Colorado Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic is preparing for a busy off-season.
His team finished with an embarrassing 48 points, 21 less than 29th-place Vancouver, while dealing with various disappointing performances from its players.
Sakic spoke to Altitude 950 on Tuesday, where he made clear that his roster will go through some serious upheaval before the puck drops on 2017-18.
“There’s going to be a lot of turnover,” said Sakic. “We’re going to get some younger guys in here. We’re expecting to be a much quicker team and a much more competitive team.”
Tyson Jost (drafted 10th overall in 2016) and J.T. Compher (35th overall in 2013) made their NHL debuts in the latter portion of the Avalanche’s season and are expected to make the team next year.
Twenty-year-old A.J. Greer is also a possibility to crack the opening night roster.
Those three, along with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, give Colorado a core of forwards under the age of 23 that the Avalanche could build around.
Whether veterans Matt Duchene, Tyson Barrie, and Carl Soderberg — who are all coming off down years — will be moved remains to be seen.
The Avalanche GM said that he believes starting goaltender Semyon Varlamov will be recovered from two hip surgeries by the start of the season, and that his attention will be largely focused on shaping up the blue line.
“Hopefully we’re going to have a signing here soon that we can announce,” said Sakic, referring to KHL defenceman Andrei Mironov, who’s reportedly on his way to Colorado.
But if the Avalanche are to make significant changes, it’ll likely come via trade.
“We’re not going to be players in free agency,” said Sakic. “We want to grow our kids and keep the youth movement going, and try and develop and have them grow together.
“We’ll be on the phone quite a bit.”
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