Avalanche will select fourth overall in the 2017 NHL Draft

Well, now we know.

After suffering through one of the most miserable seasons in modern hockey history, Colorado Avalanche fans got to experience a different kind of losing tonight. The NHL hosted its annual lottery to determine the order of this summer’s amateur draft and things could not have gone more poorly for general manager, Joe Sakic, and the Avalanche. Despite having the best odds of any team to select first overall, the ping balls dropped them all the way down to fourth—the worst possible result that could have occurred in the current system.

Even worse, they were leapfrogged by division rival, the Dallas Stars, who did not have any business selecting this high.

1st: New Jersey Devils
2nd: Philadelphia Flyers
3rd: Dallas Stars
4th: Colorado Avalanche
5th: Vancouver Canucks
6th: Vegas Golden Knights
7th: Arizona Coyotes
8th: Buffalo Sabres
9th: Detroit Red Wings
10th: Florida Panthers
11th: Los Angeles Kings
12th: Carolina Hurricanes
13th: Winnipeg Jets
14th: Tampa Bay Lightning
15th: New York Islanders

What happens now? Well, unless something drastically different happens with the prospect rankings, Avalanche fans will need to start getting excited about prospects other than centers Nolan Patrick and Nico Hischier, who are both regarded as the two best skaters in the draft. The good news is Colorado will still be able to draft an impactful player, like the score-first wing Owen Tippett or the fast-rising Finnish defenseman Miro Heiskanen.