The Colorado Avalanche made six selections on day two of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, including A.J. Greer and Nicolas Meloche with back-to-back picks in the second round.
In total, Colorado selected four forwards and three defenseman, beginning with right wing Mikko Rantanen from Finland with the No. 10 overall pick on Friday night.
Colorado had traded for the first pick of the second round, part of the pre-draft deal that send Ryan O’Reilly to Buffalo, but moved that pick to San Jose before selecting Greer.
Colorado held back-to-back second round picks following a trade with the Sharks in which the Avalanche obtained the No. 39 overall selection, a second-round pick in 2016 and a sixth-round choice in 2017 in exchange for the No. 31 overall pick (acquired Friday from the Buffalo Sabres).
At 18, Greer was the youngest forward in the NCAA in 2014-15. The 6-foot-3 and 204-pound Quebec native ranked third among freshmen forwards at Boston University with seven points (3 goals, 4 assists) in 37 games and scored a goal in the Terriers’ NCAA Frozen Four semifinal win against top-ranked North Dakota.
For its second selection in the second round and No. 40 overall, Colorado chose defenseman Nicolas Meloche from Baie-Comeau of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. In 2014-15 Meloche led his team defensemen in goals (10) and ranked second in both assists (24) and points (34) season despite playing in only 44 games.
In the third round Colorado chose center Jean-Christophe Beaudin of Rouyn-Noranda of the QMJHL with the No. 71 pick. Beaudin was a workhorse for Rouyn-Noranda, playing in all 68 regular season games.
Defenseman Andrei Mironov of Russia was the Avs’ fourth-round section – 101st overall. The Moscow native spent the past three seasons with Dynamo Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League.
Without a pick in the fifth round, Colorado followed with another Russian native in the sixth, selecting defenseman Sergei Boikov with the No. 161 overall selection. Boikov spent the past two seasons with Drummondville of the QMJHL, playing in 68 and 64 games respectively and accumulating 153 PIM.
The Avalanche’s final selection – seventh round, 191st overall – was 6-foot-6, 213-pound center Gustav Olhaver. The Angelholm, Sweden native spent the majority of the 2014-15 campaign with Rogle Jr. (Under-20) in Sweden, where he tallied 12 points (6g/6a) in 41 games.
The Avs convene for training camp sometime in mid-September. Dates should be released by the club soon. The club opens the season Oct. 8 against Minnesota.
