Maybe Olympics? IIHF says players under NHL contract can't play (via Alex Ovechkin's statement).
But lots of players waited until training camp to decide and sign.
Any Colorado specific blame I'd put on the Kroenke family. I can easily imagine a baker's dozen of issues from Josh overseeing Arsenal, LA Rams, Denver Nuggets, and the Avalanche. I heard he single handedly broke Lehman Brothers as a real estate underwriter and caused the global financial crisis, before he got promoted to running the family's sports in 2006.