Avs to be without second-leading scoring NHL defenseman for 4-6 weeks

Well, the news wasn’t great. But it could have been worse.

The Colorado Avalanche will be without Tyson Barrie for 4-6 weeks, after he undergoes a surgical procedure slated for Wednesday afternoon to repair a cracked bone on his right hand, between the thumb and forefinger. Barrie suffered the injury blocking this shot Saturday night in Arizona by Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson (thanks to @Avs_Gifsfor providing me with this):

Here’s why I think this could –  could – be a blessing in disguise:

1. It’s going to give more ice time to Nikita Zadorov, who has really been playing well of late, at both ends. The Avs are going to need someone to put more pucks on net from the back end, and Big Z probably will have no problem doing that. Zadorov won’t get a lot of power play time, though, as Barrie’s PP minutes, Jared Bednar said this morning, will be spread out more to Erik Johnson and Sam Girard.
2. Speaking of Girard, this gives him more of an opportunity, too, to get more confidence offensively. He started out so strong offensively, but has kind of settled in more of a defensive guy, more as a guy who gets the puck out of the zone pretty effectively but doesn’t join the rush as much. Now, he can and will be expected to do more of that, plus he’ll be the traffic controller more at the point. I think his point production will definitely go up, which should make him feel better, as every player likes to see their name on the score sheet.
3. Let’s face it, Barrie can and has been a liability at times defensively this year. While he is most definitely a guy I want in my lineup more than out of it, the Avs might be a tighter team defensively in the short term. That depends A LOT on how well Mark Barberio and Patrik Nemeth adjust to each other. Barberio will take Barrie’s slot opposite Nemeth, at least for tonight’s game with the Coyotes. Barrie’s defensive zone starts are well down from last year (31.8 percent, from 36.7 last year and 41.6 the year before that). And there was a reason for that: His defensive play has been rough at times.
4. Nine of the next 10 Avs games are at the Pepsi Center. The Avs also have from Jan. 7-12 off, as it’s their “bye week.” Then there’s the All-Star break, from Jan. 26-29. So, for 10 of these days that Barry will be out, they will have no games. If he comes back right at the four-week mark, the Avs would only be without him for 13 games, nine of which would be at home. If it’s six weeks? Yeah, then it has the potential to hurt more, as the Avs will be on the road a lot in those days between weeks 4-6.
5. If the Avs can come out of this still close to a playoff spot, and with added confidence to guys like Zadorov, Girard and Barberio, then they get a high-end offensive guy back for the final couple months. It’d be like getting a big acquisition at the trade deadline. Of course, a lot can go wrong in these next 4-6 weeks without Barrie, too. He was tied for second in the league in scoring among defensemen at the time of the injury. He’s the third-leading scorer on the team. Injuries to top players are never great, but sometimes they can produce short-term benefits to a team. We’ll see.

NOTEBOOK: Semyon Varlamov will get his third straight start in goal. … Gabriel Bourque will be the lone healthy scratch among the forwards. Nail Yakupov will skate on a line with Alexander Kerfoot and J.T. Compher. … As of this writing, the Avs still hadn’t recalled anyone from San Antonio to add depth to the defense. But Bednar said that is likely to happen soon. … There was still no word from the NHL on how long Coyotes forward Zac Rinaldo would be suspended for his sucker punch on Girard, but that decision is expected to come later in the afternoon.