Picks 11+ since 2009...

[Steerpike]

After a stellar, deep, blood magic fueled 2009 draft, the Avs would fail to get anyone useful outside of the top 10 for the next ten years. Only the selection and development of Alex Newhook in 2019 would begin to perhaps break the trend.
Here’s the list of players selected by the Avalanche who have played an NHL game, along with their stats accumulated with the Snow, Ice and Debris perpetually tumbling down the slopes of the Rockies.

Year	Round	Pick	Name	Pos	Games	Goals	Assists	Points
2019	1	16	Alex Newhook	C	77	13	23	36
2018	3	78	Sampo Ranta	LW	10	0	0	0
2018	3	64	Justus Annunen	G	2	0	1	1
2018	1	16	Martin Kaut	RW	20	2	1	3
2017	2	32	Conor Timmins	D	33	0	7	7
2016	5	131	Adam Werner	G	2	0	0	0
2015	4	101	Andrei Mironov	D	10	1	2	3
2015	3	71	Jean-Christophe Beaudin	C	0	0	0	0
2015	2	40	Nicolas Meloche	D	0	0	0	0
2015	2	39	A. J. Greer	LW	37	1	5	6
2014	5	144	Anton Lindholm	D	66	0	5	5
2013	5	123	Will Butcher	D	0	0	0	0
2013	4	93	Mason Geertsen	D	0	0	0	0
2013	3	63	Spencer Martin	G	3
2013	2	32	Chris Bigras	D	46	1	3	4
2012	7	192	Colin Smith	C	1	0	0	0
2012	6	162	Joseph Blandisi	C	0	0	0	0
2011	1	11	Duncan Siemens	D	20	1	1	2
2010	4	107	Sami Aittokallio	G	2
2010	3	71	Michael Bournival	LW	0	0	0	0
2010	2	49	Calvin Pickard	G	86
2010	1	17	Joey Hishon	C	13	1	1	2
					428	20	49	69

Is it even possible another team has a sadder list? Also lol at Newhook outscoring 'not-Newhook' 13-23-36 to 7-26-33. And Newhook should barely even count! 16th overall is now in the top half of the first round of the draft. You can miss the playoffs and pick 16th overall.

But more than lol, I actually just feel sad about how close so many of these guys got to actually living their dream only to have it turn sour and depressing. Obviously a couple guys have carved out decent little careers. Pickard got to helm the ship so to speak. Will Butcher is doing well for himself. Ranta, Annunen and Kaut are still too young to tell. Timmons might get in a few games next year before his patella explodes while doing stretches.

Click to read more...

 

[missionAvs]

That Siemens pick really f***ed us haha. I was so excited when we got the pick too after St. Louis finished outside the top-10.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

Obviously 2009 put a curse on the Avs.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

The amateur scouting has been a massive failure outside the 10 picks, at least they got those right which allowed the 3rd cup.

If they would have been just average after the top picks the Avs would be completely stacked top to bottom season after season and most likely winning multiple cups as a result.

 

[The Abusement Park]

What an embarrassment of picks.

 

[obZen]

I really think Timmins would have had a good NHL career with us if it weren't for the concussions.

Siemens would have been a great defenseman in the 90s.

I have no idea why Bigras busted. His two best attributes (according to scouts), skating and IQ, should have led to a surefire top 4 defenseman. Too soft maybe.

We gave up too early on Werner.

AJ Greer should have been a solid third liner but I think we ruined his development. Same with Kaut.

Beaudin has talent but he's too soft.

Lindholm wasn't bad for a fifth round pick.

 

[TheRarestDangles]

This organization sucks. We'll never win anything unless if our amateur scouting improves.

 

[Steerpike]

Obviously 2009 put a curse on the Avs.

This is how the post originally started. Then I realized that I should probably get to the actual point instead of making everyone read my slanderous fan fic.

Avs GM Greg Sherman shifted uncomfortably in his dumb sad slacks as he considered what the woman had said. The Salary Cap had been unkind to the once proud Colorado Avalanche franchise and It was his job to select the next batch of talent at the upcoming draft. Despite seven boring years as “special assistant to the general manager” he didn’t know what he was doing and was bad at his job.​

​

“So you’re telling me we’ll win?”​

​

“Oh yessss! Through these players you shall claim victory! They will see you all the way through the Western Conference and you will then go on to win the Stanley Cup Finals!”​

​

“Well,” Greg swallowed uncomfortably, “that’s a strange way to word it, but ….” Then he paused and considered the rumors he had heard about witches and tricksy majiks. “... You guarantee we’ll win The Stanley Cup? And with these picks still around?​

​

“Of Course!”​

​

“Fine, tell me who to pick” And Greg handed the woman the unborn foetus of Howler the Yeti’s firstborn son, still coated in slimy afterbirth. They had kept the beast chained below the Pepsi center in case just such an opportunity would arise.​

​

The woman smiles deviously as the woeful creature bursts into flames, disintegrating in a flash.​

​

“Take Matt Duchene in the first round, then Ryan O’Rielly, Stephan Eliott, Tyson Barrie, an–”​

​

​

“Wow wow wow, you think I can remember that many names? We pay attention to like… the first ten guys. You think we actually scout players after that? We really just make up names from then on and get an intern to guess who we’re talking about!"​

​

“Very well, have it your way.” The witch smiled maliciously and vanished.​

I haven’t written fiction since eighth grade and I wasn’t good at it then either. Let me know what you think of switching to present tense for the intense action sequences and then back to past tense moments later.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

I really think Timmins would have had a good NHL career with us if it weren't for the concussions.

Siemens would have been a great defenseman in the 90s.

I have no idea why Bigras busted. His two best attributes (according to scouts), skating and IQ, should have led to a surefire top 4 defenseman. Too soft maybe.

We gave up too early on Werner.

AJ Greer should have been a solid third liner but I think we ruined his development. Same with Kaut.

Beaudin has talent but he's too soft.

Lindholm wasn't bad for a fifth round pick.

Bigras had a few concussions and never looked confident after, played like he could hear footsteps all the time.

 

[TheRarestDangles]

This is how the post originally started. Then I realized that I should probably get to the actual point instead of making everyone read my slanderous fan fic.



I haven’t written fiction since eighth grade and I wasn’t good at it then either.

This website has lots of weird stuff on it.

 

[Steerpike]

This website has lots of weird stuff on it.

I got bummed out when I realized I was actively trying to write something funny, but in the style of something unintentionally funny. It's an odd tone to strike. I'm gonna need to practice on some writing prompt reddit threads.

 

[Steerpike]

Bigras had a few concussions and never looked confident after, played like he could hear footsteps all the time.

Yeah the concussions are what really bummed me out. Hishon, Bigras, Timmins .... Byram

 

[henchman21]

Bigras had a few concussions and never looked confident after, played like he could hear footsteps all the time.

Yeah... and taking a hit to make a play was a big part of his game. Once he lost some aggressiveness, it just never worked.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

Yeah the concussions are what really bummed me out. Hishon, Bigras, Timmins .... Byram

Mueller as well. He looked like he had great chemistry with Duchene when he first got here, but Blake ruined that.

 

[TheRarestDangles]

I got bummed out when I realized I was actively trying to write something funny, but in the style of something unintentionally funny. It's an odd tone to strike. I'm gonna need to practice on some writing prompt reddit threads.

It's okay man I still love you nevertheless.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

I actually think Greer and Meloche would've been regulars if Roy was still coach. Bednar hates penalty magnets.

 

[obZen]

Bigras had a few concussions and never looked confident after, played like he could hear footsteps all the time.

That makes sense. I'm thrilled that Byram was able to come back and play so well in the playoffs (I don't think we win the Cup without him) but I wouldn't have blamed him if he decided to sit the season out or even retire.

 

[tigervixxxen]

No, there isn’t a sadder list.

Draft Explorer | waveintel

www.waveintel.org

 

[Tralfamadore]

Incredible considering they just won a cup too.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

Personally I think the Avs drafting is better than some do.

Are they absolutely awful outside of the top-10? Yes. But, cashing in on those top-10 picks is WAY more important than connecting on later picks. You can find depth via trade and free agency. You can’t find Cale Makar’s, Nathan MacKinnon’s, or Mikko Rantanen’s anywhere but the draft. You have to draft those players and if you choose wrong you can’t make up for it.

I think the Avs are proving that you need to draft franchise cornerstones and then you really don’t have to build through the draft. You can fill the rest of the holes on the roster in other ways. Will they feel the effects cap wise eventually? Yeah, but hitting big on top 10 picks >>>> than picking up 3rd liners in the 2nd to 7th rounds.

The Avs could have drafted Seth Jones, Pettersson/Glass, and Lawson Crouse. No cups coming from that core.

 

[The Abusement Park]

Personally I think the Avs drafting is better than some do.

Are they absolutely awful outside of the top-10? Yes. But, cashing in on those top-10 picks is WAY more important than connecting on later picks. You can find depth via trade and free agency. You can’t find Cale Makar’s, Nathan MacKinnon’s, or Mikko Rantanen’s anywhere but the draft. You have to draft those players and if you choose wrong you can’t make up for it.

I think the Avs are proving that you need to draft franchise cornerstones and then you really don’t have to build through the draft. You can fill the rest of the holes on the roster in other ways. Will they feel the effects cap wise eventually? Yeah, but hitting big on top 10 picks >>>> than picking up 3rd liners in the 2nd to 7th rounds.

The Avs could have drafted Seth Jones, Pettersson/Glass, and Lawson Crouse. No cups coming from that core.

I do agree with the overall premise here. I’d rather draft like this than the opposite.

But I mean even then out of 22 picks you have only 1 guy who’s played a decent amount in Butcher and it isn’t with us. I don’t expect to hit on 50% of them or anything, but hitting on like 3 would be a massive boost to the org and provide cheap depth.

 

[tigervixxxen]

33% of second rounders make 100+ GP and 27% of third rounders do. That’s the benchmark those “in charge” of development should be hitting and should be held accountable to.

As far as the success of the top 10 picks, I don’t take that lightly. It’s definitely more difficult than it sounds and the Avs hit big on them. I think most of them have benefitted greatly from Bednar’s coaching and development at the NHL level but no doubt they were good picks. If the Avs were picking top 10 I’d probably feel good about it aside from the fact that the guy who made most of their big ones in Hepple is now gone. I understand it takes a village to execute a draft but he was the one pulling the trigger on this stuff with Sakic not very involved in scouting at all. With those top picks in the rear view for the foreseeable future they can’t just go a decade with absolutely nothing from the draft, it will catch up eventually.

 

[TatteredTornNFrayed]

As bad as it looks, the list even makes it appear less futile than it has really been, since it doesn't even include the Bleakleys, Heards, and many others who didn't ever play an NHL game.

Happily, they hit big on many top picks and it paid off in the best way.

 

[Hasbro]

The jockey beating this dead horse dropped dead of exhaustion.

 

[AvsWraith]

I still believe in Mitchell Heard!