Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic and coach Patrick Roy touched on a number of topics Thursday during a conference call, most of them concerning the June 26-27 NHL draft and Ryan O'Reilly's status.
Colorado has the No. 10 pick in the first round and Sakic said he "wouldn't rule out" trading the selection but otherwise expects to get "a real good player" with it.
Barring a trade, the Avalanche will have six selections in the draft at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Fla. They'll also have picks in the second, third, fourth, sixth and seventh rounds. The Avalanche traded their fifth-round pick and PA Parenteau to Montreal last summer for Daniel Briere.
"When you get to the draft a lot of things happen, a lot of different opportunities," Sakic said. "If any opportunity comes, whether you're going up or down, we'd have to look at that for sure. But if we stay at 10 we'll be content at 10."
This will be the first Avalanche draft overseen by Alan Hepple, who has replaced Rick Pracey as director of amateur scouting. But, as they've done in the past, Sakic said Colorado will take the best player available.
"We have our list, we've had our meetings and we're confident we're going to get a real good player that's going to have an opportunity to help us, whether it's next year or down the line," Sakic said. "It's going to be the best player available for us. Other rounds, we're going to look more to need."
The Avalanche have a top 10 pick for the fourth time since 2009, when they took Matt Duchene third overall. They selected Nathan MacKinnon with the first pick in 2013 and Gabriel Landeskog with the second pick in 2011.
Sakic said this draft is a deep one.
"A lot depends on what goes on in front of us," he said. "We know there's going to be some good D's that are going to be up top. There's also a lot of real good forwards. It's a deep draft, especially the top 12-13 (players). When you get down to the second and third and fourth rounds, there seems to be a pretty good grouping there as well."
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Sakic repeated his hope of signing O'Reilly to a contract extension before the 2015-16 season. O'Reilly has one year remaining on a two-year, $12 million contract and would be eligible for unrestricted free agency after the season.
"I've had early conversations with his representatives," Sakic said. "We know where they're at. Like I said (in April), I'd like to have him signed by the start of the season hopefully. But right now is the time where we're focusing on the draft and free agency to see where we can improve our team."
The Avalanche will need to trade O'Reilly if they can't come to an agreement. Sakic doesn't want his status to be a "distraction" during the season and he can't afford to let him walk for nothing the way Paul Stastny did last summer.
"I like Ryan a lot," Sakic said. "He's a very valuable player, a part of our core. My first priority would be to sign him. We'll see where it all goes. I'd prefer him not playing (the season) out. I think distractions alone ... I don't think the team needs it, I don't think he needs it. That's why it's important for us that we have something done."
Sakic also wants to sign MacKinnon and defensemen Erik Johnson and Tyson Barrie to extensions. All three are entering the final year of their contracts. Johnson would be eligible for unrestricted free agency after the season, while Barrie and MacKinnon would be restricted free agents.
Roy said he'd like the Avalanche to acquire a left-handed shot to pair with Johnson.
"We'd like to have somebody to play with EJ," he said. "We have (Nick) Holden and (Brad) Stuart as left shots, but we'd like to add a defenseman to play in the top four. I think that would help our team tremendously."
Sakic said Johnson has recovered from the knee injury that cost him the final 34 games last season. He said forwards Patrick Bordeleau (knee), Jamie McGinn (back) and Jesse Winchester (concussion) are "on track" to be ready for training camp.
Sakic wouldn't comment on rumors the team is looking to add forward Alexander Radulov, a former first-round draft pick who has been playing in Russia.
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The Avalanche still need to replace assistant coach Andre Tourigny and video coach Mario Duhamel.
"I've met a few candidates and there's no time frame for me to decide when it's going to happen," Roy said. "It's going well. I just want to take my time and make sure I'm going to hire the right person."
Sakic said new assistant GM Chris MacFarland, who had been with Columbus since 1999, will be involved with analytics, scouting and evaluating potential trades.
"I think everybody's going down that line," Sakic said of advance statistics. "I do believe our coaching staff did a lot of that internally last year and I'm really happy with all the analytics that we got in house. We're excited to have Chris."