Any deal sending Matt Duchene or Gabriel Landeskog out of Denver likely requires a top-end defensive prospect coming back to Colorado.

Unfortunately for Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic, he seemingly let one slip through his fingers a year ago.

The Avalanche are the NHL's cellar-dweller this season, with just 30 points in 49 games after winning just three of their last 22. But that wasn't the case a year ago. In the thick of the playoff race, the Avalanche were buyers at the deadline, bringing in winger Mikkel Boedker from the Arizona Coyotes.

The early results were promising. Boedker finished his short tenure in the Mile High City with 12 points in 18 games, outpacing all Avalanche skaters. But Colorado's dreams of a postseason dance were short-lived, as the Avalanche finished five points shy of a playoff berth.

On Arizona's side of the deal, veteran winger Alex Tanguay was the most notable quantity headed to the desert, while the Avalanche also included young blue-liner Kyle Wood as part of the deal.

Wood was drafted 84th overall in 2014, but less than two years later, he was off to Arizona, with Sakic noting the club was questionable to sign Wood. It was a curious statement, given Wood tallied 39 points in 49 games in his final year in junior.

That didn't stop the Coyotes from putting pen to paper, inking the 6-foot-5 blue-liner less than a month later. Now, the club is already seeing the fruits of a blossoming prospect.

Playing with the Coyotes' AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners, Wood is off to a torrid start in his first pro season. The 20-year-old sits first among rookie defensemen with 10 goals and 22 assists in 39 games, and just five points shy of first among all AHL blue-liners. In his most recent outing, Wood chipped in a pair of goals in a victory over the Charlotte Checkers on Friday.

Representing the Roadrunners in January's AHL All-Star festivities, Wood won the hardest shot component of the skills competition with a blistering 99.3-mph shot. By comparison, only two players topped that rate at the NHL skills showcase in Los Angeles last month. It's no wonder that earlier this season Roadrunners coach Mark Lamb likened Wood's shot to Shea Weber's booming blast.

That's the sort of defenseman sorely missing in Colorado right now.

With just Erik Johnson, Tyson Barrie, and an aging Francois Beauchemin, the Avalanche are at least one blue-liner short of a well-rounded top four. Had Colorado kept Wood in the fold, the team's defensive depth and its road ahead would surely look a lot brighter.

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