D Samuel Girard

[AvsCOL]

Couldn't really find a thread for G, but just wanted to mention how amazing he was in the Dallas series especially. Finished with 10 points in 15 games, and led a ton of good rushes up the ice for Colorado.

I know he probably projects more as a #3D for the Avalanche with Byram coming, but I don't think that's a knock on him in any way. From what I could see, he filled the 2D role perfectly during these playoffs. We sometimes forget that he's only 22, and still getting better. I actually took for granted how great of a player he was before EJ went down. We're so lucky to have him signed for 7 more years.


(also can someone link the picture of his mini stick laying on the ice tonight? that was hilarious)

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[Northern Avs Fan]

He played great the last three games of the Dallas series.

There’s a lot to be encouraged with Girard moving forward.

He has to be the most experienced 22-year old defenceman in the league. He’s got 225 regular season game under his belt and 27 playoff games.

 

[Shinjuku Calling]

I'd like him to shoot more.

 

[Pokecheque]

I'd like him to shoot more.

He really started to in this series. Used his mobility to find spots and get the puck through. He doesn't have a ton of authority behind it, but I think that'll generate a lot more scoring chances in front of the net if he can just get it there.

 

[McMetal]

He's so underrated around the league. Watching him stick to Radulov like glue in the corner in game 7 really stuck out to me. His mobility lets him do things that you would never expect someone of his size to be able to do against larger players.

He'll probably always be underrated, unfortunately. It's too easy to look at his height and think he's a midget PMD that gets bullied in the D zone. Hard to believe he's signed for so little for so long.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

I thought he struggled with the heavy Dallas forecheck early in this series.


But he adjusted incredibly well and by game 4 he was playing much better, games 5, 6, and 7 he was absolutely fantastic again which is also an incredibly encouraging sign for future playoff runs.



I really, truly think the Avs should run a Girard - Makar top pairing all year next year. Graves was clearly out of his element in that rolw by the end of it, but G and Cale were just untouchable together it seemed like. And with the way Cale is getting more and more involved physically I think they would be quite fine in defensive shift scenarios as well.

Graves is a fine Dman but he's not of the top pairing variety and that is very clear. Shift him down and lesson his work load.


What I would like to see on Defense next year is this:



Girard - Makar
Byram - EJ
Graves - Timmins
Cole


Put Byram with EJ and let EJ take the kid under his wing and really help him learn the game at the NHL level. If Byram has a bad stretch or struggles a bit you can alot Graves up into that spot with EJ fairly easily. And Cole as a 7D for injuries and/or b2b scenarios would be really nice as well. You could even start preemptively managing the EJ work load by giving him some nights to rest against bottom feeder teams and let Cole jump in his place.



But I think that Defense would be a real improvement over this years without even having to go outside and bring help in.

 

[John Mandalorian]

I thought he struggled with the heavy Dallas forecheck early in this series.


But he adjusted incredibly well and by game 4 he was playing much better, games 5, 6, and 7 he was absolutely fantastic again which is also an incredibly encouraging sign for future playoff runs.



I really, truly think the Avs should run a Girard - Makar top pairing all year next year. Graves was clearly out of his element in that rolw by the end of it, but G and Cale were just untouchable together it seemed like. And with the way Cale is getting more and more involved physically I think they would be quite fine in defensive shift scenarios as well.

Graves is a fine Dman but he's not of the top pairing variety and that is very clear. Shift him down and lesson his work load.


What I would like to see on Defense next year is this:



Girard - Makar
Byram - EJ
Graves - Timmins
Cole


Put Byram with EJ and let EJ take the kid under his wing and really help him learn the game at the NHL level. If Byram has a bad stretch or struggles a bit you can alot Graves up into that spot with EJ fairly easily. And Cole as a 7D for injuries and/or b2b scenarios would be really nice as well. You could even start preemptively managing the EJ work load by giving him some nights to rest against bottom feeder teams and let Cole jump in his place.



But I think that Defense would be a real improvement over this years without even having to go outside and bring help in.

I like this. The part about the pairings is well reasoned.

I have a couple of observations however. We need to move on from Cole. Timmons is young, cheap, and ready to play in the NHL, which makes him a valuable trade asset. I’m nervous he’s always going to be injured. So we should trade him now when his value is at its zenith.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

I like this. The part about the pairings is well reasoned.

I have a couple of observations however. We need to move on from Cole. Timmons is young, cheap, and ready to play in the NHL, which makes him a valuable trade asset. I’m nervous he’s always going to be injured. So we should trade him now when his value is at its zenith.

Cole as a 7D would be fine. I would move him, I just dont see many teams lining up to trade for a guy making 4.25M who brings the level of play that Cole brings

As for Timmins.... He doesn't have much value right now. He's a good prospect with real good upside but the injury concerns are definitely going to turn teams away from paying any sort of value to get him. IMO our best chance with him is to keep him, play him on the 3rd pairing next year and hope that the injuries have just been a run of bad luck and that once he gets to a more structured NHL game they stop happening.


There's positive news that he was supposedly a Game Time Decision last night possibly suggesting it wasn't head related.

 

[Alex Jones]

Girard becoming a #3 defenseman in the NHL would require his game to regress from where it's at right now.

To me G is a #2 right now. The only issue he has is that he can get abused on the cycle against bigger forwards. You want to have him with a mauler along the boards, but he is an incredible little player.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

Girard becoming a #3 defenseman in the NHL would require his game to regress from where it's at right now.

To me G is a #2 right now. The only issue he has is that he can get abused on the cycle against bigger forwards. You want to have him with a mauler along the boards, but he is an incredible little player.

Josh Manson would be a beaut alongside G

 

[Alex Jones]

Josh Manson would be a beaut alongside G

Not sure what his contract situation is, but I would worry about giving more than 3 years to a guy with his age and playstyle. Plus you'd probably have to find a way to move EJ.

I think at this point we just have to hope EJ can stay healthy this upcoming year, get Seattle to take him, and find another RD next season.

 

[Bone Breaker]

Cole as a 7D would be fine. I would move him, I just dont see many teams lining up to trade for a guy making 4.25M who brings the level of play that Cole brings

imo, if you cant find a trade partner for Cole, even if the ask is just a bag of pucks... you have to buy him out. both Orpik and Barrie are off the books next season, so theres room for some dead cap from a Cole buy out.

 

[Alex Jones]

Cole is here for one more season. Don't buy him out, just play him as a sixth/seventh defenseman. I realize he sucks, but bury him on the roster and don't bring him back next year.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

Cole is here for one more season. Don't buy him out, just play him as a sixth/seventh defenseman. I realize he sucks, but bury him on the roster and don't bring him back next year.

I don’t have the faith in the coaching staff to see Cole buried.

 

[VikingAv]

I don’t have the faith in the coaching staff to see Cole buried.

I don't have faith in the health of our top 6 D to see Cole buried.

 

[BigCKU]

I feel Girard on the #2 line is perfect with Maker at #1. Having a D with their mobility on each line is huge. Each needs a bigger defensemen though to pair with them to handle the bigger forwards. My concern with playing both of them together is they could be pushed around by certain teams. Makar probably eventually gets to where he can handle that physical play but Girard may always be too small that he can get pushed around in those moments.

 

[Avsavsavsavsavs]

He had a great play in the 3rd where he took it the entire way baited 2 defenders to him and threw a dish into the slot, unfortunately nobody was there. I think Girard could still use a little defensive improvement but I don't think its nearly as bad as some of the flack he gets every so often defensively. Even if this is peak Girard and it never gets better he is well worth the contract.

 

[Bone Breaker]

Cole is here for one more season. Don't buy him out, just play him as a sixth/seventh defenseman. I realize he sucks, but bury him on the roster and don't bring him back next year.

along with what others wrote, a buy out would open almost 3M in cap space, which could be a lot better applied elsewhere. for example, Nameste+3M = top 6 winger money. (Laine, Gaudreau, Pasta, Evander Kane...)

 

[Richard88]

Girard becoming a #3 defenseman in the NHL would require his game to regress from where it's at right now.

To me G is a #2 right now. The only issue he has is that he can get abused on the cycle against bigger forwards. You want to have him with a mauler along the boards, but he is an incredible little player.

Kinda tempted to draft Schneider if he's available at our pick (#24), as he's the ideal sort of partner for Girard. He's also probably one of the most NHL ready players beyond the top 10 so could step into the lineup fairly soon.

Long-term that's a D group like this:

Byram --- Makar
Girard --- Schneider
Graves --- Timmins​

Alternatively:

Graves -- Makar
Byram -- Timmins
Girard -- Schneider​

Either way that's a very solid group that would utterly dominate transitions for 60 minutes a night.

 

[Richard88]

imo, if you cant find a trade partner for Cole, even if the ask is just a bag of pucks... you have to buy him out. both Orpik and Barrie are off the books next season, so theres room for some dead cap from a Cole buy out.

Cole is here for one more season. Don't buy him out, just play him as a sixth/seventh defenseman. I realize he sucks, but bury him on the roster and don't bring him back next year.

along with what others wrote, a buy out would open almost 3M in cap space, which could be a lot better applied elsewhere. for example, Nameste+3M = top 6 winger money. (Laine, Gaudreau, Pasta, Evander Kane...)

Buying out Cole wouldn't be a smart decision at all. We have more than enough capspace in 2020/21 to accommodate Cole even as 7D. In 2021/22 though we're likely going to be right up against the cap ceiling in which case having $1m of a Cole buyout lingering would be extremely inconvenient.

If worst comes to worst we can just retain a bit on his contract to move him, but in that case I think we'd be able to get something in return.

 

[The Kingslayer]

I thought he struggled with the heavy Dallas forecheck early in this series.


But he adjusted incredibly well and by game 4 he was playing much better, games 5, 6, and 7 he was absolutely fantastic again which is also an incredibly encouraging sign for future playoff runs.



I really, truly think the Avs should run a Girard - Makar top pairing all year next year. Graves was clearly out of his element in that rolw by the end of it, but G and Cale were just untouchable together it seemed like. And with the way Cale is getting more and more involved physically I think they would be quite fine in defensive shift scenarios as well.

Graves is a fine Dman but he's not of the top pairing variety and that is very clear. Shift him down and lesson his work load.


What I would like to see on Defense next year is this:



Girard - Makar
Byram - EJ
Graves - Timmins
Cole


Put Byram with EJ and let EJ take the kid under his wing and really help him learn the game at the NHL level. If Byram has a bad stretch or struggles a bit you can alot Graves up into that spot with EJ fairly easily. And Cole as a 7D for injuries and/or b2b scenarios would be really nice as well. You could even start preemptively managing the EJ work load by giving him some nights to rest against bottom feeder teams and let Cole jump in his place.



But I think that Defense would be a real improvement over this years without even having to go outside and bring help in.

Joe has to bring in some outside help at the deadline just in case. I dont want to ever see Cannot play meaningful games again. Not saying he was a problem necessarily but Jared needs to be able to play someone more than 7 minutes if injuries strike.

 

[The Kingslayer]

Kinda tempted to draft Schneider if he's available at our pick (#24), as he's the ideal sort of partner for Girard. He's also probably one of the most NHL ready players beyond the top 10 so could step into the lineup fairly soon.

Long-term that's a D group like this:

Byram --- Makar
Girard --- Schneider
Graves --- Timmins​

Alternatively:

Graves -- Makar
Byram -- Timmins
Girard -- Schneider​

Either way that's a very solid group that would utterly dominate transitions for 60 minutes a night.

No. No alternatively. No more Ryan Graves and Makar pairing. No. Never again. Makar deserves someone steady. Not someone he has to babysit when they decide they want to be the star and goes deep into the O-zone. f*** no.

 

[The Kingslayer]

He had a great play in the 3rd where he took it the entire way baited 2 defenders to him and threw a dish into the slot, unfortunately nobody was there. I think Girard could still use a little defensive improvement but I don't think its nearly as bad as some of the flack he gets every so often defensively. Even if this is peak Girard and it never gets better he is well worth the contract.

Yup. The avs didnt go to the dirty areas enough in that game. There were several plays similiar to that where the slot was open and the puck arrived there but no Avs in sight.

 

[MarkT]

I loved G's game more and more every game in that season.

I also think his play really solved a lot of the problems I originally saw with our defense next season.

I think we all agree that Graves is not a long-term answer as Makar's partner, but Girard has provided us with a solution to that problem, and no, it's not making him Makar's new full time partner.

The solution is to have Makar as the full time #1, while Graves and Girard split duties as his partner. Girard plays with him when they start in the offensive zone or their pushing for a goal. Graves starts with him in all the other situations. Work it out so it's about 50/50 on average. Wheoever's not with Makar can play with EJ, Timmins or whoever our other RD is.

 

[Richard88]

No. No alternatively. No more Ryan Graves and Makar pairing. No. Never again. Makar deserves someone steady. Not someone he has to babysit when they decide they want to be the star and goes deep into the O-zone. f*** no.

I mean, Graves-Makar wouldn't be a fixed pair or anything. In key situations throughout games and in the 3rd period if we need a goal or to lock things down then go Byram-Makar. Spreading the wealth is something we could do to roll 3 pairs pretty evenly if we wanted. But obviously Byram and Girard would be ahead of Graves.