Colorado Avalanche Top 25 Under 25: #15 Trent Miner

Vancouver Giants v Victoria Royals — Photo by Kevin Light/Getty Images

Is there a future in Colorado for the young netminder?

The Top 25 Under 25 is a collaboration by members of the Mile High Hockey staff. Six writers have ranked players under the age of 25 as of August 1, 2024, in the Colorado Avalanche organization. Now, we’ll count down each of the 25 players ranked.

Ever since he was a seventh round draft selection in 2019, goaltender Trent Miner has been underestimated. He earned a NHL contract from the Colorado Avalanche despite being that 202nd overall selection and has been working his way up the organizational ladder ever since. How high will he ascend?

In the 2023-24 season on the last year of his Entry Level Contract was the first time Miner received significant play in the AHL with the Colorado Eagles and at one point had secured the starting job despite being a call-up from the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies. He posted some sparkling statistics of a 2.10 Goals Against Average and .930 Save Percentage in 18 games, which were the highest marks on the Eagles.

It was a big step up for Miner after only receiving one AHL start in 2022-23. However, during the COVID-19 shortened season of 2020-21 Miner played six games with the Eagles before his junior team the Vancouver Giants in the WHL started back up. At just 19-years old Miner backstopped the Eagles to their first win that season and put up an encouraging 2.86 GAA and .903 sv% in his short stint in Loveland.

Now Miner is in position to make a permanent home in Northern Colorado with three years of professional experience under his belt and a shiny new one-year contract extension with the Avalanche. Unless the organization adds another goaltender between now and puck drop, Miner will at least expect to share the Eagles’ net with newcomer Kevin Mandolese and hopefully put his Utah days behind him.

Miner isn’t a large goaltender so his game isn’t flashy but he plays simple yet effective using his smarts and good positioning. He tends to rise to the occasion and can string together some solid performances when it’s least expected. With more polish and consistency it’s possible Miner can position himself as the organization’s third goaltender which would give him a chance to see brief NHL action. For an internally developed seventh rounder that would be a nice outcome and is why he’s ranked higher in these polls than perhaps expected. Can Miner defy expectations once again and strive for more?