Is our defence good enough?

[Northern Avs Fan]

After the acquisition of Kadri I think a lot of us are feeling really good about the offence.

But what about the D? Is this group good enough to get us to the playoffs and make a long run? Do we need to make a trade? Who plays the PP and the PK? Are we balanced enough on the left and right side? Barrie is gone, and it’s up to a stable of young players to carry the load.

Also... let me know if I post too many threads haha. I’m still relatively new here and sometimes get a little too excited about random Avs thoughts that pop into my head.

Click to read more...

 

[forsbergavs32]

I think it will be fine. May be a bit of a learning curve to start for Makar and Byram but it will be fine.

 

[TheForsbergShow]

It's a forum man, as long as it isn't some topic that hasn't been beaten to death you do you and be a thread machine haha.

In regards to the defense I think losing Barrie will def hurt more than some people will admit, he was a big part of why we have made the playoffs the past two seasons and expecting Makar to step in and play close to that level is a lot to ask (although I think as the season goes along he will start to look more comfy since he was pretty bobbly with the puck in the playoffs).

Johnson being a year older isn't a positive and Cole coming off big surgery isn't going to be pretty.

I do expect Girard to take a nice step forward though and Zads needs to start off better than he usually does.

We have a few wild card players in Byram and Timmins (probably gets a stint at some point if he looks good) but hard to pencil them in to be big contributors ,if at all this year.

Think we might have some growing pains this season with our D but won't be too horrible as long as we keep our expectations with Makar in check.

On the flipside , our forward core looks to be much more well-rounded than before, and hopefully they can take a bit of the load off from our younger D.

 

[PAZ]

Once our defense gets healthy it will be average, hell it may even be slightly above average depending on how Makar develops and adjusts. But both Girard and Z will have another year under their belt, Makar will get full reigns of the team (could be really good or bad), and there's a decent chance EJ bounces back if he's fully healthy. I also think we'll be quite happy with Rosen as our #5-6, and as long as Cole can fully recover is still pretty damn solid.

 

[The Kingslayer]

Too many question marks at the moment. Hard to say. Could be good to very bad. Cole and Johnson being out is gonna hurt. Our PK is also gonna take a hit. I still dont fully trust Grubauer yet either but thats another thread.

 

[cgf]

EJ is troublesome and I'm bummed we have to break up turn-n-burn, but we should be alright as long as Byram is ready.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Good enough to make the playoffs, but not enough to be a legit cup contender

 

[McMetal]

Lots of talent back there, no question. It's all untested and unproven though, and somebody is going to have to step into a role to start the season that they may not be fully ready for, and there will be shoes to fill that may not be filled right away. Still, I believe in the potential and I think somebody will step up in a way that surprises us here.

 

[21]

Defense is a huge question mark because several defensemen being young and lacking experience.

Hopefully we will be surprised in a positive way.

The talent is there, for sure.

A worst case scenario would be a set-back and the feeling of being stuck in another rebuilding phase. ;-) Not sure if we are having the patience. The offense is ready to go but the defense?

 

[Ivan13]

Talent wise yes, but it remains to be seen how they look when they are put in bigger roles now that Barrie is not there anymore. I don't want to get ahead of myself in regards to Makar and Girard, but I do hope they are able to carry the load or we are screwed this season.

 

[Rumplesnipeskin]

Is our D good enough? In absolute relativity, no. I think it will be as good / better than last year, though. And the same goes for our offense. Goaltending - I’m a bit worried, but if Frank and Gru are our tandem, so be it. Not the worst thing.

 

[Avs71]

The Avs should go back to playing EJ 25 minutes a night, his body be damned. He’s always played better with bigger minutes, if it means they only get him until March, so be it. It would be better than watching him play like he is actively trying to prevent getting hurt.

Makar is going to eat up probably 80 percent of Barrie’s minutes. The third pairing will probably play more than they did in the playoffs.

They’ll get it done.

 

[avsfan9]

Going to like the young defense they have in colombus with Jones , Werenski and Murray. There will be growing pains but there is too much talent there not to make the playoffs

 

[Avs71]

Yeah, they’ll be just fine.

 

[Ivan13]

Watching Girard play is amazing as he can turn on a dime and make people look silly - hello there Brayden Schenn - but at times he plays like a young Duchene, and that's why some of his highlight reel plays don't translate to the scoring board. Like in that 2nd highlight above, he should've made a simple play and pass the puck to Soderberg as he was going away from the corner, instead he held on to the puck and got cornered which resulted in a TO. His dekes, especially spinoramas often don't lead to nothing because he isn't aggressive enough in making the other team pay and plays more east-west than north-south, while Makar always goes in straight on, kind of like Mack. They remind me of blueline versions of Matt and Nate.

 

[tucker3434]

This year? Maybe. Long term, we’re in a great spot on D. No more band aids.

 

[Raucherhusten]

We have a future top pairing with Makar/Byram, a pretty sweet middle pairing with EJ/Girard, ZAD!!! and enough depth now to fil in the 5-8 spots. We should be fine, even with Cole out for the first two month.

There will be quit a few OMG moments with this young group, especially in first 2 month or so, but eventually i don't see us missing the POs. And in a year or 2 we'll have a Top5 D Core in the league. No doubt in my mind.

Let the kids play if they are ready - even when they make mistakes. We'll benefit from the experience they'll get in the long run.

 

[MarkT]

I think it's looking like our defense will have no one who is bad offensively (Nemeth) and no one who is bad defensively (Barrie). To me that makes our defense significantly better. See, every time Nemeth had the puck in the offensive zone (or often the defensive zone too), it hurt the team. Similarly, many time when the other team had the puck in our zone and Barrie was on the ice, it hurt out team. Now (assuming Makar and Girard aren't terrible defensively), no matter who we have on the ice our defense will be at least decent defensively and offensively. That should lead to an overall increase in goals for* and a decrease in goals against.

*I'm assuming Kadri replaces Barrie's production and whoever replaces Nemeth produces more than him.

 

[RockLobster]

Assuming EJ is good to go at the start of the year, as has been speculated, then I'd say the D is less of a question mark, but still one overall since we'd be looking at the following Top-4:

Girard-Makar
Zadorov-EJ

That's not bad, per se (we all love Z, but cannot deny that he's got some consistency issues, and EJ very well may be in his decline now), but the bottom pairing is a HUGE question mark, and thus brings the whole unit down as a whole.

That bottom pairing is going to be a fight between Barberio, Rosen, and Graves. Outside chance that players like Byram, MacDonald, Alt, and Timmins may have a chance at a spot too.

Once Cole gets back AND in gameshape, the unit actually looks a lot better as a whole. You can slot him in on the 3rd pairing and he immediately becomes a stabilizing force for that bottom pairing.

 

[John Mandalorian]

Yeah, they’ll be just fine.

I had to count their players. It was like it was 7 on 6.

 

[RoyIsALegend]

That bottom pairing is going to be a fight between Barberio, Rosen, and Graves. Outside chance that players like Byram, MacDonald, Alt, and Timmins may have a chance at a spot too.

Kevin Connauton. Better than Barberio/Rosen/Graves/MacDonald/Alt.

 

[RockLobster]

Kevin Connauton. Better than Barberio/Rosen/Graves/MacDonald/Alt.

Yep, I forgot Connauton, see how easily he just lifts right out?

 

[henchman21]

As of now, no... RD is thin and going forward it needs to get some clarity (how bad is EJs decline? how are Meloche/Timmins progressing? etc). I expect the Avs to pretty much roll with this setup for a bit and see how it goes, but I fully expect the talk around the deadline to be around bringing in a RD. If Timmins didn't miss a beat and locks up a bottom pairing spot showing signs of more (an enormous if), then I could see the Avs being okay. Byram sticking with the team and looking good would also help, but his position has more depth now and in the future. Isn't as much of a need.

 

[MarkT]

Assuming EJ is good to go at the start of the year, as has been speculated, then I'd say the D is less of a question mark, but still one overall since we'd be looking at the following Top-4:

Girard-Makar
Zadorov-EJ

That's not bad, per se (we all love Z, but cannot deny that he's got some consistency issues, and EJ very well may be in his decline now), but the bottom pairing is a HUGE question mark, and thus brings the whole unit down as a whole.

That bottom pairing is going to be a fight between Barberio, Rosen, and Graves. Outside chance that players like Byram, MacDonald, Alt, and Timmins may have a chance at a spot too.

Once Cole gets back AND in gameshape, the unit actually looks a lot better as a whole. You can slot him in on the 3rd pairing and he immediately becomes a stabilizing force for that bottom pairing.

You forgot Connauton, which I admit is easy to do.

Honestly, the thing I might be most excited for in training camp./the preseason is the battle for the bottom defense pair. Assuming, as you said, EJ is ready to go, our top 4 is pretty set. The last two spots are open and could be filled by any of Barberio, Graves, Connauton, MacDonald, Rosen, Timmins, Meloche or Byram. That's a crazy number of guys who could all realistically make the opening night roster. And given the first four guys would have to pass through waivers, I think it's actually a pretty important battle. If the kids make the team, it likely means we're losing someone.

It's similar to the forward situation where we risk losing Greer or Kamenev, except there might not be any open forward spots for them to even win.

Edit: I see you already noticed the Connauton miss.

 

[RoyIsALegend]

Yep, I forgot Connauton, see how easily he just lifts right out?

We really shouldn't, though. He's better than those goofs. Watched him a lot. Has talent, size, a bomb of a shot, not a skating or passing hazard. He's a year removed from an 11 goal and 20+ point season.

@henchman24 penciled him in as the LD on the 2nd pairing to start the season, to put it in perspective.

He's the return from Soda and is a good player, expect him to play all season.