Hockey is slowly coming back.
CHL kids are in training camp, Europe is starting their seasons-long tournament, and the KHL is underway. There are plenty of Colorado Avalanche prospects spread across the world at all levels. One in particular is an 18-year-old kid drafted by the Avs who has a chance to make the big club full-time as a teenager, something his teammate Yegor Korshkov successfully did at 19.
Nikolai Kovalenko might make the KHL squad, but he also might not. KHL teams typically don’t play kids. Even if they’re in the lineup, coaches will tend to just play them for just five or so minutes and rely instead on their vets.