# 2016–17 Colorado Avalanche season

The 2016–17 Colorado Avalanche season was the 22nd operational season and 21st playing season for the Colorado Avalanche since the franchise relocated from Quebec prior to the start of the 1995–96 NHL season, as well as the franchise's 38th season in the National Hockey League and 45th season overall.
Under first-year head coach Jared Bednar, 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 combined. 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 having missed the playoffs by 46 points in the standings and also finished 21 points behind the 29th-place Vancouver Canucks. 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 second fewest for any team playing an 82-game season where one point is earned for losing in overtime or a shootout, only ahead of the 2023–24 San Jose Sharks (who finished with 47 points). As of the 2023–24 NHL season, this is the most recent time the Avalanche have missed the playoffs.

## Off-season

On August 11, 2016, Patrick Roy resigned as head coach and vice president of hockey operations. On August 25, the Avalanche hired Jared Bednar of the American Hockey League'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

Central Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | z – Chicago Blackhawks | 82 | 50 | 23 | 9 | 46 | 244 | 213 | +31 | 109 |
| 2 | x – Minnesota Wild | 82 | 49 | 25 | 8 | 46 | 266 | 208 | +58 | 106 |
| 3 | x – St. Louis Blues | 82 | 46 | 29 | 7 | 44 | 235 | 218 | +17 | 99 |
| 4 | x – Nashville Predators | 82 | 41 | 29 | 12 | 39 | 240 | 224 | +16 | 94 |
| 5 | Winnipeg Jets | 82 | 40 | 35 | 7 | 37 | 249 | 256 | −7 | 87 |
| 6 | Dallas Stars | 82 | 34 | 37 | 11 | 33 | 223 | 262 | −39 | 79 |
| 7 | Colorado Avalanche | 82 | 22 | 56 | 4 | 21 | 166 | 278 | −112 | 48 |
Western Conference Wild Card :
| Pos | Div | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | PA | x – Calgary Flames | 82 | 45 | 33 | 4 | 41 | 226 | 221 | +5 | 94 |
| 2 | CE | x – Nashville Predators | 82 | 41 | 29 | 12 | 39 | 240 | 224 | +16 | 94 |
| 3 | CE | Winnipeg Jets | 82 | 40 | 35 | 7 | 37 | 249 | 256 | −7 | 87 |
| 4 | PA | Los Angeles Kings | 82 | 39 | 35 | 8 | 37 | 201 | 205 | −4 | 86 |
| 5 | CE | Dallas Stars | 82 | 34 | 37 | 11 | 33 | 223 | 262 | −39 | 79 |
| 6 | PA | Arizona Coyotes | 82 | 30 | 42 | 10 | 24 | 197 | 260 | −63 | 70 |
| 7 | PA | Vancouver Canucks | 82 | 30 | 43 | 9 | 26 | 182 | 243 | −61 | 69 |
| 8 | CE | Colorado Avalanche | 82 | 22 | 56 | 4 | 21 | 166 | 278 | −112 | 48 |

## Schedule and results
### Regular season

Game Log :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

## Player stats
### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Nathan MacKinnon | 82 | 16 | 37 | 53 | −14 | 16 |
| Matt Duchene | 77 | 18 | 23 | 41 | −34 | 12 |
| Mikko Rantanen | 75 | 20 | 18 | 38 | −25 | 22 |
| Tyson Barrie | 74 | 7 | 31 | 38 | −34 | 18 |
| Gabriel Landeskog | 72 | 18 | 15 | 33 | −25 | 62 |
| Mikhail Grigorenko | 75 | 10 | 13 | 23 | −14 | 18 |
| Blake Comeau | 77 | 8 | 12 | 20 | −19 | 58 |
| Rene Bourque | 65 | 12 | 6 | 18 | −19 | 56 |
| Jarome Iginla$^‡$ | 61 | 8 | 10 | 18 | −21 | 54 |
| Francois Beauchemin | 81 | 5 | 13 | 18 | −14 | 32 |
| Erik Johnson | 46 | 2 | 15 | 17 | −6 | 9 |
| Sven Andrighetto$^†$ | 19 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 0 | 8 |
| Carl Soderberg | 80 | 6 | 8 | 14 | −26 | 22 |
| Fedor Tyutin | 69 | 1 | 12 | 13 | −25 | 38 |
| Patrick Wiercioch | 57 | 4 | 8 | 12 | −18 | 23 |
| Matt Nieto$^†$ | 43 | 7 | 4 | 11 | −9 | 4 |
| Nikita Zadorov | 56 | 0 | 10 | 10 | −20 | 73 |
| Mark Barberio$^†$ | 34 | 2 | 7 | 9 | −6 | 4 |
| Joe Colborne | 62 | 4 | 4 | 8 | −21 | 34 |
| Andreas Martinsen$^‡$ | 55 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −10 | 32 |
| John Mitchell | 65 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −12 | 45 |
| J. T. Compher | 21 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 4 |
| Cody Goloubef | 33 | 0 | 5 | 5 | −10 | 25 |
| Samuel Henley | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 2 |
| Tyson Jost | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −5 | 0 |
| Cody McLeod$^‡$ | 28 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −2 | 52 |
| Rocco Grimaldi | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −3 | 2 |
| A. J. Greer | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −2 | 4 |
| Eric Gelinas | 27 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −4 | 12 |
| Anton Lindholm | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −8 | 2 |
| Gabriel Bourque | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ben Smith$^‡$ | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 0 |
| Duncan Siemens | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 2 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Calvin Pickard | 50 | 48 | 2820:16 | 15 | 31 | 2 | 140 | 2.98 | 1461 | .904 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Semyon Varlamov | 24 | 23 | 1347:47 | 6 | 17 | 0 | 76 | 3.38 | 745 | .898 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jeremy Smith | 10 | 8 | 542:43 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 32 | 3.54 | 286 | .888 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Spencer Martin | 3 | 3 | 179:26 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 4.35 | 96 | .865 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
$^†$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

| Date | Details | Details |
| June 25, 2016 (2016-06-25) | To New York Rangers Nick Holden | To Colorado Avalanche 4th-round pick in 2017 |
| November 28, 2016 (2016-11-28) | To Columbus Blue Jackets Ryan Stanton | To Colorado Avalanche Cody Goloubef |
| January 13, 2017 (2017-01-13) | To Nashville Predators Cody McLeod | To Colorado Avalanche Felix Girard |
| March 1, 2017 (2017-03-01) | To Los Angeles Kings Jarome Iginla | To Colorado Avalanche conditional 4th-round pick in 2018 |
| March 1, 2017 (2017-03-01) | To Montreal Canadiens Andreas Martinsen | To Colorado Avalanche Sven Andrighetto |

### Lost via retirement

| Date | Player | Ref |

### Player signings

| Date | Player | Contract terms (in U.S. dollars) |
| June 24, 2016 (2016-06-24) | Andreas Martinsen | 1 year, $640,000 |
| July 1, 2016 (2016-07-01) | A. J. Greer | 3 years, entry-level contract |
| July 5, 2016 (2016-07-05) | Calvin Pickard | 2 years, $2 million |
| July 8, 2016 (2016-07-08) | Nathan MacKinnon | 7 years, $44.1 million contract extension |
| July 20, 2016 (2016-07-20) | Mikhail Grigorenko | 1 year, $1.3 million |
| July 31, 2016 (2016-07-31) | Tyson Barrie | 4 years, $22 million |
| March 6, 2016 (2016-03-06) | J. C. Beaudin | 3 years, $2.45 million entry-level contract |
| March 6, 2016 (2016-03-06) | Nicholas Meloche | 3 years, $2.775 million entry-level contract |
| March 29, 2017 (2017-03-29) | Tyson Jost | 3 years, $5.1125 million entry-level contract |
| May 12, 2017 (2017-05-12) | Andrei Mironov | 2 years, $1.85 million entry-level |

## Draft picks

Below are the Colorado Avalanche's selections at the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, to be held on June 24–25, 2016 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo.
| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 10 | Tyson Jost | C | Canada | Penticton Vees (BCHL) |
| 2 | 40 | Cameron Morrison | LW | Canada | Youngstown Phantoms (USHL) |
| 3 | 71 | Josh Anderson | D | Canada | Prince George Cougars (WHL) |
| 5 | 131 | Adam Werner | G | Sweden | Farjestad BK (SHL) |
| 6 | 161 | Nathan Clurman | D | United States | Culver Eagles (US-IN HS) |
| 7 | 191 | Travis Barron | LW | Canada | Ottawa 67's (OHL) |

### Draft notes

* The Colorado Avalanche'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 to San Jose in exchange for a second-round pick in 2015, Colorado's sixth-round pick in 2017 and this pick.
    San Jose previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on July 1, 2014 that sent Brad Stuart to Colorado in exchange for a sixth-round pick in 2017 and this pick.
* The Colorado Avalanche's fourth-round pick went to the Toronto Maple Leafs as the result of a trade on February 21, 2016 that sent Shawn Matthias to Colorado in exchange for Colin Smith and this pick.