Watching Girard carve his way through the neutral zone last night had me excited for how impressive the Avs will look when Barrie is healthy and doing it as well.
If the team keeps playing like they have been, we’re going to see Z-EJ taking heavy matchups, then teams having to deal with Barrie, and then teams having to deal with Girard.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence the Avs have improved with Barrie out, but not because they’re a better team without Barrie, but guys like Nemeth, Girard, and Zadorov are playing with more confidence from taking larger roles. If they can maintain that confidence and level of play with Barrie back, this team could become a lot to handle.
Barrie coming back will be like adding a 60 point defenceman at the trade deadline, for free, to a surging team.