Rookie defenseman Byram shows he belongs in NHL
Rookie defenseman Bo Byram, 19, is a keeper. He seemingly gets better by the game, and he’s played the last three for the Avs.
Byram can play three more NHL games before a decision is made on whether he remains on the Avalanche roster for the entire season or goes back to his junior team in Vancouver.
Byram, I believe, could also be reassigned to the Avs’ taxi squad and practice with the team until the Western Hockey League begins its season. But the teenager is outstanding and he logged a career-high 18:32 in Colorado’s sixth game of the year. He partnered with Sam Girard on the second pairing, played a little on the second power-play unit, and was sent out when the Avs pulled goalie Philipp Grubauer to create a 6-on-5 attack in the final minutes.
The Avalanche outshot Anaheim 33-14 — including 10-1 in the third period — but lost to the Ducks 3-1 at Honda Center Sunday evening.
Byram was also on the ice when Gabe Landeskog scored in overtime on Friday in Anaheim.
Sure, the Avs are absolutely loaded on the blue line but this kid, so far, has proved he belongs in this league. Injuries happen and keeping Byram simply makes the safety net bigger.
“I think he fits right in there really well. He has great poise with the puck,” Avs defenseman Cale Makar, 22, the reigning Calder Trophy winner as NHL rookie of the year, said. “His skating is at a very elite level and that’s kind of the identity of our back end. We like to think the game fast and move it up to our forwards quick. Any guy that can do that is welcome. I’m excited to see what he can do this year. He’s a pretty special kid.”
Ryan Graves scratched. The Avs defenseman didn’t play Sunday. He was a healthy scratch. Graves, who led the NHL with a plus-40 rating last season, is minus-5 and was probably Colorado’s worst player in Friday’s 3-2 overtime win. So Conor Timmins stepped in for Graves on Sunday and logged 11:28. No glaring mistakes.
Graves is among eight highly capable defensemen, plus Dennis Gilbert, and to earn a spot in the top-six is a challenge. This is a good problem to have.
“Trying to hold him to the standard of play that he had during the regular season last year which was excellent. It was very consistent. It was simple but effective,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said pregame of Graves, 25. “We’re just not seeing the same Gravey so far throughout training camp and through the start of the season so he’s going to get a break tonight. he’ll see some video again and we’ll keep going. We got lots of healthy D right now so it’s going to get very competitive back there.”
One shot. How bad is a 3-1 loss when the opponent is basically held shotless in the third period? The Avs held Anaheim to one shot in the third period. And it was Hampus Lindholm’s 180footer that went down as an empty-net goal in the final minutes.
The Avs are six games into the season. In a normal season, they would have just finished the preseason. This is a highly capable team that just needs to come together.
Patience, people.
Kadri and Saad. Nazem Kadri and Brandon Saad are Colorado’s biggest passengers right now. The second-line forwards are both minus-8 — although Kadri got there with Anaheim’s empty-net goal.
Postgame Sunday, I asked Bednar if Kadri and Saad are the “sore spot” of the team.
“It should be a sore spot for them. It’s beginning to be a sore spot for me,” Bednar said. “They’ll get better. I don’t have any doubts about it.”
Hot seats. Forwards J.T. Compher, Valeri Nishushkin and Joonas Donskoi each failed to produce a shot Sunday. Donskoi played a team-low 9:05 and Nishushkin only logged 11:26.
Colorado’s depth scoring is almost non-existent. Compher and Nishushkin don’t have a goal, along with fourth-liners Tyson Jost, Matt Calvert and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. Nishushkin, Jost and Bellemare don’t even have a point.
Why are the Avs 3-3 and tied for fourth in the West Division? They haven’t had depth scoring and they rank 24th in evenstrength goals with just eight.