Colorado Avalanche Top 25 Under 25 #4 Gavin Brindley

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: Gavin Brindley

Age: 20

Position: Right Wing

Height: 5’8

Weight: 173 lbs.

Likely 2025-26 Team: Colorado Eagles

2024 Rank: #N/A

Final Rank: #4

High Rank: #4 (Multiple)

Low Rank: #6 (Jess)

2024-25 Statistics:

Cleveland Monsters – 52 GP: 6G,

11A, 17P

Lost in The Athletic ranking the Colorado Avalanche’s prospect pool at 32nd and dead last in the NHL was the fact that the media outlet placed Gavin Brindley as the organization’s top prospect. As basically the only remaining asset from the Bowen Byram trade through the move of Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood to Columbus, it is impetitive that the organization views the soon-to-be 21-year-old highly if they want to add talent and value back to their roster. As such, we have generously ranked Brindley at fourth as a prospect who should have impact to the organization but we aren’t quite ready to declare him our top player under 25 just yet.

Brindley was the 34th overall selection for the Columbus Blue Jackets in the second round of the 2023 draft out of Michigan. There he has a successful freshman year in which he put up 38 points in 41 games, which certainly helped his draft stock. It was his season following the draft which gave Brindley a considerable amount of hype as he led Michigan in scoring with 53 points and 25 goals in 40 games. He was named Big 10 Player of the Year and Big Ten Scoring Champion for putting up 29 points in 23 conference games. At the conclusion of his sophomore season in college Columbus signed Brindley and burned a year of his Entry Level Contract to give him one NHL game at the end of that 2023-24 season.

The international stage is where Brindley shined as well. He won bronze with team USA at the World Junior Championship in 2023 prior to the NHL draft and then was a star on the 2024 gold medal winning team. With six goals and ten points in seven games Brindley was tied for fourth in tournament scoring and named one of the top three players on team USA. The winger was even invited to the join the men’s team for the World Championship that spring where he scored a goal in five games.

Considering all this set up Brindley to hit the ground running when his pro career began last season, to then score only 17 points in the AHL and receive zero NHL games was a massive disappointment to say the least. A training camp injury didn’t help but he was back in the Cleveland Monsters lineup by Thanksgiving and still played in 52 AHL contests. A tally of only five power play points shows he wasn’t given a large role on the man advantage and it is difficult for players to score in that league without a significant offensive role. Still, it surely wasn’t the season either party wanted to see and probably why Brindley was given a fresh start with a new organization before it was too late.

Where does Brindley go from here? Was he just an undersized and overhyped prospect coming out of a dream college season who was exposed playing the pro game? Or is he a top talent who was marginalized into a lesser role and never given a chance to shine, particularly at the highest level? The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle but the Avalanche will have to be proactive if they want to change the storyline of Brindley’s career. If they expect miracles in the AHL in a similar role, it’s a quick year to the end of Brindley’s ELC next summer.