Avalanche select three on day two of draft

Welcome Francesco Dell’Elce, Linus Funck and Nolan Roed to Colorado!

It was a long wait to get to the first pick of the 2025 NHL draft for the Colorado Avalanche, but yet not as long as expected. As the Charlie Coyle trade provided the club with an extra selection at 77th overall in the third round. In addition to the two picks they already held in the fourth and seventh rounds, Colorado ended up with a three-pick draft class. Let’s meet the new Avalanche prospects.

77th Overall – LD Francesco Dell’Elce – UMass (NCAA) – 40 GP: 7G, 17A, 24P

With that pick the Avalanche selected Francesco Dell’Elce, a six-foot-one left shot defenseman who currently plays at UMass. He just turned 20-years-old so this means Dell’Elce was first draft eligible in 2023. He was playing at St. Andrews College, a prep school in Canada, at that time and not quite on the radar. Dell’Elce subsequently spent a year in the BCHL with the Penticton Vees before beginning his NCAA career.

Dell’Elce broke out in his freshman year at UMass putting up 24 points and averaged over 20 minutes time on ice as a freshman. With that resume he was ranked 82rd for North American skaters by NHL Central scouting and thus, expected to hear his name called this time around.

Colorado loves their overagers as a way to shortcut development and have made that investment in third round picks in previous years. Dell’Elce projects to be a similar type transition defenseman similar to Sam Malinski so perhaps the organization has found a prototype they can be successful with.

118th Overall – RD Linus Funck – Luelå J20 (Sweden) – 48 GP: 5G, 23A, 28P

In what’s clearly an effort to rebuild their prospect pool on the back end, the Avalanche selected another defenseman in the fourth round. This time they deviated from their typical strategy and looked to the Swedish junior ranks to find a big six-foot-three right handed defenseman.

Funck is a first year draft eligible at 18-years-old and was a bit of a favorite in the scouting community as someone who can play a two-way game and is growing into his large frame. He had an upward trajectory on his junior team this season and hopefully gets to keep developing in Sweden before reaching North America. Funck was the 39th ranked European skater by NHL Central Scouting.

214th Overall – LC Nolan Roed – Tri-City (USHL) – 61 GP: 27G, 33A, 60P

For the last pick in their 2025 draft class, the Avalanche went back to their familiar roots with a overage pick on the NCAA path. Left-shot center Nolan Roed had a breakout campaign in Tri-City where he led the team with 60 points and was ranked 135th for North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting. The five-foot-eleven 19-year old is expected to attend St. Cloud State for the 2025-26 season giving the Avalanche yet another prospect to follow in the NCAA.

Welcome to Colorado, hope to see them all at development camp!