Wasn't that he Avs corsi all sorts of terrible and they were supposed to be bad even when Roy was still coach going into this season?
Even when they were good under Roy, their stats were an anomaly, much like the 14/15 Flames, unsustainable etc... I was always kind of flabbergasted by the moves that Sakic was making, picking up guys that were too shitty to make our roster, guys like Comeau, Colborne, a well aged Tanguay (who is miles ahead of the other two). But there were a lot of really questionable signings, their defense isn't great and the Varly injury didn't help matters any. Their core is still there though, they just did not produce in the slightest, I think the system has a lot to do with it, Iginla did well enough there in previous years, awful this year, and did pretty damn decent in LA so far, so I find it difficult to blame the players entirely, obviously thats a microcosm.
Regarding former Flames, I will pay Jim Benning a rare compliment and say that he picked up guys that I thought showed a ton of promise and were legit good NHLers even if they were bottom six guys that could flex into the top when needed in Granlund and Baertschi. Both of whom fell out of favor under Hartley, Sven in particular.