What if Bryan Fogarty ends up fulfilling his potential? Does he become one of the best defensemen in league history? What if Eric Lindros reports to the Nordiques camp? What if Mats Sundin isn't traded away for experience?
This is my scenario of awesome.
Lindros refuses to report to the Quebec Nordiques and instead returns to the juniour ranks where he further establishes himself as the leagues next big thing. Meanwhile the Nordiques manage to convince Bryan Fogarty to get help and doctors diagnose him with social anxiety disorder. They manage to help him with his problem and after completing rehab the Nords happily welcome him back.
At the same time the Nords are finally able to come to terms with Eric Lindros, along with a hefty entry level contract they also guarantee Lindros that come the 94 draft they will also draft his younger brother Brett.
With two impact players added in such a short amount of time the Nordiques are able to take the league by storm after a less than stellar (in which they ended with the 4th overall pick, used to select rough and tumble defenseman Darius Kasparaitis). Kapar manages to join the Nords soon afterwards to further boost the Nordiques club.
With such a massive boost the Nordiques manage to post a great regular season but they are quickly ousted in the playoffs by eventual Stanley Cup winners Montreal Canadiens.
At the draft the Nordiques are busy little beavers as they manage to not only move up in the draft but also able to secure another draft pick. With these two picks the Nords draft Thibault and Deadmarsh.
That offseason Kamensky also arrives from Russia further boosting a steadily improving team. However unlike the previous season where the team managed to improve, despite some impressive individual efforts the Nordiques regress greatly ending up with the 9th overall pick and considerably out of the playoffs.
Using that pick the Nordiques manage to fulfill their agreement with Eric Lindros by drafting his younger brother Brett.
A few games into the season the Nordiques find themselves lacking in character despite all their gritty forwards, deciding that they might need a truly established power forward to further help the development of their developing ones the Nordiques trade Mats Sundin to the St. Louis Blues (they themselves realizing that trading Oates left them lacking a little something down he middle). Shanahan quickly makes an impact when paired with the Lindros' as they form what would be known as "The Legion of Doom."
The Nordiques manage to transfer this lines chemistry, as well as the continued development of forwards such as Kamensky, Deadmarsh, Nolan, the Lindros', and Sakic the Nordiques translate this talent into an extremely successful season, but during the post-season they are ousted yet again in the first round. In the ensuing offseason Eric Lindros is named the MVP of the league after leading the lockout shortened season in points.
Unfortunately this last straw proved to be the one that broke the camels back. Quebec City is told that it will no longer be able to support their hockey franchise, with attendance unstable and with the Canadian dollar on a downward spiral the facts can't be denied. Investors in Colorado buy the talented franchise and move it to Denver where they are renamed the Colorado Avalanche.
The team, although playing well still seems as if they are not fulfilling their potential. Back out east their old rivals the Montreal Canadiens are having trouble with their goaltender Patrick Roy, having recently been embarassed the star netminder has made his demands clear, he wants out, and he wants out now. The Avalanche are able to entice the Canadiens with a package surrounding their promising young goaltender Thibault. With the addition of Roy the Avalanche fill several holes, first they acquired along with Roy a fantastic defensive center, Mike Keane, as well as a star goaltender. Most importantly they acquire a winner and with him he brings a winning attitude.
That postseason the Avalanche manage to do in their first year what the Nordiques failed to do in their entire history, win a Stanley Cup. This trend would continue for the next 4 years as the Avalanche managed to capture three more championships in that time period becoming the next great dynasty.
I know, far-fetched, but it could've been fun...