Colorado Avalanche Top 25 Under 25: #7 Nikita Prishchepov

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: Nikita Prishchepov

Age: 21

Position: Left Wing

Height: 6’1”

Weight: 194 lbs.

Likely 2025-26 Team: Colorado Eagles

2024 Rank: #29th (tie)

Final Rank:

High Rank: #6 (Multiple)

Low Rank: #10 (Brennan)

2024-25 Statistics:

Colorado Eagles

– 51 GP: 9G, 14A, 23P

Colorado Avalanche – 10 GP: 0G, 0A, 0P

There is no other Colorado Avalanche prospect that experienced the type of giant leap on our list and in perception than left wing Nikita Prishchepov. He went from unranked on last year’s rankings to cracking the top ten in the span of a year. The positioning was defensible at the time as Prishchepov was the ninth pick of Colorado’s 2024 draft class and the Russian was an overager out of the QMJHL, which was his third time through the draft. Considering the career trajectory of the likes of Brandon Saigeon and Jeremy Hanzel experienced it was far from any guarantee the Avalanche would take Prishchepov seriously and receive a contract offer at all.

As such, it was a pleasant surprise to see Prishchepov sign an Entry Level Contract at the end of training camp last year, which allowed him to play pro rather than go back to the junior for an overage season like the aforementioned previous picks. But nobody could have predicted that nearly the last pick in the 2024 draft would play NHL games less than a year removed from the draft and through he didn’t score any points he didn’t look out of place and earned 10 games. Prishchepov was only one of seven from the 2024 draft class to make their NHL debut and the rest were among the top 13 picks. But for all this to have meaning it is imperative that the Avalanche keep investing in him. Ten NHL games at 20 years of age is notable but graduating as the first non-top 10 drafted prospect from the AHL to the NHL in over a decade would be even more impressive.

Prishchepov has the size and type of game that earned him those 10 games in the NHL at an early age, which also makes him a realistic candidate to find a path to sticking at the highest level should he be afforded the opportunity. Nikita speaks to looking up to Val Nichushkin and watching him play there are a lot of similarities to how they approach the game. Prishchepov has the willingness to learn and mentality to become a forecheck monster just like his countryman. If just enough skill can translate a to a punch of scoring the 21-year-old Russian could be a valuable piece to the organization but do the Avalanche agree?