Just like last summer, the Colorado Avalanche have a lot of tough decisions to make with their roster. Unlike last summer, they don't get to do it in the afterglow of a Stanley Cup won against two-time defending champions.

Instead, they bowed out — in large part due to an insurmountable pile of injuries — in the first round to an expansion team in its second year of existence.

And that must make the decisions all the more difficult.

They have about $13.25 million to spend, which is a lot of money, but they basically have to replace the entire middle of their forward group and a couple of defensemen, plus find new deals for pending RFAs Alex Newhook, Bowen Byram, Ben Meyers, and Denis Malgin (who has arbitration rights). It's not pretty  They will have to do a lot of tinkering to get it right