The Colorado Avalanche were a nightmare last season. Filled with aging veterans slogging their way around the ice, the NHL club managed to string together both the league’s most impotent offense and generous defense. The playstyle was slow, methodical, and flat out boring. Most games were a test of sanity of the observer who could have spent their time doing almost anything else that would have been potentially productive as opposed to watching a broken record continue to scratch on all the same notes.
All across the hockey world, the Avalanche scouting staff was hard at work putting eyeballs on the future of the Avalanche in a mold they felt would play well in today’s NHL and ultimately change their playstyle at the highest level.