Avalanche Draft Egor Shilov 43rd Overall

With the 43rd pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, the Colorado Avalanche have selected Egor Shilov from Victoriaville Tigres of the QMJHL.

About Egor Shilov

Hailing from Tyumen, Russia, Egor Shilov moved to North America in 2024. He split his 2024-25 season between the U16 AAA level, dominating with the Long Island Gulls in New York, and the junior level, playing in the United States Hockey League (USHL), where he posted 28 points in 39 games.

This season, he signed with the Victoriaville Tigres of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). He scored 32 goals on an impressive 18.5% shooting percentage and finished the season with 82 points in 63 regular-season games, adding five more points in four playoff games.

He has a fairly well-rounded game, does okay in the defensive zone, and won 54.8% of the 1,100-plus faceoffs he took as a centre last season in the QMJHL. However, the Avalanche will be drafting him for his takeover potential on offence, with multiple five-point nights, two hat tricks, and a game with four assists last season.

Due to obvious circumstances well out of his control, he lacks international best-on-best experience and exposure, which kept him somewhat under the radar throughout the season. But Shilov is an interesting prospect that blends good size, smarts and high-end skill.

For now, it looks like Shilov will be back with the Tigres in the QMJHL for the 2026-27 season and will then move on to the NCAA for 2027-28, being committed to Penn State University. With some time, he projects to be a guy who could turn into a top-six forward at the NHL level.

THW Prospect Profile Excerpt

Shilov is an extremely skilled offensive player who loves to play the puck in the offensive zone and seems to always know what to do to cause the most damage. Perhaps more of a playmaker than a sniper, he owns an exceptionally accurate shot that can be deadly, especially with the man advantage, when he has space and time to aim.

He plays well in transition and takes full advantage of playing on an all-Russian-speaking offensive trio with Alexei Vlasov and Kazakhstan’s Kornei Korneyev – all 2026 eligible, with the latter being born in late 2007. Shilov isn’t a liability in the defensive zone, picking up his position well and following plays in the neutral and defensive zones. However, he’s primarily a scoring-line forward whose biggest value lies in his ability to score points and produce offensive plays.

The downside is that Shilov tends to play on a low rhythm at a low pace. Of course, he needs to work on his skating, yet that may not be enough if he doesn’t speed things up also in his development. He’s expected to be picked in the first round, but his lack of speed and relative mono-dimensional play are very likely to cause him to fall to around the 25-30 range despite his excellent passing, shooting, and puck-handling abilities.

Continue reading our full player profile here.

How This Affects the Avalanche’s Plans

This could eventually be a huge addition for the Avalanche; they have one of the weakest prospect pools in the NHL. However, that isn’t much of a concern, given that they’re a perennial Stanley Cup contender. Shilov has areas to work on, but he is a dynamic offensive weapon who could eventually make a big impact in the NHL if he figures out the speed and pace of the game, especially since he’ll need to keep up with Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon. It’s a sneaky good pick here from the Avalanche in the second round.