Roster shake-ups for the final game of the 2026 Rookie Tournament allowed for some new faces to show for the Colorado Avalanche. In their final game, they lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in a 6–5 final.

It was a back-and-forth game, with Vegas only getting the lead after winning in the shootout. Colorado had the lead late on before blowing it to close out the tournament. But it didn’t mean there weren’t some standouts.

Nikita Prishchepov

The Colorado Eagles forward took part and was good in this game. He gave Colorado the lead late on when he dished out a sweet goal while shorthanded.

However, he missed out late on some golden chances for the Avalanche. In overtime, he had a breakaway all alone in the final minute, which he couldn’t convert. He also missed out on his shootout attempt. While he had his bright spots, there are also certainly things he’d wish to improve on.

Jake Chiasson

Another solid player for the burgundy and blue was Jake Chiasson. The 23-year-old, who is expected to play with the ECHL-affiliate New Mexico Goatheads, notched two goals in the loss.

His first one came off the draw, which was a sweet backhander down low. He scored from a similar short-side effort to open the second period as well, giving the Avalanche a 3-1 lead.

With those two goals, he already equaled the number of goals he scored in the ECHL last year with the Allen Americans. With a convincing performance on Sunday, he could end up making a much larger impact than it seemed he could’ve before.

Nikita Novosyolov

The newly signed netminder Nikita Novosyolov had his first appearance in the rookie tournament and stood out. He had some big shoes to fill after the performance by the highly touted Ilya Nabokov against the Anaheim Ducks just 24 hours ago.

He slotted in nicely, using his big 6-foot-2 frame to get in the way of several pucks. He pitched a shutout in the first period and kept his team in the lead after two periods of play.

While he doesn’t get the result of a win, he certainly showed that he has the capability. The 22-year-old has a lot of goaltenders ahead of him in the lineup, but he had a nice game on Sunday afternoon.

Up Next

The real work starts up with training camp for the main Avalanche roster starting on Thursday before their first preseason game against the Utah Mammoth at home on Sunday, September 20 at 5:00 p.m. MT.