Earlier in the season, when the Colorado Avalanche were looking to try Bowen Byram with Samuel Girard, it was Byram who was stuck playing his off-side. At the end of last season, Byram told me he’d never played the right side before, and at the start of the year, you could tell he wasn’t quite comfortable there.
That’s starting to change.
“I’m actually enjoying it a lot right now,” Byram told me of playing the off-side. “Playing with Jack (Johnson), I feel like we’ve kind of found some chemistry together and it’s been a lot of fun. It took me a bit to adjust to that side, but I think it just comes down to moving my feet. When you’re on that side, you get stuck in some awkward positions, so you’ve just got to use your feet and skate out of it sometimes. Just trying to continue to improve on that.”
Byram was one of the skaters who took part in an optional skate for the Avalanche. Nathan MacKinnon was another, although he usually sticks to one end of the ice on his own, working on whatever he chooses. When it came time to test out his one-timer, he recruited Byram to send him some passes.
Right now, things are going well for the 22 year old defenseman. He’s got six points in his last three games, and looks far more involved. After Sunday’s win, Jared Bednar said that Nolan Pratt, who runs the defense for the Avalanche, had a meeting to go over some video with Byram last week.
What did that video meeting consist of?
“We just talked about when I’m playing at my best and what I’m doing on the ice,” Byram said. “Watched some video on just games where we both thought I played well, and we just talked about my year to date. I was trying to turn the page on that. Obviously, it’s gone well so far.”
Byram said he’s making it a point to tell himself to skate. Earlier in the year, he felt he was trying to think his way through games and not use his feet. The difference has certainly been noticeable, and when the young defenseman is on his game, he’s a player other teams don’t have much of an answer for.
It’s hard enough to defend Cale Makar and Devon Toews, but when Byram is activating on the next shift, not every team can handle that.
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