6. Who will Comprise the Bottom Defensive Pairing?
The top defenseman isn’t in doubt — it’s Johnson. His cohorts on the top-four are also pretty set — Nikita Zadorov, Sam Girard and Tyson Barrie.
There is bound to be some shuffling on the bottom pairing, though. As of right now, the main candidates for that position are the following:
- Ian Cole
- Patrik Nemeth
- Mark Barberio
- Anton Lindholm
In addition to those players, Colorado qualified Mark Alt over the summer.
They also have their own draft picks. Timmins tops that list. However, Nicolas Meloche is one stunning preseason away from at least getting to be the seventh defenseman. And David Warsofsky spent time in and out of the lineup last season.
If I had my druthers, the defensive pairings would look like this:
Johnson-Zadorov
Barrie-Cole
Girard-Timmins
Barberio
Or maybe I’d pop Girard to the top pairing with Johnson and replace Cole with Zadorov, putting Ian in the bottom pairing. I generally like the idea of pairing youngsters with veterans. Plus, Colorado has a lot of speedy, puck-moving defensemen — but you need somebody who can shut players down.