Only one team in the NHL has a higher draft pick than the Colorado Avalanche this year, who hold the No. 2 overall draft pick.
There is a lot of debate amongst the Avalanche faithful as to who the Avalanche should draft with the second overall pick.
A lot, of course, depends on who Edmonton takes with the first overall pick.
At the moment, the general consensus seems to be that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will go to the Oilers first overall.
Some on Bleacher Report see this as a very bad idea for the Oilers to do this.
Supposing that the Oilers follow this particular advice and pass up on Nugent-Hopkins, I firmly believe that the Avalanche should follow suit, and allow him to slide by.
First of all, allow me to say that I have absolutely nothing against RNH, it's clear that he's going to be a star in the NHL and has an incredibly bright future in front of him, it just shouldn't be with the Avalanche.
Why? There are two simple reasons.
First off, the Avalanche are already incredibly center heavy on their team.
By the end of the year, the Avalanche had five centers on the active roster. Paul Stastny, Matt Duchene, Jay McClement, Phillippe Dupuis and Ryan O'Reilly who will all make strong pushes to stay on the roster.
There are some who think that the Avalanche will trade Paul Stastny away this summer, but I just can't see that happening, as he is a marquee player on the Avalanche and has a huge contract that not too many teams would want to take on.
Add in the fact that the Avalanche signed top draft pick of a year ago, Joey Hishon, to an entry level contract towards the end of the season, and will expect that he will make a serious push to make the roster for next season.
The last thing that the Avalanche are in need of is another center.
Second, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would just add to another one of the greatest weaknesses on the Avalanche from this past season.
Nugent-Hopkins is about 6'0" tall, 165 pounds. This is how he compares to the Avalanche centers that I mentioned earlier.
Paul Stastny: 6 feet, 205 pounds.
Matt Duchene: 5 feet 11 inches, 200 pounds.
Jay McClement: 6 feet 1 inch, 201 pounds.
Phillippe Dupuis: 6 feet, 196 pounds.
Ryan O'Reilly: 6 feet, 200 pounds.
Joey Hishon: 5 feet 10 inches, 170 pounds.
The Avalanche have their fair share of smaller, finesse style players. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would just give them more of what they already have.
What the Avalanche need is a power forward who is big, strong, will get into the dirty areas and bang home the ugly goals.
Since the Avalanche traded Chris Stewart, they have been lacking in that area and Ryan Stoa definitely did not fill this role.
There is another player that has been on Avalanche fan's radar for quite a while because he fills the power forward role perfectly, and has been described as the most NHL ready player in this draft.
Gabriel Landeskog.
If the Avalanche are given a choice between the two, and there is a definite possibility that they could be, I believe that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is not the guy for the Colorado Avalanche.
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