Just admit it. You have been thinking about the Colorado Avalanche a little bit more this summer compared to previous offseason campaigns in recent memory.



That’s OK. You’re probably not alone.



You can blame Joe Sakic and his staff. The Avalanche general manager and the front office used the offseason to enhance a roster that was already attracting attention. Opening the Stanley Cup playoffs by upsetting the top-seeded Calgary Flames and pushing the San Jose Sharks to seven games in the semifinal round tends to create interest.



It is an interest that amplified after a series of summer moves that led to the Avalanche drafting Bowen Byram and Alex Newhook in the first round. That was then followed with separate trades to acquire Andre Burakovsky and Nazem Kadri. While also signing free agents in Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Joonas Donskoi while re-signing Colin Wilson.



Oh, and retaining key young pieces such as Burakovsky, J.T. Compher,...