When the Colorado Avalanche drafted Andrei Mironov with the 101st overall pick in 2015, many close followers of the team didn’t quite know what to make of the pick. The then-21-year-old defenseman had just wrapped up his third season in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League and wasn’t necessarily seen as a player with North American hockey aspirations. The selection was a bit out-of-left-field in an amateur draft generally comprised of 18-year-old players from U.S. and Canadian junior programs.
This past summer, rumors began to circulate about Mironov weighing the option of signing with the Avalanche, but that speculation quickly subsided after it was announced he signed a two-year deal to remain with his longtime Moscow’s Dynamo franchise.