Sergei Belski – USA TODAY Sports
Finally, some good news for the Colorado Avalanche. On Monday night the Avalanche were awarded the first pick in the 2013 NHL Draft, despite having the second-best chance of winning. The Florida Panthers entered the lottery with a 25 percent chance of getting the top pick, while Avalanche had an 18.8 percent chance. This was the first year the lottery system opened up to include all non-playoff teams.
It’s hard to see the Avalanche drafting anyone other than Seth Jones with the top pick, as the Portland Winterhawks defenseman is a consensus favorite among nearly all hockey writers and analysts. An improvement on the blue line is desperately needed for the Avalanche (27th in the league in goals against), and given the fact Jones started playing hockey in Denver while his father (Popeye Jones) was playing for the Denver Nuggets it’s hard to see any way he doesn’t end up in Colorado.
Jones won gold with Team USA at the World Junior Championship this year, and had an amazing rookie season for the Winterhawks. He scored 14 goals and had 46 points, while chipping in another five goals and 13 points in the playoffs. He has great size (6-4, 204) and could have an immediate impact for a rebuilding Colorado team that has a lot of young talent.
The Avalanche selected their current captain, Gabriel Landeskog, with the second overall pick in the 2011 draft and have already seen that decision more than pay off. In a week where they saw head coach Joe Sacco get fired, there was finally some good news for the Avalanche. The 2013 NHL Draft takes place on June 30 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
Jonathan Katje is an NHL senior writer for Rant Sports. You can follow him on Twitter or add him to your circles on Google Plus.
