Colorado Avalanche Top 25 Under 25: #4 Nikolai Kovalenko

2 weeks ago  /  Mile High Hockey  /  Read Time: 2 minutes 56 seconds

Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images


Can Nikolai Kovalenko find his way to a roster spot full-time? The Top 25 Under 25 is a Mile High Hockey staff collaboration. Six writers have ranked players under the age of 25 in the Colorado Avalanche organization as of August 1, 2024. Now, we’ll count down each of the 25 players ranked.

Depending on who you are you may have wildly different expectations for Nikolai Kovalenko for his upcoming season with the Colorado Avalanche. A large portion of the fans expect him to be a part of their Opening Night roster while some cast him to the side. This speaks to the volatility of Kovalenko, it’s truly difficult to predict where he will be in the 2024-25 season.
Nikolai Kovalenko was drafted in the sixth round of the 2018 NHL Draft by the Colorado Avalanche, for whom his father briefly played after the team relocated to Colorado. For a few years, the main hype around Kovalenko was due to his namesake. Six years later, there’s plenty of hope for him as a regular for the Avalanche.
The hype on Kovalenko began to build after a strong season with the KHL’s Torpedo in 2022-23 where he potted 21 goals and neared a point-per-game with his new club. Going into the following season there was much chatter about Kovalenko potentially coming over to North America, especially after he signed his entry-level contract.
Kovalenko had another strong season to help fuel the fire. The hype for Kovalenko isn’t as high as some of the guys on this list. His ceiling isn’t high, but his floor is. Kovalenko has many NHL traits that can easily be translated already.
His high-end production in the KHL showed that he could produce offense but his game is built in the details. The now 24-year-old plays his game with a pace and intelligence that the Avalanche seek out in their players, especially those in the bottom six. The smarts are what starts the conversation but his tenacity is what makes it interesting. Kovalenko stands at a meager 5’10” but plays a foot taller. He has a similar profile to Logan O’Connor or Andrew Cogliano when it comes to intelligence and physicality. He’s not afraid to shy away from any confrontation.


Torpedo is getting absolutely dominated today. Game isn't even close. More of what I expected this series.But Kovalenko just sent a dude much bigger than him into the bench. pic.twitter.com/RgKIDkTwR3— Evan Rawal (@evanrawal) March 5, 2024




Those two players possess a bit more speed than him but Kovalenko has a higher offensive upside than both. His intelligence helps him make good reads but he has the talent to execute them at a higher level than most NHL bottom-six players do. As for scoring, he’s not as prolific. He’s akin to Gabe Landeskog in that his scoring is mostly going to be dirty but he can beat a goaltender and score a nicer goal every so often.
The Avalanche front office got a good look at Kovalenko at the end of last season. He played six games with the AHL-affiliate Colorado Eagles, scoring two goals and adding two assists in that stint. But he also had a cup of coffee with the Avalanche in their first-round series against the Winnipeg Jets.
He only played two games with the Avalanche so there wasn’t much to write home about. It was the first two games of his NHL career, in the playoffs no less, and he had just returned from a knee injury some weeks earlier. He looked a bit shaky and it’s clear he still needed some adjusting to the speed of the NHL and the Avs system. Despite this, he still had some moments, specifically a few nice defensive plays in high-danger areas, which is a great start for a rookie.


I think the speed was overwhelming for Kovalenko in his first game, which could be expected with zero practice time, but if you can defend well, you can earn the trust of the coach. pic.twitter.com/cPBKs3wohT— Evan Rawal (@evanrawal) April 29, 2024




There’s plenty for Kovalenko to improve on this season if he wants to live up to the hype and be a lineup regular for the Avs. It’s clear the tools are there, a few more of them just need to be translated. A full training camp and preseason getting used to the Avs system should do him wonders. There is still plenty of hope for Kovalenko to fulfill his role as a depth player for the Avalanche this year. If the adjustments progress as they should he will absolutely get his chance in burgundy this season.
2024 Top 25 Under 25
#5 Sean Behrens
#6 Ilya Nabokov
#7 Erik Brännström
#8 Jean-Luc Foudy
#9 Oskar Olausson
#10 Ondrej Pavel
#11 Ivan Ivan
#12 William Zellers
#13 Tory Pitner
#14 Christian Humphreys
#15 Trent Miner
#16 Max Curran
#17 Saige Weinstein
#T-18 Jake Fisher
#T-18 Matthew Stienburg
#20 Chase Bradley
#T-21 Louka Cloutier
#T-21 Kevin Mandolese
#23 Zakhar Bardakov
#24 Taylor Makar
#25 Maros Jedlicka
...

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