Terry Frei
Last week, I asked Jack Johnson if he finds himself trying to project how the Colorado Avalanche fluctuating manpower on defense might affect him.
“That’s not my job,” he said. “My job’s to do my job. Then everyone else will decide who goes where.”
That point conceded, let’s take stock of the Avalanche D.
Even in the wake of his surprising and heartening season after making the team on a PTO, the well-traveled 35-year-old Johnson is no cinch to suit up in the stretch and, more important, the postseason.
After a two-game prep with the Eagles, Bo Byram — recovered from his concussion issues — returned to the lineup against the Penguins Tuesday.
Samuel Girard, out for a month with a back issue, is likely to play Saturday at Edmonton.
Ryan Murray remains sidelined with what is believed to be a broken hand suffered March 21, but his return before or during the playoffs is at least possible.
The wild card is Kurtis MacDermid, whose effectiveness in his enforcer role this week has been rewarded with a two-year extension. He’s still listed as a defenseman and has been surprisingly competent both there as a fill-in during injury sieges and in spot duty at forward. But this discussion begins with the stipulation that barring additional injuries, there’s no way MacDermid could be a top 6 D in the playoffs. If he suits up, it will be as a seventh D or fourth-line winger — or a combination thereof.
So who is — and who isn’t — among the Six?
Roll call: Cale Makar. Devon Toews. Josh Manson. Byram. Erik Johnson. Jack Johnson. Girard.
That’s seven. That’s the short-term picture if Girard indeed returns.
If and when Murray returns, that’s eight.
Again for emphasis: I’m not counting MacDermid, whose deployment will depend on opponent and situation. And much of this could become moot if one of the D-men suffers a significant injury — which, of course, always is possible. That’s not jinxing anyone; it’s reality.
To me, it comes down to this: Girard and perhaps even Byram will need to prove they’re ready and capable of being effective enough in the postseason to supplant Jack Johnson … and/or Murray.
That shouldn’t be considered automatic.
Girard has breathtaking talent, but his partner needs to be conscious of compensating for him and he can’t move anyone from the front of the net. For a team accused of being soft in the playoffs, especially against Vegas in the second-round collapse a year ago, that can’t be waved off.
Although Byram seemed in sync against the Penguins, his two-game cameo with the Eagles against the rough-and-tumble Ontario Reign showed there still was some rust in the wake of his nearly three-month layoff. Can it be scraped off by early May?
I’m going to stand by the February column I wrote saying that while I don’t pretend to know all the inside information and medical judgments, the default position should be that Byram should sit out the season and point to 2022-23.
So any judgment of Byram down the stretch will need to be — and most certainly will be — ruthless and heartless. If he’s not at least within sight of 100 percent and isn’t capable of playing as if the concussion issues aren’t on his mind, then he should sit. For his good, too.
Of course, the Avalanche also will be open-minded and flexible about adjusting the 6 D-lineup during a playoff run, depending on who’s playing well, who isn’t and the circumstances.
But even with Murray’s situation unclear, it looks as if at least Jack Johnson could be a healthy scratch and insurance policy.
Terry Frei ([email protected], @tfrei) is a Denver-based author and journalist. He has been named a state’s sportswriter of the year seven times in peer voting — four times in Colorado and three times in Oregon. His seven books include the novels “Olympic Affair” and “The Witch’s Season.” Among his five non-fiction works are “Horns, Hogs, and Nixon Coming,” “Third Down and a War to Go,” “March 1939: Before the Madness,” and “’77: Denver, the Broncos, and a Coming of Age.” He also collaborated with Adrian Dater on “Save By Roy,” was a long-time vice president of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and has covered the hockey Rockies, Avalanche and the NHL at-large. His web site is www.terryfrei.com and his bio is available at www.terryfrei.com/bio.html
His Colorado Hockey Now column archive can be accessed here