NHL Prospect Watch: Colorado Avalanche

Category: ArticleJuly 28, 2024

Ahead of the 2024-25 hockey season, we’re diving into the WHL prospect pool for each of the NHL’s 32 teams. Throughout the series, we’ll highlight WHLers who have been signed to an NHL contract, were recently drafted, or are included in the NHL’s definition of a rookie.

Today, we check in on the Colorado Avalanche.

Maxmilian Curran

The smile probably hasn’t left Max Curran’s face since the Avalanche chose him with the 161st pick in the fifth round of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft in June. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound centreman was hot out of the gate in his first season in North America, piling up a goal and seven assists in his first 10 games. He grew his totals to five goals and 27 assists for 32 points in 40 games and seemed to be hitting a new level when an injury cut his season short. The Prague, Cze. product healed up in time to represent his country at the 2024 IIHF U18 World Championship in May, tallying a goal and two assists in five matches. Curran’s rookie WHL season included a WHL Rookie of the Week win, Tri-City Americans Scholastic Player of the Year honours and an invite to the 2024 Kubota CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game. Ams Head Coach Stu Barnes has praised Curran’s work in tight areas and looks forward to seeing the 17-year-old progress in his second WHL season.

As @TheWHL says, have a night Max Curran! pic.twitter.com/qKfe7hrkbB

— Tri-City Americans (@TCAmericans) January 21, 2024

Trent Miner

Former Vancouver Giants netminder Trent Miner’s third professional season saw him bounce between the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies and the AHL’s Colorado Eagles, with the bulk of his action coming with the Eagles. Miner amassed a 9-6-1 record, a 2.10 goals-against average, a .930 save percentage and a shutout at the AHL level for some of the best stats of his career. The 23-year-old steered aside 22 shots against the powerhouse Coachella Valley Thunderbirds to preserve his first AHL shutout on December 17. In May, the Avalanche announced the club had signed Miner to a one-year contract for the 2024-25 season. A 2019 seventh-round pick of the Avalanche, Miner put up 24 wins to go along with a 1.98 goals-against average in his first full WHL season, helping Vancouver reach the 2019 WHL Championship Series, where the Giants fell to the Raiders in overtime in Game 7. He was named the B.C. Division Goaltender of the Year in 2021.

Staying in CO!🏔️

Congrats to goaltender Trent Miner on re-signing a one-year contract with the @Avalanche! pic.twitter.com/gTip4PFkbm

— Colorado Eagles (@ColoradoEagles) May 21, 2024

Saige Weinstein

Spokane Chiefs defenceman Saige Weinstein got into the Avs system the hard way, earning a contract and an NHL preseason game with an impressive showing at camp after going unselected at the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound 19-year-old had a banner year in Spokane, putting up a personal best 10 goals (including a pair of game-winners) and 15 assists for 25 points in 63 games, leading all Chiefs defencemen in goals and all Chiefs skaters with a +18 rating. Weinstein tallied six multi-point games this season, highlighted by a two-goal performance in a 4-2 win over Kelowna on February 13. While he didn’t see AHL game action, Weinstein was recalled to the Colorado Eagles to get a taste of a professional environment after Spokane’s first-round playoff exit. Entering his fourth full season of major junior hockey, the Edmonton, Alta. product has 15 goals and 42 assists for 57 points in 184 games under his belt. Internationally, he won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2022 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.