GDT: Game 47: Avs @ Jets | Monday January 18th, 6pm MTN | Holiday Special

[Tweaky]

"scotch and soderberg" will never win.

Not until McLeod and Soda are the first two stars, at least.

 

[Tweaky]

How I think the D should be once healthy:

(Assuming 6 min of PP and PK time per game)

EJ 19es+2pp+3pk and Beauch 17es+3pk+2pp
Barrie 18es+4pp and Holden 18es+2pk
Bigras 12es+2pp+2pk and Zads 12es+2pp+2pk

That being said, I feel there is zero chance of that happening.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

Watched bits and pieces of the game... Zads still looks green, overall I'm happy he's here and it's better than the usual suspects but his game is erratic. It's the equivalent of varly's happy feet years back.

For two periods he played Wheeler really well, including that one on one where Wheeler couldn't even get a shot attempt off. The third period he stumbled, but so much raw potential there.

I don't expect Roy to roll Bigras with EJ when he gets back, but Beauchemin is about as good a partner as you can find on the Avs for Zadorov, in terms of mentoring him.

 

[LieutenantDangle]

Just watched a recording of the game. Man what an entertaining tilt. Duchene I can't praise enough. He's looking like he will be the best forward on the team for a couple more seasons. Mack will just have to wait. Soda is keeping up his strong play. Varly was god. Grah and zads looked good. Zads is gonna be a Brad Stuart in his prime type of player. Grah could be a left handed Barrie lite. So fun watching this team finally realize their potential

 

[dahrougem2]

Just watched a recording of the game. Man what an entertaining tilt. Duchene I can't praise enough. He's looking like he will be the best forward on the team for a couple more seasons. Mack will just have to wait. Soda is keeping up his strong play. Varly was god. Grah and zads looked good. Zads is gonna be a Brad Stuart in his prime type of player. Grah could be a left handed Barrie lite. So fun watching this team finally realize their potential

I have a lot higher hopes than Brad Stuart in his prime, and that's nothing against Stuart who was a legit top-4 defensemen. But Zadorov has so much more raw potential. The big body, the mobility, the booming shot, the willingness to be physical, the offensive instincts, he's just got to figure out how to put everything together.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Aren't you not supposed to be attending games anymore missy?

You can blame me 48 hours from now

 

[LieutenantDangle]

I have a lot higher hopes than Brad Stuart in his prime, and that's nothing against Stuart who was a legit top-4 defensemen. But Zadorov has so much more raw potential. The big body, the mobility, the booming shot, the willingness to be physical, the offensive instincts, he's just got to figure out how to put everything together.

I don't necessarily mean Brad Stuart in terms of talent level, but in terms of stylistic play. Nasty as hell in his own end, big shot, offensive instincts etc. I fully believe zads will be a top pairing d if he can reach his potential

 

[Lonewolfe2015]

Just watched a recording of the game. Man what an entertaining tilt. Duchene I can't praise enough. He's looking like he will be the best forward on the team for a couple more seasons. Mack will just have to wait. Soda is keeping up his strong play. Varly was god. Grah and zads looked good. Zads is gonna be a Brad Stuart in his prime type of player. Grah could be a left handed Barrie lite. So fun watching this team finally realize their potential

Odd comparisons to me. Bigras is easily the better defender in his own zone, mostly due to cerebral play.

The first one I see is Brian Rafalski in Bigras. Cerebral puck mover, nothing too flashy but the skating and skill is evident. For Zads, I have a harder time since he is so raw, but I'm wondering if Brent Burns-lite is a possibility. Big, hard shot, offensive tendencies, slick skating and huge hits when he feels like throwing his weight around.

 

[Alex Jones]

I think Bigras is more like Paul Martin.

 

[Tweaky]

I don't really see Bigras being a consistent 50+ point defenseman. Bigras will be 35+ easy, but Rafalski was 0.62PPG including the worst of the dead puck era, playing for the NJ Trappers. (side note, Rafalski went from a 48pt season in the NHL to not playing for a couple years before 3 games in the ECHL???)

But I would love to be wrong. But I am thinking more along the lines of Suter (which is not a bad thing).

 

[Ivan13]

Odd comparisons to me. Bigras is easily the better defender in his own zone, mostly due to cerebral play.

The first one I see is Brian Rafalski in Bigras. Cerebral puck mover, nothing too flashy but the skating and skill is evident. For Zads, I have a harder time since he is so raw, but I'm wondering if Brent Burns-lite is a possibility. Big, hard shot, offensive tendencies, slick skating and huge hits when he feels like throwing his weight around.

Both are good calls, Z plays like Burns in a way, when he's zoned i defensively he's really good, but where he's at his best is when he's given some rope, he's crazy talented.

I love players like Bigras, he understands the game like few do.

 

[dahrougem2]

I don't really see Bigras being a consistent 50+ point defenseman. Bigras will be 35+ easy, but Rafalski was 0.62PPG including the worst of the dead puck era, playing for the NJ Trappers. (side note, Rafalski went from a 48pt season in the NHL to not playing for a couple years before 3 games in the ECHL???)

But I would love to be wrong. But I am thinking more along the lines of Suter (which is not a bad thing).

I believe he had horrible issues with his back, "retired" although I don't believe his heart was set on retiring. Few years later he felt like maybe his health was better as he still had love for the game but he realized he just couldn't do it anymore.

 

[Tweaky]

That explains it. Too bad, he could still play (aside from the pain).

 

[Avalanche2133]

Just got back home from the game. Was great seeing the new blood on D live. So nice not having to see Guenin chase around his own net every time he is out there or pin the puck on the boards when he feels pressure. Bigras always looking for the open man to pass it too is a huge upgrade. Big Z is getting better defensively too. Played Wheeler tight all game.

I know it's a long shot but how nice would a top 6 of the following look?
Zadorov Beaucheman
Holden Barrie
Bigras Johnson

 

[Balthazar]

Bigras just need to gain weight IMO. He needs the Mack diet.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

Good road game. We need to keep winning divisional games to make it.

 

[Avs71]

I'll echo what others have said, Bigras looks really intelligent out there. Zadorov looks a little unsure, but even at that, he is getting the job done due to his size and skating ability. When this guy feels like he belongs, he will quickly become the Avs 2nd best defenceman. You have to love the ice time the coach is feeding him. It's pretty obvious that with his size and skating, he will become the Avs new favourite project.

As for the speculation about the defence pairings, it is too bad Roy loves Holden-Barrie so much, or wouldn't play Bigras more, otherwise Beauchemin could go with either Bigras or Barrie.

Zadorov-EJ
Beauchemin-Barrie
Holden-Bigras

Zadorov has looked fine on the top-pairing, so perhaps he could continue holding down that left spot. I think Beauchemin is the best partner for him though. Vocal, and a true leader.

I imagine Bigras will come out of the lineup, and then after a few bad Redmond games, they will have no choice but to bring Bigras back. That, or a trade is actually in the works and Bigras will be back to the AHL.

 

[InjuredChoker]

I believe he had horrible issues with his back, "retired" although I don't believe his heart was set on retiring. Few years later he felt like maybe his health was better as he still had love for the game but he realized he just couldn't do it anymore.

his knee was also messed up.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Bigras just need to gain weight IMO. He needs the Mack diet.

Screw the Mack diet. Let him go full Pepin/Martinsnen. They'll eat you if they want.

 

[airqualf]

3 goals against in 3 games for the "new defense". that's not bad when you consider that our #1 dman missed those games. i would really love to see johnson back and redmond get scratched, because z and bigras could develop into great dmen very fast although they're still so young.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Redmond was a disaster yet again last night but was taking shifts with Zads as Bigras saw limited icetime near the end of the game. It's going to take a while for Roy to trust Bigras and that's ok. I just hope it doesn't mean he's the one on the outside when EJ is back.

 

[freeboy]

My thoughts on the great talant guys... it is Zads now but in the past Dutchii and now MAcK too, they never really had to learn good hockey play as they could just dominate in the formative years. So coming into NHL they have to learn NHL hockey, proper team play etc. I have been frustrated seeing a lethargic no defense " lazy" play from MAck, I think he is either tired or maybe he has some other thing going on... not good when he is not playing tough on the puck in defense. Last game was bad seeing he and Dutchii struggle in our end. Over all I think the team did great, and winning at least covers a host of sins.

I am thinking mostly of the mental side of the game, not the energy battling side. What I like in the mental, where do you go and what do you do side is how well we team cycle at times adding a d man to the spin, and how well we are moving the puck under pressure from our end, and special praise to Tyson, what a great set of passes he made last night.

When we add EJ healthy, and maybe another guy our blue line will actually look pretty good for the first time in years.

I wonder if we are going to trade a goalie? Its sure would be nice to unload some contracts, pick up one good player.

 

[UncleRisto]

Screw the Mack diet. Let him go full Pepin/Martinsnen. They'll eat you if they want.

Never go full Pepin.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

Zadorov has looked fine on the top-pairing, so perhaps he could continue holding down that left spot. I think Beauchemin is the best partner for him though. Vocal, and a true leader.

Beauchemin is the perfect partner for any young defenseman. He helped Lindholm out a lot in Anaheim and if it doesn't happen this year, then I'd love to see him with a young defenseman next year.

 

[Lonewolfe2015]

I don't really see Bigras being a consistent 50+ point defenseman. Bigras will be 35+ easy, but Rafalski was 0.62PPG including the worst of the dead puck era, playing for the NJ Trappers. (side note, Rafalski went from a 48pt season in the NHL to not playing for a couple years before 3 games in the ECHL???)

But I would love to be wrong. But I am thinking more along the lines of Suter (which is not a bad thing).

Not saying Bigras will score 50+ points, especially in this current NHL, but his style of play is very similar in my opinion. Rafalski was never really physical, but used good stick work, skating and angles to cut off players well, strip them and then make a great outlet pass going the other way.

We're basically watching a young defender that is going to get better every game for the next 5-7 years right now, because his mind will never stop developing the game and allowing for him to improve. Physically he's got another few years of maturity to get stronger, improve conditioning, etc. But mentally he will surprise a lot of people with how well he reads the game given enough time to process it.

Zadorov however I have no idea which direction he will go. He's so talented yet immature in his game. I could see him just as easily top out a #1 as a #5. Bigras is more likely to be a steady #2/#3 defender, especially thanks to those years rounding out his offensive game.