The 2016–17 Colorado Avalanche season was the 22nd operational season and 21st playing season for the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...

since the franchise relocated from

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

prior to the start of the 1995–96 NHL season, as well as the franchise's 38th season in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

and 45th season overall. Under first-year head coach

Jared Bednar Jared Bednar (born February 28, 1972) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. He is the current head coach of the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously coached the Lake Erie Monsters of the ...

, the Avalanche got off to a respectable start, and were only two games below .500 by December 1. However, they only won a total of four games in December and January. By the All-Star Break, they were 13-31-2, and their season was all but finished. They would only win nine more games after that to finish 22-56-4, the worst record in the NHL. They missed the playoffs for the third consecutive year. They finished the season with their fewest points since moving to Denver in 1995, and their fewest since 1990–91, which was also the last time the franchise finished in last place overall. The Avalanche's 48 points were among the fewest for a non-expansion team since 1967, and the fewest for any team playing an 82-game season where one point is earned for losing in overtime or a shootout.

Off-season

On August 11, 2016, Patrick Roy resigned as head coach and vice president of hockey operations. On August 25, the Avalanche hired

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

's Cleveland Monsters as Roy's replacement. He had led the Monsters to winning the AHL championship in the previous season. Bednar was hired less than a month before the start of training camp. With nowhere near enough time to assemble his own staff, he was forced to retain Roy's assistants. He was also unable to install his own system.

Standings

Schedule and results

Pre-season

Regular season

Player stats

Skaters

Goaltenders

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Avalanche. Stats reflect time with the Avalanche only.
^‡Traded mid-season
Bold/italics denotes franchise record

Transactions

The Colorado Avalanche were involved in the following transactions during the 2016–17 NHL season.

Trades

Free agents acquired

Free agents lost

Claimed via waivers

Lost via waivers

Lost via retirement

Player signings

Draft picks

Below are the Colorado Avalanche's selections at the

2016 NHL Entry Draft The 2016 NHL Entry Draft was the 54th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on June 24–25, 2016 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York. The first three selections were Auston Matthews going to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Patrik Laine go ...

, to be held on June 24–25, 2016 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo. ;Draft notes * The

's second-round pick was re-acquired as the result of a trade on June 27, 2015 that sent Buffalo's second-round pick in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

to San Jose in exchange for a second-round pick in 2015, Colorado's sixth-round pick in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

and this pick. :San Jose previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on July 1, 2014 that sent

Brad Stuart Bradley Stuart (born November 6, 1979) is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman (ice hockey), defenceman who played in over 1,000 career games in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the San Jose Sharks, Boston Bruins, Ca ...

to Colorado in exchange for a sixth-round pick in

and this pick. * The

's fourth-round pick went to the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

as the result of a trade on February 21, 2016 that sent

Shawn Matthias Shawn Matthias (born February 19, 1988) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward. Matthias played in the NHL, making appearances with the Florida Panthers, Vancouver Canucks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Avalanche, and Winnipeg Jet ...

to Colorado in exchange for Colin Smith and this pick.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2016-17 Colorado Avalanche Season Colorado Avalanche seasons