Colorado Avalanche Top 25 Under 25: #2 Mikhail Gulyayev

The Top 25 Under 25 is a collaboration by Mile High Hockey staff members. Six writers have ranked players under the age of 25 in the Colorado Avalanche organization as of September 1, 2025. Now, we’ll count down each of the 25 players ranked (plus one Honorable Mention).

Name: Mikhail Gulyayev

Age: 20

Position: Defenseman (L)

Height: 5’ 11”

Weight: 183 lbs

Likely 2025-26 Team: Avangard Omsk

2024 Rank: #2

Final Rank:

High Rank: #2 (Jackie, Jess, Ezra, & Ryan)

Low Rank: #3 (Adrian & Brennan)

2024-25 Statistics:

Avangard Omsk (67 GP, 7 G, 8 A)
- Playoffs (13 GP, 1 G, 2 A)
Omskie Yastreby (0 GP, 0 G, 0 A)
- Playoffs (4 GP, 0 G, 3 A)

Mikhail Gulyayev has been the unanimous top defenseman prospect for the Colorado Avalanche since he was drafted at 31st overall back in 2023, and for good reason. Gulyayev is very much an offensive-minded defenseman, similar to a lot of the guys in Colorado’s defensive core. Knowing that he’s an extremely skilled skater on top of that, it’s not hard to see why Colorado’s front office likes him a lot, and why the Avalanche fan base also thinks very highly of him. It is also why the 20-year-old has held steady on our ranking at the second position.

While it’s very premature to call Gulyayev a “mini Makar”, that’s probably the best and simplest way to describe his play style. As previously mentioned, Gulyayev is very much an offensive-minded defenseman who loves to use his speed to attack off the rush and through the neutral zone, similarly to Makar. He’s also got a pretty wicked shot for a defenseman as evidenced by his seven goals last season in the KHL, which is also Makar-esque.

There’s plenty of reason to be excited about Gulyayev and what he could turn into for the Avalanche later down the line. He is getting closer to coming over to North America and joining the Avs’ pipeline, but the exact timeline is still unknown. The defenseman has the skill that he has shown at this point is incredibly promising but how eager the Avalanche are to put him in the lineup remains to be seen. Gulyayev looks to be a perfect fit for the Colorado Avalanche, and hopefully, he can continue to grow as a player over the next few years and earn an NHL spot later down the road.