Avalanche penalty killing has more skill, less brawn: “It’s the way we’re built” – The Denver Post

Traditionally, an NHL team has used its biggest, baddest defensemen as primarily penalty killers. Because of their size, they usually block more shots and take away more of the net for shooters to see. They have an edge when the whistle blows and scrums develop around the crease.

Some hulking defensemen have made a living protecting the net on the penalty kill.

The Avalanche, however, is loaded with skilled defensemen and going a different direction. It has begun to introduce relatively young and small defensemen to kill penalties, exchanging experience and size with more skill. One pairing Tuesday in Colorado’s 7-3 victory over San Jose featured the smallest guy on the team, 5-foot-10, 170-pound Sam Girard, with Devon Toews, 6-1, 190.

Last season, that pairing might have featured Nikita Zadorov, 6-5 and 235 pounds, with Ian Cole, 6-1, 225. But Zadorov was traded to Chicago in the offseason and Cole was recently shipped to Minnesota for a like-minded defenseman the Avs waived on Monday.

Colorado still has two big defensemen with significant penalty-killing experience, and Erik Johnson (6-4, 225) and Ryan Graves (6-5, 220) were paired on the PK Tuesday. But Avs coach Jared Bednar said fans should expect prized puck-moving defenseman Cale Makar (5-11, 187) to also kill penalties this year, as well as teenage defensemen Bo Byram (6-1, 192).

Defenseman Conor Timmins (6-2, 185), who was scratched Tuesday, has already been used in a PK role. He might return to the lineup Thursday as the Avs conclude a two-game series against the Sharks at Ball Arena.

“It’s the way we’re built,” Bednar said. “If you look at our D-corps right now, Cale Makar is not known to us just yet as a penalty killer, or Girard or Toews or Bo Byram. But that’s four guys, and then it’s Johnson and Graves (as the third pairing) last night. You can’t kill penalties all night long with two defensemen. So they’re going to have to kill.”

But do you really want Makar, your best defenseman, to block shots with the very legs that make him so dynamic offensively? Bednar said yes.

“When Cale’s a young guy coming in and we have four guys that have killed penalties their whole careers and made a living on it, then there is no need for Cale Makar to kill penalties. But he’s going to kill penalties for us this year. It’s just where our team is going,” Bednar said.

Footnotes. Bednar said forward Matt Calvert, who missed Tuesday’s game to injury, is now out indefinitely. … Byram, 19, logged a team-high 21:14 in his fourth career NHL game Tuesday. His minutes have risen from 11:19, 14:28, 18:32 and his new career-high as the Avs make a decision on his immediate future. He can play six NHL games before the first year of his entry-level contract would kick in by playing a seventh game. He is not eligible to play in the minor leagues. By all accounts, it appears the 2019 first-round draft pick (fourth overall) will remain with the Avs. … Colorado is the only NHL team to score seven goals twice this year, and one of just four to reach seven goals once. …. Colorado is perfect at home on the PK. In three games they are 11-for-11, including 5-for-5 on Tuesday.

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