Francesco Dell’Elce held on to his NHL dream. The Avalanche made it come true.

For two years the NHL draft came and went without defenseman Francesco Dell Elce hearing his name called Still he wasn t ready to just accept the fate of being an undrafted free agent I ve been confident in my abilities and just trusting the process Dell Elce announced This year was definitely the preponderance triumphant of the three I answered a lot of the questions that were around with my first two years So yeah I was confident this time going into it After not getting selected following his final year at St Andrews College a prep school north of Toronto or when he had a productive season with the Penticton Vees in the BCHL Dell Elce had a strong freshman season at the University of Massachusetts And the Colorado Avalanche acquired a third-round pick in the NHL draft during the first day of the event The Avs have been willing to take prospects passed over before during the draft process Ilya Nabokov had also missed out twice when Colorado selected him in the second round of the NHL draft Same for Nikita Prishchepov who was the th competitor selected and the third in his draft class to play in the NHL So when the Avs were set to make their first pick in the draft at No overall the Dell Elce family gathered at home in Ontario had something to celebrate I think with Fran he is an older guy that we feel he s not far off if his championship keeps progressing in the right direction Avs scouting director Nick Prior announced That s exciting for us Dell Elce who turned years old a limited days before the draft led the Minutemen defense corps with seven goals and points in games earning a spot on the Hockey East All-Rookie organization He had a goal and an assist to help UMass knock off Minnesota in the first round of the NCAA tournament Dell Elce also had a special situation he believes helped make him profitable He was paired with another freshman Larry Keenan a draft pick by the Detroit Red Wings Those two also played together the year before with the Vees in the British Columbia Hockey League The last three freshmen to lead the group s defense corps in scoring have all reached the NHL Scott Morrow Zac Jones and a pretty well-known guy in Denver Cale Makar The school s list of NHL players isn t as long as several of its Hockey East counterparts but the group of defensemen also includes Justin Braun Brandon Montour and Mario Ferraro Related Articles Avalanche prospect Sean Behrens lost a season but not his drive Just a special kid and a special athlete Avalanche hires Mark Letestu as new Colorado Eagles coach Avalanche Journal Sizing up the top of the NHL after a sleepy start to free agency Renck Greatest season for Colorado pro sports is staring us in face save for Rockies of unit New Avalanche defenseman Brent Burns has one big goal still after remarkable career win the Stanley Cup My success this year doesn t happen without UMass coach Greg Carvel Dell Elce stated I ve learned so much since stepping onto campus at UMass It is Defenseman U It s not just Makar but a number of defensemen At -foot- and pounds Dell Elce will spend the next year or two at UMass working on his body and continuing to strengthen the defensive side of his competition He s going to try to be the next UMass defenseman in the school s NHL pipeline and the Avs hope they located a late bloomer who could help the big club much sooner than an -year-old drafted in that slot would We re not fast-tracking him but he s a little bit farther along than certain of the CHL Canadian Hockey League players we ve taken Avs director of player advancement Brian Willsie explained We re excited to work with him He s in a really good effort there at UMass Obviously we ve had certain players come through there so excited to see him keep evolving A good first impression for sure Want more Avalanche news Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis