DENVER — This team has talent. The big question is if it's ready to win now.
Optimism exists because of the 12 new faces on the team from this time a year ago, the high-end young talent and second-year coach Jared Bednar settling in with a hand-picked staff. But understandable skepticism surrounds a team that finished in the NHL cellar last season with a franchise record-low 48 points.
The dozen first-round draft picks on the roster — including three taken No. 1 overall — would seem to offer evidence that Colorado might be putting too much emphasis on a player's worth as a draft-eligible teenager (ages 17-19) and not enough emphasis on his development and what he has become.