pirri, Reilly Smith, Beau Bennett, Alexander Guptill, Julian Melchiori, Brennan Serville, Devin Shore, Jujhar Khaira, Colton Parayko, Adam Tambellini, Brandon Hickey, and Jake Walman.

Out of all these players, Colton Parayko (2012, 3^rd round) and Reilly Smith (2009, 3^rd round) are the only successful ones. But look at their draft dates. Smith was drafted in 2009 and has just started to make an NHL impact the past few years. Parayko has taken 4 years to crack the league, but as a defenseman that isn’t too bad.

Jost scored almost a goal per game against other Tier 2 players. He outskated Tier 2 forwards, beat out Tier 2 defenseman, and sniped pucks past Tier 2 goalies. This does not mean his accomplishments are worthless; it just means that we have not seen how he can play against better players.

Yes, he played and dominated in the IIHF U-18 tournament, but again, that was against players 18 and under. How can he play against the worlds best 19 and 20 year olds? These concerns aren’t just mad Avs fans being cranky that the Avs didn’t pick who they wanted. These are legitimate concerns.

Jost is done with Tier 2, and will take his talents to the NCAA for hockey. This means the Avs won’t see Jost for about 4 years, unless he just kills it in college and de-comits for the Avs. In our opinion, the Avs should have drafted a player that could make the team a little earlier, and have more of an immediate impact. At the 10^th overall pick, the Avs could have improved the team for right now. Instead, they drafted a center, who will play behind Duchene and MacKinnon when he makes the team, in 4 years. The Avs weren’t a playoff team last year. The Avs are not any better than they were when they played their 82^nd, and last, game of the season. So have they settled for mediocrity over the next few years?

Other teams in the league, especially the Central Division, are getting better; Either through the draft, development, trades, or signings.

So who SHOULD the Avs have taken?

The Avs need help on defense. They should have taken the best defenseman available, whoever that player was in their opinion. Sakic already said they won’t splash in Free Agency, so the draft is really the only other way to acquire players. If the Avs want to wait 4 years to get a roster player, they might as well help out their defensive depth going forward. Chychrun?

If Jost turns into the great 2 way player he is expected to be, then it is a good move, and of course this is all speculation, so you never know. Another Ryan O'Reilly? Another Soderberg? That would be decent. But at #10 in the draft, the Avs needed to land a franchise talent. You just can't bust at #10, so hopefully Jost can prove all the doubters wrong.