MONTREAL, QC — The Avalanche only had two picks in this year's NHL Draft, and neither were until the final two rounds on Friday.
Colorado selected defenseman Chris Romaine 193rd overall in the sixth round and goaltender Ivan Zhigalov 225th overall in the seventh round — the last pick of the entire draft. The Avalanche originally had third- and fifth-round picks as well, before trading them to the New York Rangers for goalie Alexandar Georgiev on Thursday.
Romaine, 18, played at Milton Academy in Massachusetts and will play Division l hockey for Providence in the fall. In 18 games at Milton Academy, he totaled 22 points including nine goals. The 6-foot, 194-pound blueliner was also named the Massachusetts Prep School hockey’s MVP and was his high school's team captain.
Zhigalov, 19, played at Sherbrooke Phoenix in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, where he had a 26-9-3 record, a 2.84 goals against average and a .892 save percentage. He's also spent time playing in Dynamo Moscow’s MHL team in Russia’s junior league, where he went 3-0-1 with a 1.15 goals against average and a .940 save percentage in five games. Zhigalov is 6-foot-3, 168 pounds and originally from Minsk, Belarus, making him the first Belarus-born player to be drafted by the Avalanche organization.
>>READ THE FULL DENVER GAZETTE STORY HERE
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Sports
> Top stories are curated daily just for you! Sign up for the 9NEWSLETTER to get can’t-miss stories, Next and Denver Broncos content, weather and more delivered right to your inbox.
MORE WAYS TO GET 9NEWS
Subscribe to our daily 9NEWSLETTER
Download the KUSA 9NEWS APP
iTunes: http://on9news.tv/itunes
Google Play: http://on9news.tv/1lWnC5n
HOW TO ADD THE 9NEWS APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for KUSA.
For both Apple TV and Fire TV, search for KUSA "9news" to find the free app to add it to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.
