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Avalanche load up on goalie prospects, sign three to entry-level deals

Zach Budish, Kieran Millan

Boston University goalie Kieran Millan, right, stops a shot by Minnesota’s Zach Budish (24) in the second period of an NCAA tournament western regional semifinals hockey game, Saturday, March 24, 2012, in St. Paul, Minn. Minnesota won 7-3. (AP Photo/ Jim Mone)

AP

The Avalanche are all set with Semyon Varlamov, but having enough goaltending in the pipeline is never a bad thing. Good thing for Colorado they’ve drafted a lot of them over the years and now they’re officially bringing three of them into the fold.

Colorado signed collegiate goalies Kieran Millan (Boston University) and Kent Patterson (University of Minnesota) as well as Finland World Junior goalie Sami Aittokallio to entry-level contracts and join the fold within the organization.

Millan helped BU win the 2009 national championships as a freshman and has been a four-year starter for the Terriers. Patterson helped lead the Golden Gophers back to the NCAA tournament this season while playing all but 20:44 on ice this season. Aittokallio led Finland to a fourth place finish at the World Junior Championships this year going 3-2-0 with a goals against average of 2.52 and a .934 save percentage.

Aittokallio was a fourth-round pick in 2010 while Millan was a fifth-round pick in 2009 and Patterson a sixth-round choice back in 2007. Safe to say the Avs weren’t exactly banking on having a young Russian netminder like Varlamov back when they drafted these guys.