The Colorado Avalanche have made some questionable free agent signings over the years. Some have been bad, while others even worse. We could nitpick about which ones were bad, which ones terrible, and which ones were downright awful.
But there’s one in particular that remains a bit of a mystery. I’m talking about the curious signing of David Koci.
The Avalanche signed Koci in the 2009 offseason to a one-year deal. Financial terms were not disclosed at the time of the signing. The 6’6” Czech native had been the Pittsburgh Penguins’ fifth-round pick in the 2000 draft. At 146th, he wasn’t expected to become a major NHL star.
Still, he broke into the league in 2006-07 with the Chicago Blackhawks. He played parts of two seasons there before playing one game with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2008-09, then getting traded to the St. Louis Blues, and then returning to the Lightning the very same season to play another 32 games.
Colorado Avalanche tapped David Koci to bring toughness to the team
By the 2009 offseason, Koci was a free agent and looking for a fresh start somewhere. So, the Colorado Avalanche figured he could be a good addition in the bottom six. Koci wasn’t intended to be a scorer. Instead, the club felt it needed some extra punch.
So, Koci was their guy.
In 2009-10, Koci played 43 games, scoring one goal.
Yes, one.
He added 84 penalty minutes while playing a whopping 3:03 of ice time per game. Well, at least he played more than the 41 seconds he played in his first game with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2008.
The Avalanche figured Koci was worthy of another contract. So, the Avs re-signed him in 2010 to another one-year deal.
He played in 35 games in 2010-11, registering one more goal. Yes, one goal, again. Koci averaged 4:05 minutes of ice time, racking up 80 penalty minutes.
Interestingly enough, he had a fairly decent shooting percentage. In 2009-10, he tallied six shots on goal, scoring once for a 16.7% shooting percentage. The following season, it was nine shots on goal and one tally for 11.1%.
Not bad when you consider that Koci was a fringe NHLer. He was never going to be a consistent player in the league. If anything, he did well to earn a solid shot at the pros.
Koci was done after the 2010-11 season. He played in 142 NHL games, totaling three goals and one assist for four points. He racked up 461 penalty minutes while averaging 4:15 of ice time throughout his NHL tenure.
David Koci is part of the Colorado Avalanche’s forgotten ones, but gets a shoutout here for going down as one of the worst signings in team history.