The Colorado Avalanche acquired a very intriguing prospect from Montreal, but it appears as though we won't see him for a number of years. Russian prospects can sometime present a different set of challenges for NHL teams in their development, and now it appears that the Colorado Avalanche are finding that out too. In the 2023 NHL Draft, the team were picking at No. 31 overall, and with that pick they selected Russian defenseman Mikhail Gulyayev, who could be an intriguing piece on their blue line for years to come. Now however, a report has emerged from the KHL that Gulyayev is refusing to come to North America to play in the AHL, seemingly believing that he should be sent straight to the NHL. <q>«My path to the NHL is to come and play right away. I'm pursuing my dream and am not interested in anything else. I'm not against the AHL; it's a good league, but if I go to America to play, I will only play in the NHL.» - Mikhail Gulyayev</q> While this shows plenty of confidence in his game, this may be a red-flag from the 19-year old, who played his first full season in the KHL a year ago, tallying 12 points in 64 games with Omsk Avangard. <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/evanrawal/status/1821588367483797985'> </a></blockquote></div> Given that his KHL contract runs until the end of 2026, this means we won't be seeing him in the NHL for at least the next two years, where he will be 21-years of age with three full KHL seasons under his belt. This may be frustrating for some Avalanche fans, but it's clear that he has the confidence and the skill to one day be an NHLer, but we will have to have plenty of patience before that happens. Source: Habs Fanatics <a href='https://www.habsfanatics.com/nhl/trades/recent-1st-round-pick-refuses-to-come-to-north-america-to-play-in-the-ahl' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Recent 1st round pick refuses to come to North America to play in the AHL</a>