Bo Byram will stay with Avalanche

Bo Byram will play his sixth career game with the Avalanche tonight against the Minnesota Wild, which is an important number for his NHL playing status moving forward. In the shortened season, any game beyond six that Byram would play would mean he couldn’t be sent back to junior with the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League. Because of his age (19) he also would be ineligible to play with the Colorado Eagles of the AHL.

This isn’t a big scoop, therefore, but I can confidently report that Byram will stay with the Avalanche beyond the sixth game, will be with the Avs for the full season.

That was going to be the case even before the new injury to defenseman Devon Toews, by the way. Byram did have to show that he could play at this level in these first five games, so going back to junior was still a possibility before he got the nod to play last week. Byram impressed enough with his play to make any consideration of sending him back to the Giants a non-starter.

In the first five games, Byram has one assist and is even at plus-minus. His Corsi at even strength is a very solid 59.1.

For me, I’ve liked the fact that he hasn’t tried to do too much, too fast. He’s kept his game pretty simple, focusing more on just getting pucks out of the defensive end and less so on dramatic offensive forays. Hopefully, he’ll get that first NHL goal soon, to take some of that pressure off. He has gotten at least one shot on goal in every game he’s played so far. He figures to get even more ice time now, with Toews out. For now anyway, he’s earned it, and we can all get used to seeing him most every night from here on out.