Avalanche Monday Mailbag: Byram's next move, Hall of Fame, and more

Welcome to the Avs mailbag, where we answer whatever Avs questions you have on your mind. If you have any questions for the mailbag, leave them for Evan Rawal on Twitter, Discord, or respond in the comments.

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I have a hard time saying Byram would get worse if he had to head back to the WHL, but I really am not sure there’s anything to be gained from him going back. You hit the point of diminishing returns when you’re in your fourth year in the WHL and have been a dominant player for the better part of the past two seasons. You also run into the potential problem of Byram just being bored playing in a league that everyone knows he’s too good for.

It’s a tough situation because the Avs are a team with aspirations of winning the Cup and coaches don’t always want to live with the growing pains of young defensemen, but if Byram is really the big piece of the future on defense that we all think he is, you have to rip the band-aid off at some point. I believe he should be in the NHL whenever this next season does start.

From Thundergun151 on Discord: Who are the future Hall of Famers on the Avs roster right now?

If he continues at this pace, Nathan MacKinnon is looking like a lock. He’s been knocking on the door for a few years now, but you can feel a Hart Trophy coming in his future, and a scoring title isn’t out of the question. Cale Makar sure is off to a great start, and like MacKinnon, if he continues down the same developmental path we expect with some Norris trophies, then he will likely get in.

Beyond those two, it gets a little trickier. Landeskog has had a really solid career but nothing that really stands out as Hall of Fame-worthy to date. The only other guy who may have a chance is Rantanen. He’s been over a point per game for a few years now and is only really just entering his prime, so if he continues going, I think he’s got a good shot. My only concern there is voters holding it against him that he played with MacKinnon and only looking at him like a leach.

From bmakl35 on Discord: What type of season does Jost need to have in order to secure a long term deal at the end of this one? Is there a hard number of points or goals that need to be reached in order for that to happen?

First off, consistency. He’s gone through far too many cold stretches in terms of production since entering the league, and while those will likely always be there, they can’t last as long as they have in the past. If you look at Compher, he put up 32 points in 66 games and got a long-term extension. More production in general will help his chances of getting a long-term deal.

The other two factors that will come into play is establishing himself as a center in the NHL and continuing to grow as a penalty killer. Do the Avs want to commit long-term to him if he is just going to play wing in the bottom six? You can find those guys anywhere. Continued growth as a penalty killer will also really help him, assuming the Avs continue to give him chances there. His underlying metrics there are strong, so it makes sense to let him grow. I wouldn’t put money on Jost getting a long-term deal, personally, but the Avs organization really likes him so it’s not out of the question altogether.

From Drome23 on Discord: If you can model your playing style after a player who would it be? Any era

I’ve had past coaches ask me to get into coaching, but I don’t really want to do it. However, if I did get into coaching, I would tell any young player the guys to model your game after are players like Patrice Bergeron, Ryan O’Reilly, and Mark Stone. While all of those guys are extremely talented in their own right, their games are built off Hockey IQ and hard work. Because none of those guys depend on speed to be successful, their games are built for the long haul too. That’s why a guy like Bergeron is still so effective well into his 30’s.

Every young player wants to be a McDavid or MacKinnon, but those guys are freaks of nature. The guys I mentioned above do a lot of things that are maybe a little more repeatable for other players.

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I think so, which is why this season potentially not being played at all would be devastating to the franchise. With Landeskog and Makar’s anticipated extensions kicking in next season, money will get tighter and tighter, and by the time MacKinnon’s next deal kicks in, the team will look a lot different. The Avs are loaded up for next season with their best roster probably since the 04-05 lockout, and given the cap crunch coming real soon, Sakic’s job will only get tougher. You just hope we get to see this roster on the ice. With the way this world is, I’m becoming increasingly less optimistic it happens.