Whatever unfolds Tuesday night in the first round of the NHL’s virtual draft, the Avalanche will be ready.
With the draft originally scheduled to take place June 26 in Montreal, the Avs have had more than three extra months to study potential selections from Nos. 20-31. When the NHL paused the season March 12 because of the coronavirus pandemic, Colorado was tied with Tampa Bay for the third-best winning percentage of .657. At the time, there was no return-to-play plan, but everyone knew there would still be a draft.
“We kind of went with the premise that we were picking 29th, knowing not what was going to happen,” said Alan Hepple, the Avs’ director of amateur scouting.