Everything Avs...3 day break edition

[AvsFan29]

I was earlier in favour of trading Cole, but after realising that we're going to have over $8m in capspace banked at the deadline by running a 20 or 21 man roster I changed my mind.

Having an experienced guy Cole as the 7th or 8th Dman is a luxury few teams have, and seeing as our cap situation is solid there's no reason to handcuff ourselves needlessly.

Should we suffer a couple of injuries in the playoffs I'd much rather have a well-rested Cole ready to step into the lineup rather than someone like Connauton.

Connauton is gone

 

[Balthazar]

I think if Byram shows he can be a suitable replacement for Cole, they will waive Cole. I highly doubt he’ll be picked up, but if he is, that’s great. We have Gilbert/Barberio if we run into a bunch of injuries. Even if we lost Cole, we still have trouble getting Timmins into the lineup. We have 8 NHL D, and 6 spots.

Barberio is in Switzerland.

Like @Richard88 just said, having Cole is a luxury and if we can afford it then better keep him. As long as the player is OK to be a 7th then we should keep him. I'm more comfortable with Cole than Gilbert.

 

[Islay1989]

I think if Byram shows he can be a suitable replacement for Cole, they will waive Cole. I highly doubt he’ll be picked up, but if he is, that’s great. We have Gilbert/Barberio if we run into a bunch of injuries. Even if we lost Cole, we still have trouble getting Timmins into the lineup. We have 8 NHL D, and 6 spots.

Barberio isn't even a member of the Avalanche

PS

Gilbert wasn't a regular on the worst defense in the league last season.

 

[AvsFan29]

Barberio is in Switzerland.

Like @Richard88 just said, having Cole is a luxury and if we can afford it then better keep him. As long as the player is OK to be a 7th then we should keep him. I'm more comfortable with Cole than Gilbert.

Yah if Cole wants to be a 7th D then that’s fine. I’d rather have the cap space. I have no doubt that Byram will be a significant step up, immediately.

 

[S E P H]

Of course Avs are going to go NHL veteran rubbish and keep playing Cole over Timmins with EJ is healthy. These type of moves are end up hurting teams. I don't think Cole has even looked like a top pairing AHL defenceman so far in the season.

 

[Richard88]

Connauton is gone

Yeah I know. I mentioned him because he was our 7/8D last year in the playoffs. Without Cole we'd probably be looking at either Gilbert or a Connauton-esque deadline rental as our depth Dman in the playoffs. Cole is clearly our worst Dman but you can still count on him to do a passable job in 15 minutes of ice-time; whereas with a lesser guy (like Connauton) you're gonna be playing him 7 minutes and over-exerting Makar, Girard, etc.

 

[AvsFan29]

Barberio isn't even a member of the Avalanche

Ah I thought he was in the AHL. Shows how much I follow Barberio

 

[AvsGuy]

nvm

 

[hockeyfish]

This will cost Timmins actual money right?

But more importantly, it saves Kroenke money.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

I was earlier in favour of trading Cole, but after realising that we're going to have over $8m in capspace banked at the deadline by running a 20 or 21 man roster I changed my mind.

Having an experienced guy Cole as the 7th or 8th Dman is a luxury few teams have, and seeing as our cap situation is solid there's no reason to handcuff ourselves needlessly.

Should we suffer a couple of injuries in the playoffs I'd much rather have a well-rested Cole ready to step into the lineup rather than someone like Connauton.

I mean, already this far into the season we've been down to our 8th Dman in Cole due to Johnson being sidelined and Byram not been cleared to play until today.

I think that makes a lot of sense.

My concern is that Bednar might give Cole more playing time because he’s the vet. Even if Cole’s play is even with Byram/Timmins, I hope it’s Cole that’s sitting on the taxi squad.

His development isn’t important. If he’s strictly being used for depth, I’m all for it, but I worry about Bednar’s past decisions to lean in favour of veterans.

 

[CaleMakaw]

Timmins on taxi saves less cap space (1,075,000 Vs 925000) but more real dollars than Cole.
If EJ coming back next game I fully expect Timmins to be sitting. Bednar loves him some cole

 

[AvsFan29]

Timmins on taxi saves less cap space (1,075,000 Vs 925000) but more real dollars than Cole.
If EJ coming back next game I fully expect Timmins to be sitting. Bednar loves him some cole

I think Cole sits in favour of Byram

 

[CaleMakaw]

I think Cole sits in favour of Byram

I hope so. But I'm not getting my hopes up of bednar scratching a vet.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Of course Avs are going to go NHL veteran rubbish and keep playing Cole over Timmins with EJ is healthy. These type of moves are end up hurting teams. I don't think Cole has even looked like a top pairing AHL defenceman so far in the season.

31/31 NHL teams and NHL Head Coaches are going to do this. It absolutely is not an exclusive to the Avs situation.

 

[AvsFan29]

I hope so. But I'm not getting my hopes up of bednar scratching a vet.

Bowen Byram is a blue chip prospect who’s ready to play. Cole is a liability

 

[Balthazar]

Bowen Byram is a blue chip prospect who’s ready to play. Cole is a liability

People focus too much on Cole being a roadblock for Byram and not enough on Timmins.

 

[S E P H]

31/31 NHL teams and NHL Head Coaches are going to do this. It absolutely is not an exclusive to the Avs situation.

You're absolutely right, but it's painful to see that Avs themselves haven't learned what happens when you give ageing veterans the keys to free rent and parking space. I am not saying to ship Cole out to Mars or something, but most definitely should not play all 56 games this year (play him half and Timmins the other half).

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

I also dont think Byram is going to play game 1 of this stretch in California either. Gotta remember he hasn't actually had a single practice with the Avs yet, and will only just be getting on the ice today for the first time in 10 days, and its only going to be he and EJ on the ice.


They're definitely going to want to get him into a practice or two at minimum before throwing him into the lineup.


My guess for when he starts is next Friday against the Ducks. That'll be the 2nd night of a b2b, a weaker opponent(Even weaker then LA IMO), and will be a good targeted rest day for Cole to come out of the lineup. That will give Byram at least 1 full practice with the team and likely another couple on ice session as part of the taxi squad.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

You're absolutely right, but it's painful to see that Avs themselves haven't learned what happens when you give ageing veterans the keys to free rent and parking space. I am not saying to ship Cole out to Mars or something, but most definitely should not play all 56 games this year (play him half and Timmins the other half).

Well... We're 2 games into the season against one of our toughest competitors all year. Not to mention, both Byram and EJ were unavailable and the next best guy we have is Gilbert... Cole was obviously not going to be sat at this point in the season.


We'll wait and see what happens next week. As has already been pointed out, its quite likely today was nothing more then a paper transaction for Timmins as a way for the Avs to continue banking tonnes of cap space for the deadline.


I really dont expect Cole to play all 56 games. Pretty sure Bednar has even spoken/alluded to the idea of using our depth and taxi squad roster as a way to rotate guys in and out of the lineup easily and give rest days to guys who need it.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

People focus too much on Cole being a roadblock for Byram and not enough on Timmins.

Yeah, this is a good point.

Timmins and Byram not only have to beat out Cole, but also one another. Because EJ and Graves aren’t going to sit on a regular basis imo.

 

[AvsFan29]

People focus too much on Cole being a roadblock for Byram and not enough on Timmins.

I agree. It’s because the both play the left side.

 

[AvsFan29]

Yeah, this is a good point.

Timmins and Byram not only have to beat out Cole, but also one another. Because EJ and Graves aren’t going to sit in a regular basis imo.

If Byram joins the line up and plays fantastically, how do you scratch him?

 

[Balthazar]

Yeah, this is a good point.

Timmins and Byram not only have to beat out Cole, but also one another. Because EJ and Graves aren’t going to sit in a regular basis imo.

I honestly think Graves was good yesterday...even on the PK he was decent (which should become his bread and butter). I'd not scratch him anyway.

Byram will get his real chance when a couple of dmen will get injured. It WILL happen.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

If Byram joins the line up and plays fantastically, how do you scratch him?

Easy, you just keep rotating the bottom pairing to keep everyone healthy and fresh. So long as the other guys are playing decently well themselves at least.

So far Timmins has shown that he should at least be part of a rotating bottom pairing, and Graves has looked as good or better as well.


When you're playing basically every other night for 116 days, with a number of b2b games, it really is a good idea to give rest days to guys even if they are playing good.

 

[AvsFan29]

Easy, you just keep rotating the bottom pairing to keep everyone healthy and fresh. So long as the other guys are playing decently well themselves at least.

So far Timmins has shown that he should at least be part of a rotating bottom pairing, and Graves has looked as good or better as well.


When you're playing basically every other night for 116 days, with a number of b2b games, it really is a good idea to give rest days to guys even if they are playing good.

It’s not a good idea to scratch a young star player if he’s playing well and deserves to play.