Rookie defenseman Byram on fast- track for early ice time
Bo Byram might become the class clown of the Colorado Avalanche if you listen to his former teammates on Canada’s junior national team, which won the silver medal last week at the world championships in Edmonton.
Byram, it seems, has all the jokes.
“One of the most talkative guys I’ve ever met,” said Calen Addison, a defenseman for Team Canada, in an interview with TSN. “Usually nothing serious — ever.”
Another Byram teammate, forward Ty Dellandrea, added: “He’s always the guy in practice who is poking at the back of your legs.”
Byram, Colorado’s No. 4 overall pick in the 2019 NHL draft, looks the part of jester supreme with blonde hair that spills down to his shoulders, framing bright blue eyes and a near- permanent smile. His junior national team coach, Andre Tourigny, summed it up nicely with reporters last week during the world championships.
“There is no bad day in Bo Byram’s life,” he said.
Just don’t mistake Byram’s enthusiasm for carelessness.
Byram, 19, enters his first NHL season without the benefit of any training camp practices as he emerges from a mandatory travel quarantine that breaks on Saturday — about 72 hours after the Avs’ season opener Wednesday night against St. Louis. But it seems that won’t deter the Avalanche coaching staff from fasttrader tracking the anticipated pro debut of yet another elite defensive prospect.
Byram, after 150 career points ( 46 goals) through three seasons in the Western Hockey League, will get every opportunity to play with the Avs.
“He’s really not that far behind when you look at what he’s been up to in the last month or so,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said Tuesday. “My job then, and the coaching staff’s job, is to bring him up to speed on our systems. This is a guy that will have a little bit of familiarity from camps in the past. But it will be relatively new to him as well. … We’ll sit down and do a couple of meetings a day with him — before and after practice, and during the afternoon on game days — to bring him up to speed on how we want to play. Tell him to watch some of those games closely and watch his reps in practice.
“When I insert him into the lineup, I want to be able to insert a player that’s confident in the way we play, is confident in his own game, and is feeling good mentally and physically. Then turn him loose and see what he can do.”
Avalanche GM Joe Sakic added: “Once ( Byram) gets a few skates, and when the coaches feel he’s ready to play, he’ll get the opportunity. But we’re really happy with his development.”
Byram has not spoken with reporters since landing in Denver, per team media policy during his weeklong quarantine period. But Byram has already expressed excitement about joining the Avs.
Byram told TSN in October that Nathan MacKinnon is “almost twitchy, like, you don’t know what’s going to happen next when he has the puck. … There are some guys in the NHL where ( defending them) you just kind of cross your fingers and hope for the best, and he would be one of them.” Byram also said Avs defenseman Cale Makar is someone he likes “to watch and learn from as well.”
Colorado finds itself with a wealth of young defensive talent. Bednar said settling the defensive depth chart will come down to which players are the most dependable during a shortened 56game regular season.
Look for Byram to approach his opportunity with the same child- like passion that has come to define his personality.
“I’m always talking. I’m always chattering. You definitely know that I’m there,” Byram told TSN. “I try to make everybody in the room feel comfortable on the ice and comfortable off the ice. I really try to enjoy it as much as I can.”