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Avalanche no lock for No. 1 overall choice, but Nolan Patrick remains top-rated North American skater prospect

The Avalanche’s next big game is the April 29 NHL draft lottery.

The 15-team lottery is for the top pick only and Colorado can draft no lower than fourth in the first round.

The Avalanche has the best chance of the 15 teams involved at landing the No. 1 overall pick for the June 23-24 draft, but it’s “only” 17.9 percent. Also, Colorado has 16.0 percent of drafting at No. 2, plus 14.1 percent of being No. 3, and 52.0 percent of ending up at No. 4.

Unfortunately for the Avalanche, this year’s No. 1 pick at least at this point isn’t expected to yield the sort of “generational” talent it did in 2015, when Connor McDavid went to Edmonton; and in 2016, when Phoenix-area native Auston Matthews went to Toronto.