Maybe relative to expectations he's been the worst/most disappointing?
But I think he's clearly been better then Manson and Johnson, both of which have arguably not even looked NHL caliber.
GDT: Colorado Avalanche vs Saint Louis Blues. November 1st, 2023 @7:30PM MT. AI Filled Cyber Edition
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But I think he's clearly been better then Manson and Johnson, both of which have arguably not even looked NHL caliber.
Girard might actually be the best so far this year, although his production isn't holding up nearly as strong.
Dude has been on the highest for the highest HDCF on the entire team, even more than Cale and Toews... And he has the lowest number of HDCA/60 on the team as well aside from the 4th line guys which are basically playing elite possession hockey to the point where it isn't sustainable.
He's been exceptional at both ends of the ice overall. Limiting chances against and generating chances for.
Sorry but he hasn't been, both third pairing guys have been much worse.
- Jan 18, 2016
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Relative to expectations… maybe? Mayyyybe.
But Manson and JJ have been far worse than Byram so far.
Bednar does that with the young guys, which is why many of us think he's a terrible coach in regards to young player development. And why I'm fine giving away so many draft picks because the Avs are terrible at using the draft to develop any sort of depth on this roster. And Bednar also overprotects his pets like JTC or Nieto. Dude has his flaws as the coach to go along with his strengths.Bednar said as much that he's struggling but sure go on
And Byram did take some bad penalties for a spell because he wasn't skating and getting to handys.
But even in those games, his Corsi stats, XGF, XGA, high danger chances for/against, zone entries and exits, many of the analytics you look at to understand their game to game impact... they demonstrate Byram is the a better player this season than Toews. By a lot. Toews isn't playing his best so far. Which is a bit alarming as he played poorly vs Seattle last playoffs and he's got Makar to prop him up.
Girard on the other hand has some very positive analytics to start this season. I'm very excited to see him getting back to where he was back in 2021. He's still a bit inconsistent game to game, but in sum total, he's off to a great start this season. But Byram's are still tops on the team.
Toews isn't playing well. His defensive play has slipped and his offensive contributions show a guy that is a bit robotic with the puck. He's not playing with the swagger or creativity he needs to bring consistently.
100%. Byram is surpassing Toews. I'll break it down with much simiplier stats for you.I should’ve clarified that I meant relative to expectations. Poster I’m responding to literally said Byram has been the best defenseman on the team. This guy said Byram has surpassed Toews so far this season with a straight face
In his last five games, Toews is -3 with 1 total hit, 1 assist, 2 blocks and 2 shots on goal. That's it.
In his last five games, Byram is +5 with 11 total hits, 2 goals, 1 assist, 4 block shots and 10 shots on goal. Byram has a Corsi for relative of +3. Toews is -8. Toews has slightly more Dzone starts, but it's not that far off. Byram is about 50/50... Toews is 44/56.
Toews gets more ice time than Byram, but Bo has 16 hits and 13 blocks. Toews just 4 hits and 7 blocks, and based on Corsi... Toews is seeing more shots against than Byram. Bo just blocks them while Toews must getting out of the way. Explains the +/- some over the last five games.
And you're spinning so tired BS that Toews is playing better? Ummm... what?
This is early in the season, but just seeing the above, it's very obvious that Byram will have the better analytics because he's making far more contributions to the game. The hit stat is troubling for Toews. He's gotta get more involved.
And Toews plays with Makar. While I like Girard and think he's good, he's not Makar. Byram plays mostly with Girard.
I love this team. I love D Toews. I really want to see him return to the play he was giving the Avs in 2021-22. But so far.. He's not showing us that player. This season's version of Toews needs to be better.
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Girard has been their best defenseman.
In general, I think the defense has underperformed to date, though. Byram is trending up a bit, but still issues. He got beat badly on the Blues first shot of the game last night. That could have started things off so poorly.
In general, I think the defense has underperformed to date, though. Byram is trending up a bit, but still issues. He got beat badly on the Blues first shot of the game last night. That could have started things off so poorly.
- Jan 18, 2016
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Yeah Byrams positioning and read on his first shift was.... bad. Thankfully it didn't lead to a goal but was a bad start that thankfully got better as the game went on.
Foppa2118
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- Oct 3, 2003
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Byram was out of position on that first Blues shot, because Girard switched him up.
The Blues had a controlled breakout from behind their net, and G took Schenn near the Avs offensive blueline, who swooped around and looked like he was going toward G's left side, but then skated up toward Bo's right side, but G stayed with him. Which made Byram have to move over to cover for G on the left. Then G let Schenn get behind him for a great scoring chance, but because we're hyper focused on Bo here, we don't point out any other defenseman's mistakes. G has had more than a couple tough defensive moments recently.
This is also another problem with playing Bo on his off side. They've been moving him back and forth and you can see he's overthinking the game at times. Sometimes he gets caught flat footed, because it takes him a moment in some situations to remember which side he's playing on.
This has happened a couple times when playing on his natural left side with Makar. He's gotten confused, thinking he should be playing the right side, but then realizes he's with Cale.
The Blues had a controlled breakout from behind their net, and G took Schenn near the Avs offensive blueline, who swooped around and looked like he was going toward G's left side, but then skated up toward Bo's right side, but G stayed with him. Which made Byram have to move over to cover for G on the left. Then G let Schenn get behind him for a great scoring chance, but because we're hyper focused on Bo here, we don't point out any other defenseman's mistakes. G has had more than a couple tough defensive moments recently.
This is also another problem with playing Bo on his off side. They've been moving him back and forth and you can see he's overthinking the game at times. Sometimes he gets caught flat footed, because it takes him a moment in some situations to remember which side he's playing on.
This has happened a couple times when playing on his natural left side with Makar. He's gotten confused, thinking he should be playing the right side, but then realizes he's with Cale.
Gumballhead
Registered User
Tufte played great for his first real game here. Lots of Rantanenish cleverness, and he's apparently harder to knock over than Mikko. Dallas is dumb.
Gumballhead
Registered User
I expect Toews to be better. Makar too, he's having a lot of Jekyll and Hyde moments. I feel like Bo will probably always have lots of ups and downs, but his highs are better than most of the league's. Manson does a lot of little things but he doesn't look like he's fully back to himself yet - I worry a little about him, but it's very early. Girard has played really well, he's very smart and it still cracks me up people here think he wouldn't be wanted by other teams. He also seems to lay hits as much as any of our D. JFMJ is doing fine, he's a perfect fit here. I think Caleb Jones will be useful, they should give Manson a night off soon.
Foppa2118
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Yeah he's looked off to me too so far. But then he'll have a bull shift or two where he dominates in the O zone.
He really dogged the back check on the Blues first goal though. Just watched them get a 4 on 3.
He saw Lehky go hard into the post so he knew he wouldn't be a backchecking option, but Nate still just coasted all the way back, didn't take one stride through the nuetral zone, and left himself just a few feet away from Thomas while he's shooting.
He takes a couple easy strides through the neutral zone and he's in position to break up that shot.
BrickNHL
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- Feb 25, 2019
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I think Manson will be better. I haven't been able to watch every game this season but Manson looks a lot better than last year in the playoffs and the first few games of the season. I thought he had a strong and safe game last night. Hopefully it's just the rust he's knocking off
Foppa2118
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My concern with Tufte before watching him much was his skating, but he seems to really move around well for a big guy.
Finishes his checks, battles in the corners, knows his role and just goes to the front of the net sometimes and parks. Has a good shot, good hands, shows good IQ with his passes. A lot to like.
Has a bit of swagger too. Avs could use that.
Katie: "What have you liked about playing with those guys?" (RJ and Val)
Tufte: "Yeah, they're really smart players. Obviously three big guys on a line. Can't beat that."
forsbergavs32
Global Moderator
I thought Manson had his best game of the season so far last game, mistakes kept to a minimum and some good defensive plays. It's probably taken him a bit to get back into it after being injured most of last season,
Thank God for that, he does seem to be getting more consistent. It's noticeable that he's getting to pucks first more often.
Yeah that line was a good bounce away from getting on the board. Tufte kept the cycle going multiple times.
The Blues play heavy and they had zero answer for Nuke and Tufte down low just bouncing off lol.
Avs2022
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That logic applies every year. Seems he always starts off not utilizing his teammates as much as he should and trying to go 1 on 2 (or 3) all the time. As the season settles in, he starts playing a more team game.
He's getting mauled right now it feels like lol. But hey, that's ok he can just dish for a bit until teams remember they can't zero him out that way because he's a legit play maker.
He served up Byram nicely.
He has learned when shit is like that to just crash the zone and dish. I think when he learned to adapt quicker is when he broke out. He still gets frustrated, but it doesn't take him 10 games to make adjustments anymore, maybe one or two thankfully.
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