SAN JOSE >> It wasn’t a typical game day question, but Jared Bednar needed nanoseconds to offer his answer.

Does the coach of the Colorado Avalanche ever have time to sit back and appreciate the guys this organization selected near the top of the draft and what they’ve become?

“Every day,” he said.

The Avalanche boasts three of the very best players in the world — Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Mikko Rantanen — all of whom were selected in the top of an NHL draft by Colorado. Add in Gabe Landeskog, who will be an all-time franchise great and captain of a Stanley Cup champion regardless of how many more games he plays, and it gets even better.

That’s four incredible building blocks and the foundation of at least one championship roster. Hitting four tape-measure home runs at the top of the draft has allowed Colorado incredible latitude to make the other roster moves necessary to win one title and position the Avs as a contender for several more seasons.

“They’ve been such a big part of our winning culture, not just what they do on the ice but it’s their leadership and the way they handle themselves,” Bednar said. “They’re true professionals. Their will and desire to win is outstanding. My job is just to kind of keep them on track and keep them on the same page.”

A few minutes before Bedard spoke so highly of his core of superstars, he was asked about the burgeoning star the Avs were set to face that night at SAP Center. And part of the reason for the question was the biggest NHL news the day before, when the New York Rangers traded away a player who was expected to reach the same level that Colorado’s core has found.

Just as this Avalanche group was emerging as one of the NHL’s top powers, the Rangers had the potential to build something equally special. New York planned a full-scale rebuild in the post-Henrik Lundqvist era, but a pair of world-class players arrived and expedited the process at warp speed.

Artemi Panarin signed with the Rangers as a free agent on July 1, 2019. A few months before that, they traded for college hockey star Adam Fox after he made it clear he wouldn’t sign with the Calgary Flames. Fox joined the NHL club that fall.

They were the start of a great foundation. The Rangers also had a run of four consecutive drafts with a pick in the top 10. They could have built something akin to the Avalanche Plus. Think the 2022 Avs, but also with a potential Hall of Fame goalie after Igor Shesterkin developed into a Vezina Trophy winner.

What came next were lots of regular-season wins and two trips to the Eastern Conference Final. But the ultimate success has eluded them, just as it has in every season but one since World War II, and the Rangers have become an incredible disappointment this season.

They traded Jacob Trouba, their captain. The ending was messy. They traded Kaapo Kakko, the No. 2 pick in the 2019 NHL draft. The ending was messy.