Countdown to draft day - Colorado Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques

The history of the Colorado Avalanche is much longer if you include their first stop in Quebec City. The Nordiques were a pretty strong franchise in the 80's the just couldn't survive their futility in the later part of the decade and the early 90's. They moved to Colorado in the summer of 1995 and they have never looked back since. Bringing to Colorado a team that was heavy on self-drafted talent and Patrick Roy showing up part way through that first season cemented what would be a powerhouse for nearly a decade.

Colorado Avalanche's first draft choice was goaltender Marc Denis. With the arrival of Saint Patrick, Denis' usefulness diminished and he was traded to Columbus for a draft pick.

When considering the Avalanche's time in both Colorado and Quebec, both the best and worst drafts end up coming from their days in Quebec. The best draft in franchise history is from 1979.

Armed with just 6 picks, the Nordiques made them count! 5 out of 6 picks would end up playing in the NHL with Pierre Lacroix having the shortest career (played 274 games). The other four players would all go on to very long and fruitful careers with Goulet and Hunter being household names.

The worst draft in franchise history goes to the 1985 draft year.

With 13 picks in a pretty poor draft year to begin with the Nordiques drafted all duds. Lafreniere was the only pick to crack 100 NHL games and 8 picks would never touch an NHL surface.