ESPN released their off season report card with grades for every team in the National Hockey League earlier in the week and to no one's surprise, the Colorado Avalanche fell somewhere in the middle with a C. No plus, no minus, just a simple letter C.
While the grade isn't something to necessarily celebrate and it certainly isn't what Avs fans will still want to see come October, it also isn't a total failure on management's part and could indicate bigger moves to come. Colorado had little they could do with the lackluster state of the free agency market and after seeing the terms of the this year's biggest name on the market, Nikolaj Ehlers, the Avs and their cap space had no chance of landing the forward.