Based on needs, the Avalanche probably will select a defenseman with the No. 10 pick at the NHL draft June 26-27. But this pick won’t be Connor McDavid, and patience will be required.
Big-league contribution from the No. 10 NHL pick — particularly a defenseman — probably will take one to three years, perhaps after “generational” draftee McDavid reaches 100 NHL goals for the draft lottery-winning Edmonton Oilers.
So the Avs’ immediate needs might differ from their foreseeable-future desires. But in every other way — including filling a void — Colorado is expected to select the second, third or fourth top draft- eligible defenseman: Ivan Provorov, Zachary Werenski or Jakub Zboril. In the past seven drafts, the Avs have selected only one defenseman in the first round — Duncan Siemens, No. 11 in 2011. Siemens has played in just one game in his NHL career.
The Russian-born Provorov and Zboril of the Czech Republic are coming from the Canada-based major junior system, and Werenski is a freshman at the University of Michigan.
The draft’s top-rated defenseman is Noah Hanifin, but the Boston College freshman will be off the board by the fifth pick.
Colorado Springs native Brandon Carlo of major junior’s Tri-City had a Central Scouting midterm ranking of 16 among North American skaters, but now is 25th and might slip to the second round. Besides the home-state charm, the 6-foot-5 Carlo would make a good fit.
Back to patience. Avalanche fans might be too accustomed to seeing top-10 picks play in the NHL immediately. The trend started in 2009 with Matt Duchene (third overall) and continued with Gabe Landeskog (second in 2011) and Nathan MacKinnon (first in 2013).
It’s much easier for forwards to make the immediate big jump. Among the six 2014 first-rounders to play in the NHL this season, only one is a defenseman — Calder Trophy finalist Aaron Ekblad, who went No. 1 overall to Florida.
Given the Avs’ excitement about 2013-drafted defensemen Chris Bigras (32nd overall), Mason Geertsen (93rd) and Will Butcher (123rd), plus 2014 third-rounder Kyle Wood (84th), they might choose a forward at No. 10 in June and anticipate immediate contribution.
Avs general manager Joe Sakic will talk publicly about his draft plans in the coming weeks.
Wrist receives tuneup. Landeskog and Avs teammates John Mitchell and Jarome Iginla attended the Shaka Franklin Foundation luncheon at a downtown hotel Friday, with Land- eskog donning a soft cast on his left arm.
Landeskog, who recently told Sweden he would not play at the Czech Republic-hosted World Championship beginning May 1, said he had wrist surgery “to clean some things up.” He is expected to be at full strength for training camp in September.
Mike Chambers: mchambers @denverpost. com or twitter.com/ mikechambers
