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Colorado Avalanche: 5 Questions for Training Camp

By Nadia Archuleta

CENTENNIAL, CO - NOVEMBER 27 - Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon practices with the team at the Family Sports Center on November 27, 2017 in Centennial, Colorado. Head coach Jared Bednar, is at right with whistle. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
CENTENNIAL, CO - NOVEMBER 27 - Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon practices with the team at the Family Sports Center on November 27, 2017 in Centennial, Colorado. Head coach Jared Bednar, is at right with whistle. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post via Getty Images) /
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DENVER, CO – APRIL 30: Cale Makar #8 of the Colorado Avalanche skates against Justin Braun #61 of the San Jose Sharks in Game Three of the Western Conference Second Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Pepsi Center on April 30, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images) /

4. What Will Defensive Pairs Look Like?

Cale Makar (20 years old). Samuel Girard (21 years old). Bowen Byram (18 years old). Boy, it’s going to be fun watching the kids play together. Er, train together. We saw how well Makar and Girard skated together last year. They were like a pair of whirligigs that were bedeviling opponents, and it was a fun thing to watch. Maybe Byram will be paired with one of them.

In addition to Timmins, whom I’m really expecting to show well, we’ll see our veterans. It might be fun to see the juggernaut of Erik Johnson and Nikita Zadorov skating together at camp. We’ll also start to see where Ryan Graves fits in.

This training camp will also afford us our first look at the two new defensemen, Kevin Connauton and Calle Rosen.

Chemistry in camp is even more important for defensive pairings than for forward lines. So, as much fun as it would be to see them get creative, I don’t think the coaching staff will do too much in that direction beyond maybe the first day. They might try different pairings in preseason games, but I think they’ll want to train the pairs they have in mind for most of camp.

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