Confirmed with Link: Avs acquire S. Girard, S. Bowers, V. Kamenev, A. Hammond, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd for M. Duchene - Part II

[CoachBadkitten]

Because he’s been around so long and impressed so much, it can be easy to forget that Girard is 21 years old. The same age as Makar. I have no doubts that Sam will be a cornerstone part of this defense for a long time.

 

[Foppa2118]

Girard has been paired with EJ all year long, outside of shifts here and there. They had Makar/Girard together in camp but havent done it in the regular season.

Maybe that's what I'm thinking of then. The pre-season. They just looked off together, and made a lot of mistakes. I thought they tried them together for the first few games too, but maybe I'm wrong.

Bednar does give them 2-3 shifts per game though, it's not full time Girard and EJ.

 

[henchman21]

Girard has been paired with EJ all year long, outside of shifts here and there. They had Makar/Girard together in camp but havent done it in the regular season.

And in the playoffs last year, but the numbers check out... nearing 250 minutes with EJ, Makar is next with 58 minutes, then Graves with 20. Basically G and EJ are the only stable pairing thusfar this season.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

And in the playoffs last year, but the numbers check out... nearing 250 minutes with EJ, Makar is next with 58 minutes, then Graves with 20. Basically G and EJ are the only stable pairing thusfar this season.

Graves - Makar have been better for a little while now.

 

[Foppa2118]

Girard has been paired with EJ all year long, outside of shifts here and there. They had Makar/Girard together in camp but havent done it in the regular season.

I think you're right that they weren't paired together full time at the start of the year, but just for reference, here are the times for the main defensive pairings so far this season at 5 on 5.

Makar has been paired with Girard more than Makar has been with Cole, and almost as much as Makar has been with Graves.

Girard - EJ - 248:06
Zadorov - Makar - 100:43
Graves - Makar - 64:54
Girard - Makar - 57:52
Cole - Makar - 54:52
Cole - Graves - 53:24
Cole - Zadorov - 42:10
Graves - Zadorov - 42:01
Zadorov - EJ - 39:54
Graves - Barberio - 31:33

Defensive Pairs - Natural Stat Trick

 

[henchman21]

Graves - Makar have been better for a little while now.

Context... stable as in consistently together.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

Context... stable as in consistently together.

Im still not sure on that. But obviously Bednar views it that way, because they see the most even strength minutes.

 

[henchman21]

Im still not sure on that. But obviously Bednar views it that way, because they see the most even strength minutes.

Makar and Graves have been together 5v5 for a total of 65 minutes. G-EJ is the only pairing that has been consistently together so far this season.

 

[Pokecheque]

Graves/Makar has certainly worked better than Cole/Makar or Z/Makar. The problem with reuniting Turn and Burn is that it would then require you to put Graves with Z, EJ, or Cole, and...not sure any of those pairings would work either.

I'd still like to see Z/EJ reunited at some point just to see if it still works. Those two just click fairly well IMO.

 

[Foppa2118]

Graves/Makar has certainly worked better than Cole/Makar or Z/Makar. The problem with reuniting Turn and Burn is that it would then require you to put Graves with Z, EJ, or Cole, and...not sure any of those pairings would work either.

I'd still like to see Z/EJ reunited at some point just to see if it still works. Those two just click fairly well IMO.

There is a solution for that.

Girard - Makar
Zadorov - EJ
Rosen - Cole/Graves

Or later in the year:

Girard - Makar
Zadorov - EJ
Cole/Graves - Timmins

 

[Pokecheque]

There is a solution for that.

Girard - Makar
Zadorov - EJ
Rosen - Cole/Graves

I'm down

 

[McMetal]

I'm not worried about Girard. It's easy to forget that he's only 21 years old. He won't even turn 22 until round three of the playoffs this season. He may have been around the league for a while but some growing pains aren't out of the ordinary.

 

[Foppa2118]

I'm not worried about Girard. It's easy to forget that he's only 21 years old. He won't even turn 22 until round three of the playoffs this season. He may have been around the league for a while but some growing pains aren't out of the ordinary.

He can celebrate with a Western Conference sweep of the Blues.

 

[5280]

I’m not worried about Sammy G at all. He’ll be there when it counts.

 

[MaKarter]

I think you're right that they weren't paired together full time at the start of the year, but just for reference, here are the times for the main defensive pairings so far this season at 5 on 5.

Makar has been paired with Girard more than Makar has been with Cole, and almost as much as Makar has been with Graves.

Girard - EJ - 248:06
Zadorov - Makar - 100:43
Graves - Makar - 64:54
Girard - Makar - 57:52
Cole - Makar - 54:52
Cole - Graves - 53:24
Cole - Zadorov - 42:10
Graves - Zadorov - 42:01
Zadorov - EJ - 39:54
Graves - Barberio - 31:33

Defensive Pairs - Natural Stat Trick

The times prove that Bednar can not play EJ with any other defenseman than SamG.

I really hated seeing that Cole EJ combo to end the Vancouver game in regulation. I know that worked for shutdown role in the playoffs last year but I hate it. I don't care if it's PK, get Cale on the ice to skate through everyone or hit a sick outlet pass for game over empty netter.

Get a playmaker defenseman on the ice!

 

[Pokecheque]

The times prove that Bednar can not play EJ with any other defenseman than SamG.

I really hated seeing that Cole EJ combo to end the Vancouver game in regulation. I know that worked for shutdown role in the playoffs last year but I hate it. I don't care if it's PK, get Cale on the ice to skate through everyone or hit a sick outlet pass for game over empty netter.

Get a playmaker defenseman on the ice!

Agreed. In this instance and on the PK, I think Bednar is maddeningly...conventional. Look, I get not wanting to get guys like Sammy and Cale out there to block shots, but I think they could stand to rethink their approach a little. Holding a lead or killing a penalty, going into an absolute shell is just not acceptable.

 

[Balthazar]

IMO Bednar is hesitant to play Makar with Girard because both guys easily cough up the puck when the other team applies heavy forechecking. Neither likes to get hit and often prefer to turn over the puck over getting potentially hurt, especially G, and you can tell that teams start to take notes with him. "Don't play the puck, play the body." Makar was guilty of that a couple of times in the last game as well (once he sent the puck right in the slot to avoid a hit).

Playing them together is a double-edged sword and coaches always tend to choose the conservative side. Not saying I agree but it is what it is...

I'm sure they'll be reunited when we really need a goal and the other team is turtling. Full firepower with next to no risk.

 

[Foppa2118]

I'm a big fan of Makar, but he isn't that positionally sound yet. He's only been playing against NHLers a couple months.

You can't just throw guys out on the PK like it's 5 on 5 either. They have to really practice and study it, so they know where to be, know what their teammates tendencies are, know what situations the goalie wants you to either get out of the way or block the shot, and what kind of plays the opposition likes to use.

If Makar hasn't been drilling the PK full time in practice, and studying the game tape of the other team's power play, then you're just asking for trouble by throwing him out there.

They're also worried about Makar and Girard getting outmuscled in front of the net during rebounds. They've both had issues with this, though I expect Makar to get stronger and better at it.

 

[cgf]

IMO Bednar is hesitant to play Makar with Girard because both guys easily cough up the puck when the other team applies heavy forechecking. Neither likes to get hit and often prefer to turn over the puck over getting potentially hurt, especially G, and you can tell that teams start to take notes with him. "Don't play the puck, play the body." Makar was guilty of that a couple of times in the last game as well (once he sent the puck right in the slot to avoid a hit).

Playing them together is a double-edged sword and coaches always tend to choose the conservative side. Not saying I agree but it is what it is...

I'm sure they'll be reunited when we really need a goal and the other team is turtling. Full firepower with next to no risk.

This implies that any of our other blueliners are any better at handling heavy forechecks...which would be a contentious position, to say the least...cause if the excuse to not use them together is a problem that splitting them up doesn't solve, then that problem can't be the main justification for keeping them apart. Ya know?

The puck-moving ability of our other 4 blueliners, however, does seem to correlate with Bednar's readiness to use Sam & Cale together...as we saw them together plenty when our blueline still featured he-who-must-not-be-named, and so could tilt the ice for us without one of those kids out there. And this explanation checks out this season; as no combination of EJ, Zads, Cole & Graves...aka the 4 who'd be leftover if we re-united turn-n-burn without Rosen or Timmins claiming a spot in that bottom 4...would result in us being able to trust any pairing other than the smurfs, to not get pinned in their own zone.


Coaches tend to be more conservative; this is particularly true of hockey, as opposed to coaches in a more global sport like football...but Bednar's shown an admirable pragmatism in defying convention, when doing so works.

The common thinking was to "spread the wealth" because depth wins; yet Bednar glued the big line together & rode them like dogs, with great success. Conventional thinking agrees with what you are arguing for; yet Bednar played Barrie 24 minutes a night down the stretch last year and put turn-n-burn together, with limited practice, when the stakes were highest. Conventional thinking was to waste Barrie the way Babcock did, but after Bednar got a handle of things following that historically awful 1st year, he let Barrie do his thing & helped him reach new heights.

We're lucky to not need to overly concerned that Bednar won't do something that works, just because he's super-conservative/overly-cautious, like most NHL coaches...even if he's no-Nagelsmann and isn't as aggressive/innovative as some of us would like him to be.

 

[Pokecheque]

Agreed--virtually every d-man in the league will cough up the puck under a heavy forecheck. And guys like EJ, Cole, and Z struggled far more against the Flames forecheckers in the postseason and the other night as well.

And this is not to say that I don't think the EJ/G pairing doesn't have good shifts. They're both obviously talented. Nor do I think EJ sucks--he definitely has a vital role to play on this team. I just don't like, and have never really liked, pairing EJ with a puckmover. I think he does better when he is the puckmover. Mind you, I know I've said in the past that I wanted to see more EJ/Barrie, but by in large I don't think even that was a long-term solution.