Colorado Avalanche: Can Mark Barberio Make the Team?

The Colorado Avalanche roster looks pretty full. Where does that leave Mark Barberio? Can he make the team on a regular basis?

On the face of it, the Colorado Avalanche appear to have a pretty stacked defensive core. A fringe player who’s struggled with injuries and consistency seems to have little chance of making the blueline roster.

Well, the player who may be outside looking in is Mark Barberio. He played just 12 games last season, mostly because of injuries. However, he was also a healthy scratch on a lot of nights.

Well, put a fork in him, he’s done, right? The 29-year-old is only still around because the Avs have him signed for one more year.

That might not be quite the case. Colorado could, after all, just buy his contract out. However, they picked him up off waivers from the Montreal Canadiens because they saw something in his game that they believed could complement the team’s style.

And they may be keeping him around just in case they need that something again. That may be the case at the beginning of the season.

As it stands, the Colorado Avalanche have nine defensmen on the roster, including Barberio. They usually like to keep eight on hand.

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Of those nine defensemen, one is Ian Cole. He had surgery on both hips right after the 2018-19 season ended. He’s expected to be out until December. So, now the Avs have eight d-men on the roster unless they call one up from the Eagles or delve into one of their prospects.

Another one of those nine defensemen is Erik Johnson. He had shoulder surgery after the season ended. He’s been seen around town — by that, I mean the owners’ circles of various horse racing tracks — markedly minus a sling. The hope is he starts the season, but it’s not sure.

Among the remaining blueliners we have Calle Rosen and Ryan Graves, both of whom are AHLers trying to make an NHL roster.

So, the only guaranteed spots we have on the blueline come opening night are Sam Girard, Cale Makar, Nikita Zadorov, and (probably) Kevin Connauton. That certainly leaves room for Barberio to make the opening roster at least.

We do have a couple prospects waiting in the wings. One is Conor Timmins, who missed all of last year with concussion symptoms. He’s expected to start with the Eagles to get him back into playing form, but he could take over a roster spot at some point in the season.

The other is Bo Byram. He’s going to be gunning to make the roster as an 18-year-old rookie. I personally think it’s too soon for him, but the big guy in the big chair (GM Joe Sakic) may think otherwise.

If Byram makes opening night along with EJ, there goes Barberio. To be honest, Graves or Rosen could also take his spot.

So, will Mark Barberio make the Colorado Avalanche roster next year? I think it depends on the game. I believe they’ll probably keep him in reserve to see how injuries play out and to see how the youngsters do in the lineup. Unless he’s got a gear we haven’t seen yet, I don’t think Barbs has a chance of taking a full roster spot next season.

What do you think of Barberio’s chances for next season?