Avalanche Prospects Turn Heads During Impressive Rookie Showcase Weekend
The Colorado Avalanche rookie camp attendees posted a 1-0-1 record over a pair of weekend games as they traveled to San Jose for the Rookie Showcase.
Colorado picked up three of four possible points after a 7-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks in addition to a 6-5 shootout defeat to the Vegas Golden Knights. Saturday's win over Anaheim featured a high number of goals from the Avalanche — with Taylor Makar, Beckett Hamilton, Matt DiMarsico, Kalder Varga, and Alex Gagne each scoring a goal, in addition to Cooper Gay, who posted a pair of tallies.
Gagne also served as team captain on Sept. 12 and completed a Gordie Howe hat trick after posting an assist and a fight in addition to his previously mentioned goal.
The budding star signed a two-year deal in August 2025 with the Avs on an entry-level contract. The defenseman arrived in Colorado fresh from college hockey, stepping into his first pro season with the Eagles following his collegiate career with the University of New Hampshire.
Rookie Faceoff Shows Solid Future for Colorado
The final score of the first game at Rookie Faceoff against the Ducks was 7-2; the final after the shootout against Vegas was 6-5 in favor of the Golden Knights.
Final from our first game at Rookie Faceoff in San Jose.
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) September 12, 2026
Colorado Avalanche: 7
Anaheim Ducks: 2
Colorado Eagles Head Coach Jussi Ahokas said he was impressed with the future Avs’ performances on the ice.
“[At] five-on-five, I thought the guys were committed,” Ahokas said per NHL.com. "They were playing the right way. We played two ways. We had good tracking, we had good drivers and we [scored] good net-front goals and good tip goals."
Strong Penalty Kill Showing From Avalanche at Rookie Showcase
The Avalanche also posted a perfect mark on the penalty kill against the Ducks, including a five-on-three penalty kill and a four-minute double minor.
Ahokas also specifically spoke to the penalty kill — citing commitment as the reason it was so successful in particular.
"Guys were committed to it,” Ahokas said. “Of course, both goalies [Ilya Nabokov and Tobias Tvrznik] played really well. But you have to commit. Guys were sacrificing. There were a couple of huge blocks there.”
Against the Golden Knights on Sept. 13, Noah Jettelson, Nikita Prischepov and Varga all potted goals in addition to a pair of tallies from Jake Chiasson.
The Avalanche will next play their preseason opener against the Utah Mammoth on Sept. 20 at Ball Arena. Colorado is coming after having advanced to the Western Conference Final in 2025-26.
Jennifer Streeter graduated with a B.A. in journalism from Texas A&M and received her Master of Science from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. At both schools, she focused on an emphasis of sports reporting. A former athlete herself, "Jenny" was a varsity soccer player and comes from a family who participated in NCAA athletics. She has covered hockey since 2023 and is credentialed for the Seattle Kraken, New Jersey Devils and PWHL in addition to having covered the 2026 Frozen Four.