| # | Rd | Pick | Player | Pos | Team (League) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1. | 1 | 28 | Oskar Olausson | RW | HV71 (Sweden) |
| 2. | 2 | 61 | Sean Behrens | D | U.S. National Team Development Program |
| 3. | 3 | 92 | Andrei Buyalsky | C | Dubuque (USHL) |
| 4. | 7 | 220 | Taylor Makar | C | Brooks Bandits (AJHL) |
Colorado selected three forwards and one defenseman at this year's draft, choosing one player each from Sweden, the U.S. National Team Development Program, the United States Hockey League and the Alberta Junior Hockey League.
During the first round on Friday, the Avalanche selected forward Oskar Olausson with the 28th overall pick. Olausson, 18, made his debut in the Swedish Hockey League, the top professional hockey league in Sweden, during the 2020-21 campaign and recorded four points (3g/1a) in 16 games for HV71. He began the year with HV71's team in J20 Nationell, Sweden's junior league, and collected 27 points (14g/13a) in 16 games before joining the senior team. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound right wing was loaned to Södertälje in Allsvenskan, Sweden's second-tier league to finish the campaign, recording six points (3g/3a) in 11 outings. Olausson has totaled 47 points (22g/25a) in 48 career games in J20 Nationell, all with the HV71 organization.
The Stockholm, Sweden, native most recently represented his country at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship, appearing in four games in his first time at the tournament. He also helped Sweden to a bronze medal at the 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, recording a point (1g/0a) in five tournament contests. Olausson was the 13th-ranked European skater in NHL Central Scouting's final rankings for the 2021 NHL Draft.
With its second pick of the NHL Draft (second round, 61st overall), the Avalanche selected defenseman Sean Behrens from the U.S. National Team Development Program. Behrens, 18, skated for the NTDP's Under-18 Team for the 2020-21 season, producing 35 points (7g/28a) in 46 games. The 5-foot-10, 177-pound blueliner ranked second among team defensemen in points and tied for second in goals and assists. His six power-play markers were fourth on the team, and his 0.76 points-per-game average ranked second among players who appeared in more than 10 contests.
In his two seasons with the national team program, Behrens recorded 75 points (14g/61a) in 97 contests and added 39 points (9g/30a) in 54 United States Hockey League outings.
The Barrington, Illinois, native served as an alternate captain for Team USA at the 2021 IIHF Under-18 World Championship, recording four points (1g/3a) in five games to rank second among U.S. blueliners in scoring for the tournament.
Behrens was the 24th-ranked North American skater in NHL Central Scouting's final rankings for the 2021 NHL Draft and is committed to the University of Denver for the 2021-22 campaign. He is the 12th player the Avalanche has selected from the U.S. NTDP and third in the last four years (Tyler Weiss, 2018 and Drew Helleson, 2019).
In the third round of the 2021 NHL Draft, Colorado selected forward Andrei Buyalsky from the Dubuque Fighting Saints in the USHL. Buyalsky, 20, recorded 32 points (15g/17a) in 36 games for Dubuque in 2020-21, his first campaign in North America. He ranked fifth on the team in points per game (0.89) and was tied for fifth on the team in goals. The 6-foot-3, 175-pound center began the season with HK Almaty in KAZ, Kazakhstan's top professional league, and tallied 13 points (5g/8a) in 24 contests.
Buyalsky has collected 47 points (16g/31a) in 110 career KAZ contests and has also appeared in 27 contests for Saryarka Karaganda in the VHL, Russia's second-tier league.
The Karaganda, Kazakhstan, native represented his country at the 2019 and 2020 IIHF World Junior Championships and produced three points (2g/1a) in 13 combined games between the two tournaments. He is the first Kazakhstan-born player drafted by the Quebec/Colorado franchise.
Colorado selected forward Taylor Makar with its fourth and final selection of the NHL Draft (seventh round, 220th overall). Makar, 20, spent the 2020-21 campaign with the Brooks Bandits of the Alberta Junior Hockey League, recording 19 points (5g/14a) in 16 games while serving as part of the team's leadership group. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound center has totaled 61 points (17g/44a) in 104 career AJHL contests, all with Brooks. The Calgary, Alberta, native is the younger brother of Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar, and the brothers are the only two players the franchise has selected from the AJHL.
