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Colorado Avalanche: Top 9 Questions the Team Must Answer this Year

By Nadia Archuleta

DENVER, CO - APRIL 07: Patrik Nemeth #12, Mikko Rantanen #96, Tyson Jost #17 and J.T. Compher #37 of the Colorado Avalanche wave to the crowd after a win against the St. Louis Blues at the Pepsi Center on April, 7, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. The Avalanche defeated the Blues 5-2. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - APRIL 07: Patrik Nemeth #12, Mikko Rantanen #96, Tyson Jost #17 and J.T. Compher #37 of the Colorado Avalanche wave to the crowd after a win against the St. Louis Blues at the Pepsi Center on April, 7, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. The Avalanche defeated the Blues 5-2. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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COLUMBUS, OH – MARCH 8: Nathan McKinnon #29 of the Colorado Avalanche and Ian Cole #23 of the Columbus Blue Jackets battle for position in front of goaltender Joonas Korpisalo #70 of the Columbus Blue Jackets on March 8, 2018 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/NHLI via Getty Images) /

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:

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.

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