In what turned out to be a controversial Game 3, defenseman Samuel Girard cruelly suffered a season-ending injury after he was crushed into the boards by St. Louis Blues center Ivan Barbashev early in the proceedings. For a team with Stanley Cup aspirations, the Colorado Avalanche are in tough to replace the puck-moving prowess offered by the slight blueliner. Fortunately, the team has a qualified internal candidate in 20-year-old Bowen Byram, who could have a breakout postseason despite the unfortunate circumstances. Let’s dig into what the Avalanche are missing in Girard’s absence, and how Byram is more than capable of filling the sizeable void on the blue line.
Girard Injury Leaves Big Hole on Avalanche Blue line
There’s no dancing around it, the loss of Girard is a monumental one for the Stanley Cup hopefuls. While Devon Toews and Norris Trophy favourite Cale Makar earn much of the plaudits, the 24-year-old blueliner does a good deal of heavy lifting away from the spotlight. His point totals (28 in 67 games this season) don’t scream superstar, but he is a key cog in the Avalanche’s high-flying transition game. One of his strengths comes in generating clean zone exits off of retrieving dump-ins, where he outmatches his seemingly peerless teammate.
According to Corey Sznajder’s tracking data, Girard completed the 10th-highest rate of zone exits and retrievals this season while doing so with possession at one of the best marks in the league at over 67 percent. He often utilizes his patented spin move and diminutive frame to evade forecheckers and create numerical mismatches off the rush. It’s an underrated skill that goes unnoticed until things go wrong, but it’s one the Avalanche will sorely miss for the rest of the postseason.
Colorado Avalanche defenceman Samuel Girard turns with the puck (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)
On top of his excellence in transition, Girard’s partnership with Josh Manson owned a 55.4% share of shot attempts (CF%) and…
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