"Power-skating at age 4. Playing hockey at 5. A Memorial Cup MVP at 18. It seems Jonathan Huberdeau's life has gone perfectly according to plan.

Next Friday at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., Huberdeau's life will take another turn when is drafted by his first NHL club.

Considered a lock to be among the top five picks, the St. Jerome, Quebec, native has a shot at going first overall to Edmonton or second to the Avalanche. Not knowing where he could go might seem stressful for Huberdeau, but it isn't so.

"The number doesn't matter for me. I just want to get drafted," Huberdeau said. "No matter where you get picked, you're going to have to work hard to make the team, so it doesn't matter, the number."

There has been a good deal of speculation the Avs are high on Huberdeau and could take him at No. 2. Teams aren't allowed to comment on players directly before they are drafted, but several Avs scouts were in attendance at the recent Memorial Cup tournament, which crowns the major junior hockey league champion.

Huberdeau's Saint John Sea Dogs won the Memorial Cup, and Huberdeau won the Stafford Smythe Trophy as the tournament's most valuable player. In 67 regular-season games for the Sea Dogs, he scored 43 goals and had 62 assists and was a finalist for regular-season MVP honors.

At 6-foot-1, 171 pounds, Huberdeau is a natural center, but he also played left wing for Saint John and said he feels comfortable there.

Whether Huberdeau would be ready to play NHL hockey this coming season is another question. With three years of junior eligibility left and a body that needs time to mature, it probably would be expecting too much of Huberdeau to jump right in with any NHL team. Huberdeau wants to give it a shot, though."