Denver Post sports writer Mike Chambers responds to questions in the Avs Mailbag every other week during the regular season.
Pose an Avalanche- or NHL-related question for the Avs Mailbag.
I haven’t seen any live play, or even much tape of the play of Bo Byram. But he seems like he has a lot of similarities to Cale Makar: size, speed, skating ability, excellent puck movement, PP skills, passing, shot, a savvy hockey awareness, & high overall potential. Do you have the same take? And, do you expect to see him on the Avs next year?
— Christopher, Berthoud
We will have to just wait and see, Christopher. The Avs have four current defensemen under contract next season — Erik Johnson, Ian Cole, Cale Makar and Sam Girard. Two others — Nikita Zadorov and Ryan Graves — are restricted free agents. Graves will get a nice new contract with the Avs. Zadorov might not. If the Avs move Zadorov, Byram has a far better chance to play in the NHL. In terms of his style of play, Byram is often compared to Dallas stud D Miro Heiskanen, who went No. 3 (a spot ahead of Makar) in the 2017 draft. But, certainly, Makar also has those qualities — just a strong overall defensemen with special instincts.
I feel like the rest of the season is going to be cancelled and we won’t see any hockey until the fall… please tell me I’m wrong.
— Christie, Aurora
You might be wrong. How’s that? The NHL needs revenue and the TV deal with NBC is a big stream. That’s why UFC is fighting with its ESPN pay-per-view deal. But the virus and the experts will ultimately dictate if the completion of the 2019-20 season is possible.
How are the guys doing and how are you doing? I feel like it might be a little hard for them to go from seeing each other all the time to not seeing each other anymore. Hope you are well and healthy
— Alejandro, Longmont
Thank you, sir. Most of the guys, like me, are at their offseason homes — and probably playing a ton of golf! Hockey players are big golfers, with the typical offseason providing plenty of warmth and sunshine.
Hi Mike, if the season ended today and the playoffs started where would the Avs be as far as seeding goes? How do you see the postseason playing out?
— Trevor, Denver
The Avs stand second in the Central Division and Western Conference behind St. Louis. But the Blues have played one more game and Colorado owns the head-to-head tiebreaker. So if the season continues, they’ll have to base seeding off current points percentage or allow teams to play the same amount of regular-season games and use traditional seeding.
Which players in the next draft are the Avalanche interested in? And I’m sorry for my English, because I speak French normally!
— Cédrick Lefebvre, Louiseville, Quebec
Based on current points percentage the Avs would pick 29th overall. So that deep in the draft, the candidate list is long. I wrote a piece earlier this month about who might be available at 29. Among the players mentioned were forwards John-Jason Peterka, Seth Jarvis and Vasili Ponomaryov. With one of the deepest prospect pools in the NHL, Colorado will have the luxury of not having to draft for need. That could make for an interesting draft — whenever it happens.
Mike, I really enjoyed the Q&A with John Mitchell. Do you have any others lined up? I need a hockey fix bad.
— Alex, Centennial
Hey, thanks for that. Mitchell was good, eh? I play hockey with him and I already knew about losing his three front teeth in Germany. He looks like a real goon at our private skates — his big toothless smile. As for doing more, I’ll certainly try. Kyle Quincey is also around.
Denver Post sports writer Mike Chambers responds to questions in the Avs Mailbag every other week during the regular season.
Pose an Avalanche- or NHL-related question for the Avs Mailbag.