After the 2016-17 NHL season for the Colorado Avalanche, there was little optimism. The Avs finished with just 47 points, a league-worst, and lost the draft lottery badly, ending up with the fourth pick in the 2017 NHL Draft. Franchise face forward Matt Duchene wanted out of Denver and things looked bleak for the Avalanche despite having younger talent. Two years later, the future of the Avalanche could not look much better.

In the previous two years, the Avalanche have made the playoffs and taken strides each time. After barely making the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2018, they fell in Round 1 to the Nashville Predators in a competitive six-game series, This year, they once again squeaked into the playoffs, but upset the first seeded Calgary Flames in five games before falling to the San Jose Sharks in a tight seven-game series in the second round.

Much of this turnaround has been via the emergence of Nathan MacKinnon from solid center into MVP-caliber star. MacKinnon had just 53 points in 2016-17 but jumped to 97 points in 2017-18 and 99 points in 2018-19. Mikko Rantanen, who plays on MacKinnon's wing, has also elevated his game in the previous few years, jumping from 38 to 84 to 87 points during the same time period. The best news for Colorado fans is that they're just 23 and 22 years old respectively, while captain Gabe Landeskog is still just 26, meaning the chances of further growth is still pretty high for the Avs' top forwards.

Avalanche GM Joe Sakic was able to trade Duchene in the fall of 2017, acquiring the Ottawa Senators' 2019 1st round pick, and Nashville prospect defenseman Samuel Girard. Girard, only 21 years old, has been fantastic defensively and has great promise offensively in just two NHL seasons. After the Senators finished last in the NHL in 2018-19, the Avalanche now have the 4th pick in the 2019 Draft after falling in the draft lottery once again, but this means that they'll be able to add a top prospect like forwards Alex Turcotte and Kirby Dach, or defenseman Bowen Byram. The Avs also hold the 16th pick in the draft as well.

During the playoffs, rookie defenseman Cale Makar finished his college career at Boston University and made his debut in the Calgary series, showing off incredible talent at just 20 years old. He was almost able to be the difference to take the Avalanche to the Western Conference Final. Things should just get better for the young blueliner. Goaltender Phillip Grubauer posted a 0.925 save percentage in the 2019 Playoffs, giving fans more excited for the years to come.

One of the biggest challenges facing the Avs is the contract of Rantanen, who is a restricted free agent this summer. Rantanen's back to back point per game plus seasons could allow for him to command $9.5 million plus per year, which would eat into the cap flexibility for the organization to improve the rest of the roster. 27-year-old defenseman Tyson Barrie is also a free agent after the 2019-20 season, meaning Sakic has to make a decision on whether or not Barrie is still part of the franchise's long term plans, or if trading him for younger pieces would be better.

With the amount of talent in the organization, and most it being young, there is plenty to be giddy about in Denver, Colorado if you're an Avalanche fan.