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The Avalanche beat the odds, receive 1st overall pick in 2013 Draft

With only an 18.8 percent chance of winning the NHL Draft lottery, the Colorado Avalanche beat out the other playoff eliminated teams to win the first overall pick in this year’s draft. For a while I was worried the Avs would be even bigger losers than they all ready were and lose once again to the Florida Panthers in the draft lottery. Luckily the Avs 18 percent shot beat the Panthers 25 percent to have their pick of the class.

The heavy favorite and no-brainer for the Avs would be defenseman Seth Jones. The Avs have an inconsistent and generally poor defense which has wreaked havoc for goaltender Semyon Varlamov. The Avs traded Chris Stewart and Kevin Shattenkirk to the St. Louis Blues for former overall first draft pick, defenseman Erik Johnson. The former number one pick was brought in to help shore up the defense.

Johnson hasn’t exactly panned out as a number one pick, a trade piece or as a scoring defenseman. Not one NHL net this season fell victim to an Erik Johnson goal. Stewart put up 36 points and Shattenkirk 23 … Johnson had four, all assists.

To call him a disappointment is putting it lightly.

The Avalanche beat the odds, receive 1st overall pick in 2013 Draft
The captain of the WJC winning Team USA, Seth Jones, may likely be the first pick by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2013 Draft after the Avs won the draft lottery Monday night.
(Getty Images)

Jones could very well be a first overall defenseman draftee this summer, but will he be another Johnson? Doubtful, but crazier things have happened. As of now the Avs are favored to pick Jones but they could be a wild card and make another selection. Nathan MacKinnon or Jonathan Drouin are top three choices as well, but the Avs are stacked in the forwards department, especially centers.

Jones –as most by now know- grew up skating in Denver when his father Popeye Jones played for the Denver Nuggets of the NBA. It would only make sense that his professional career begin in Denver.

Cory Whitmer

Cory Whitmer

Cory is a 27-year old aspiring sportswriter and Convergent Journalism student at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Some could call him a cynic, he likes to think of himself as a sports realist. An avid Denver sports fan, he doesn't hold back, even on his home teams. Check out his Colorado Rockies blog: http://throughthefencebaseball.com/author/cory-whitmer/
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