The Colorado Avalanche seemingly feature a strong core comprised of three young forwards and two young defensemen. GM Joe Sakic clearly believes this is a winning combination.
Core players Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog and Erik Johnson are in the midst of long-term contracts. With center Nathan MacKinnon locked up for 7 years as of last Friday and defenseman Tyson Barrie apparently having received a long term offer (despite going to arbitration), the Colorado Avalanche seem to have their core in place for the foreseeable future.
This is exactly what Sakic has wanted, and he’s mainly gone building peripheral players around the main stars.