Indeed, he was seen as someone with fantastic talent.
The irony to me is that Avs management have tried to fill holes by acquiring over-the-hill veterans before, such as Brad Stuart, Beauchemin, and Iginla. Those experiments failed miserably. I also remember that they explicitly acknowledged that it was mistake.
So, why did they do it this time? Ryjo is a 30+ year-old guy with question marks about his work ethic. Maybe, it was hubris since players tend to have career years under Bednar. In any case, I think the experiment has run its course and they have to rectify their mistake.