Prospect Info: 4th Overall, Bowen Byram, Defence

[MarkT]

I haven't seen anything to make me think Byram will be a bust, but you never know. I liked the pick mostly because I really like the team-building strategy of having too many great defensive prospects. That's what allowed Nashville to trade out Weber, Jones and Subban. Because a team only really needs 4 really good defenseman, whenever you have more than that you can start trading them to beef up the rest of your roster. That doesn't happen with forwards because you can have as many as 6 before you even need to consider moving them, but paying 6 really good forwards isn't feasible under the cap (see: Leafs, Toronto Maple).

So the best strategy is to make sure you have a constantly renewing stream of great defenseman, and a couple superstar forwards surrounded by depth you can supplement by trading those great defensemen.

So basically if the Avs do things right, I fully expect to see one of Girard, Makar, Byram or Timmins traded at some point if a 5th guy emerges as another top 4 defenseman (or that 5th guy gets traded).

 

[cgf]

I haven't seen anything to make me think Byram will be a bust, but you never know. I liked the pick mostly because I really like the team-building strategy of having too many great defensive prospects. That's what allowed Nashville to trade out Weber, Jones and Subban. Because a team only really needs 4 really good defenseman, whenever you have more than that you can start trading them to beef up the rest of your roster. That doesn't happen with forwards because you can have as many as 6 before you even need to consider moving them, but paying 6 really good forwards isn't feasible under the cap (see: Leafs, Toronto Maple).

So the best strategy is to make sure you have a constantly renewing stream of great defenseman, and a couple superstar forwards surrounded by depth you can supplement by trading those great defensemen.

So basically if the Avs do things right, I fully expect to see one of Girard, Makar, Byram or Timmins traded at some point if a 5th guy emerges as another top 4 defenseman (or that 5th guy gets traded).

Is it the best strategy though? Nashville & Carolina aren't exactly running out of room for new banners thanks to their blueline factories...I often get the feeling that this fanbase in particular, overvalues the Nashville model because of how long we went with dire bluelines and how much success we've had finding top-class forwards.

Don't get me wrong, I think our advantage on the blueline last postseason was as big of a factor as our big line, so I'm not saying blueliners aren't really important. Just that we might over-glorify the Nashville model a bit when more balanced models, like the blackhawks model, have yielded greater success.

 

[Goulet17]

A few clips of Byram




Josh Horton on Twitter

 

[MarkT]

Is it the best strategy though? Nashville & Carolina aren't exactly running out of room for new banners thanks to their blueline factories...I often get the feeling that this fanbase in particular, overvalues the Nashville model because of how long we went with dire bluelines and how much success we've had finding top-class forwards.

Don't get me wrong, I think our advantage on the blueline last postseason was as big of a factor as our big line, so I'm not saying blueliners aren't really important. Just that we might over-glorify the Nashville model a bit when more balanced models, like the blackhawks model, have yielded greater success.

I'm not looking for a direct copy of the Nashville model. I'm trying to take what I like from the various models of all the consistently successful teams. If Nashville had a MacKinnon and Rantanen equivalent over the past half decade or so, they probably would have won at least one cup by now. Pittsburgh probably could have won even more cups if they had more defensive depth, and Chicago likely could have maintained their contender status longer if they had a constant stream of new defenders and weren't forced to overpay their ageing vets.

 

[Foppa2118]

I don't understand what the big deal is? He's got 12 points in 14 games as a defenseman. What a bust.

A couple 3 point games and he's scoring at a higher pace than last year. Same with goals, if he has a couple 2 goal games, he's 1 goal behind last year's pace.

His season has a long way to go, and it's not looking he's putting up 0's every night in the stat column.

 

[Balthazar]

I don't understand what the big deal is?.

There's none. People were panicking about Makar 2 games ago.

 

[flyfysher]

Is it the best strategy though? Nashville & Carolina aren't exactly running out of room for new banners thanks to their blueline factories...I often get the feeling that this fanbase in particular, overvalues the Nashville model because of how long we went with dire bluelines and how much success we've had finding top-class forwards.

Don't get me wrong, I think our advantage on the blueline last postseason was as big of a factor as our big line, so I'm not saying blueliners aren't really important. Just that we might over-glorify the Nashville model a bit when more balanced models, like the blackhawks model, have yielded greater success.

IIRC (and I could be wrong), the Hawks' D played out of their collective mind in their last SC win. Weren't they shorthanded? While I get your point and agree with your overall premise, I thought the Hawks got really lucky with their D in that cup run.

 

[cgf]

IIRC (and I could be wrong), the Hawks' D played out of their collective mind in their last SC win. Weren't they shorthanded? While I get your point and agree with your overall premise, I thought the Hawks got really lucky with their D in that cup run.

Their third pairing was absolute garbage for that last run, so they rode their top 4 like dogs...but the level that their top 4 was playing at wasn't particularly out of line with their previous runs.

 

[a mangy Meowth]

Nice stretch pass by Byram there. That's one thing I was hoping he'd try to add more of to his game this year.

 

[cgf]

I'm not looking for a direct copy of the Nashville model. I'm trying to take what I like from the various models of all the consistently successful teams. If Nashville had a MacKinnon and Rantanen equivalent over the past half decade or so, they probably would have won at least one cup by now. Pittsburgh probably could have won even more cups if they had more defensive depth, and Chicago likely could have maintained their contender status longer if they had a constant stream of new defenders and weren't forced to overpay their ageing vets.

I mean sure, I too would like to pull top-pairing blueliners out of our non-1st round picks on the regs. That would obviously make life a lot easier for us and all previous cup winners, but I dunno how applicable that really is for us/what we could actually take from them short of stealing their entire scouting & development team

Pittsburgh & Chicago could certainly have won even more, but how could they have accomplished that? Like what are you actually suggesting they should have done? Especially when the hawks have been devoting a lot of valuable picks to their blueline for most of this decade, they just haven't had the success with their 2nd rounders that Nashville did...so I feel like I must be misunderstanding your point :-/

I brought Carolina up because their model is at least recreateable; given that it was predicated on pumping almost all of their top picks into blueliners, at least until the lotto gods forced them to draft Svech. And that's something another team could at least re-create...but you can't just add what Nashville did to any other team but Nashville.

 

[Ararana]

Bump for a good highlight



He also setup the OT winner

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

Bump for a good highlight



He also setup the OT winner

The Makar/Byram pairing is going to be pretty cool.

 

[Ararana]

 

[Balthazar]

Can't wait to see him at the WJC. I think he has a huge ego and was pretty frustrated to go back in the WHL this year and it showed in the way he played...but in tournaments like this I fully expect him to dominate.

 

[AvsCOL]

Can't wait to see him at the WJC. I think he has a huge ego and was pretty frustrated to go back in the WHL this year and it showed in the way he played...but in tournaments like this I fully expect him to dominate.

Byram is going to do some special things at the WJC, I have no doubts. He's probably anchoring the PP for Canada, along with top pair on defense.

 

[Tralfamadore]

What other options does Canada have on D right now. I know they're not always keen on leaning on 18 year olds.

 

[Lemonlimey]

This kid needs out of the WHL. Maybe another team could trade for him would help some, no progress left to make as a Vancouver Giant.

 

[henchman21]

This kid needs out of the WHL. Maybe another team could trade for him would help some, no progress left to make as a Vancouver Giant.

He's not really taking the Dub by storm this year...

Funny how narratives switch.

Summer = Byram is a sure thing #1D
Camp = Probably not ready, but will dominate the Dub
WHL season = He's nearing bust category
A game against Russia = He's special, has no more to learn at his level, will dominate WJC

Soon to be followed by:

WJC = Coach is misusing him, can't they see how special he is
WHL finish = He's back to being a bust
WHL playoffs = Mother of God... He's a sure thing #1D
Summer = He's going to be generational

 

[Avs71]

He's not really taking the Dub by storm this year...

Funny how narratives switch.

Summer = Byram is a sure thing #1D
Camp = Probably not ready, but will dominate the Dub
WHL season = He's nearing bust category
A game against Russia = He's special, has no more to learn at his level, will dominate WJC

Soon to be followed by:

WJC = Coach is misusing him, can't they see how special he is
WHL finish = He's back to being a bust
WHL playoffs = Mother of God... He's a sure thing #1D
Summer = He's going to be generational

As long as we go into the summer on a high note.

 

[Ararana]

He's not really taking the Dub by storm this year...

Funny how narratives switch.

Summer = Byram is a sure thing #1D
Camp = Probably not ready, but will dominate the Dub
WHL season = He's nearing bust category
A game against Russia = He's special, has no more to learn at his level, will dominate WJC

Soon to be followed by:

WJC = Coach is misusing him, can't they see how special he is
WHL finish = He's back to being a bust
WHL playoffs = Mother of God... He's a sure thing #1D
Summer = He's going to be generational

Sounds familiar

 

[Bubba Thudd]

Sounds familiar

View attachment 277325

"Chris Bigras is going to be a breakout star for the Colorado Avalanche"

 

[Ararana]

"Chris Bigras is going to be a breakout star for the Colorado Avalanche"

You’re reaching far if you think Bigras had a quarter of the hype Makar and Byram had/have.

 

[avsfan09]

Is it the best strategy though? Nashville & Carolina aren't exactly running out of room for new banners thanks to their blueline factories...I often get the feeling that this fanbase in particular, overvalues the Nashville model because of how long we went with dire bluelines and how much success we've had finding top-class forwards.

Don't get me wrong, I think our advantage on the blueline last postseason was as big of a factor as our big line, so I'm not saying blueliners aren't really important. Just that we might over-glorify the Nashville model a bit when more balanced models, like the blackhawks model, have yielded greater success.

We are a seperate entity from Nashville and you can follow aspects of their team and organization and change where you feel they went wrong. Mainly not having any superstars imo like Mack and Rants. Hopefully Makar as well.

Edit old as f*** post pls delete.

 

[Avs_19]

At worst I think Byram will end up being Provorov. I've watched a lot of highlights and looked at the numbers so trust me on that.

 

[Pokecheque]

You’re reaching far if you think Bigras had a quarter of the hype Makar and Byram had/have.

In all seriousness it really wasn't that long ago that he was the team's top defensive prospect.