The Colorado Avalanche had their worst season since moving to Colorado from Quebec. Their star, Joe Sakic was injured for much of the season and the team seemed immature without him. Sakic may not come back next season considering the Avalanche were the worst team in the Western Conference in 2008-09. The Avalanche are in the rebuilding stage and have some glaring holes to fill.

The first step for the Avalanche in their offseason makeover was to hire Joe Sacco to replace Tony Granato as Head Coach. Sacco was coaching in the minors and some feel he may be too inexperienced to lead the Avalanche. This is funny because Tony Granato was questioned for the same thing in his 2 stints as the Avalanche Head Coach. For now we have to just wait and see on that.

The second step for the Avalanche was the NHL Draft last week. The Avs had the 3rd overall pick and took F Matt Duchene. He's considered to be a good two-way forward, which Joe Sakic is known for as well. Duchene is a good scorer and can skate very well. Peter McNabb, one of the Avalanche game analysts for Altitude, is very high on Duchene and Ryan O'Reilly the Avs 2nd round pick.  Here are all of the 2009 Colorado Avalanche Draft choices:

1st Round   #3           Matt Duchene          C      Brampton (OHL)
2nd Round  #33        Ryan O’Reilly           C      Erie (OHL)
2nd Round  #49        Stefan Elliott             D      Saskatoon (WHL)
3rd Round   #64        Tyson Barrie             D      Kelowna (WHL)
5th Round   #124      Kieran Millan            G      Boston University (Hockey East)
6th Round   #154      Brandon Maxwell    G       U.S. NTDP (USA)
7th Round   #184      Gus Young               D      Noble and Greenough School (Mass.)

The third step for the Avs this offseason will be filling the huge hole in the net. Peter Budaj signed a 1-year deal to come back, but they need a legitimate starting goalie. The Avs brought in Swedish star Jonas Gustavsson a few weeks ago. Since then he's visited 3 other teams and he's supposed to decide on which team to sign with very soon. Gustavsson is said to be a big time player in goal and will be a huge upgrade to the team that gets him. Former Avs Peter Forsberg (a fellow Swede) and Patrick Roy both spoke to Gustavsson about the great franchise the Avalanche run. If Gustavsson chooses to play in Denver, the Avalanche will take a huge step forward.

If Gustavsson doesn't sign, here are the top free agent goalies:
Martin Biron
Ty Conklin
Scott Clemmensen
Craig Anderson
Nikolai Khabibulin

Was Sacco a good choice to replace Tony Granato?  Who should the Avalanche target in free agency?   How do you like their 2009 draft class?   Is Duchene the star they hope he is?