Avs Weekly Mailbag: Tyson Barrie, Nicknames, Bowers, and more

Welcome to the weekly 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 or respond in the comments.

Where does Tyson Barrie end up this offseason and what will his contract look like?

— Rycroft’s Mullet (@KadriCanDunk) February 9, 2020

After a rough start, Tyson Barrie has been on fire in Toronto since the coaching change. He’s only on pace for 45 points this year if you look at his full-season pace, but he’s got 24 points in the 33 games since Keefe was put in charge there, and that’s more like the Barrie we’ve known from his time in Colorado. It looked like he was destined to basically blow his contract year, a lot because of circumstance in Toronto, but that has turned around dramatically. Contract wise, I think he’s looking in the $7M a year area because other than his Babcock time, he’s been a 50-60 point pace guy for three straight seasons now. If you use him the way he should be used, he’s going to produce points at a high rate.

As for where he may go, it sure looks like Toronto may be out of the question because they are just in a tough spot with the salary cap. They do have a lot of money coming off the cap on defense, but I think they re-sign a guy like Muzzin, which takes back a big chunk of that space. The other team I would have guessed is Vancouver since he’s from the area, but they may be in an even tougher spot in terms of cap space. Where do I think he would be a great fit? Vegas. They need a puck mover on the blueline and someone to run their top PP unit. I love Theodore, but Barrie would be an upgrade running the power play there. I would say a Colorado return is out of the question, but you never know. I did love my time speaking to Barrie, so I wish him well in everything (plus, he’s a Pearl Jam fan, so extra bonus points there).

What is your favourite non DNVR Avalanche hockey podcast?

— Lyle Brewster (@LyleBrewster) February 9, 2020

It’s weird, being in hockey media, I actually tend to avoid hockey podcasts in general. I think 31 Thoughts is very well done and fantastic in its own right, but the reality is it’s very focused on specific teams and that just doesn’t carry my interest much.

For podcasts, I try to get away and listen to other things. James Bond Radio is a big one for me and considering it’s been going on for several years and I just recently found it this year, I’ve been doing a lot of catching up. Game Scoop is my go-to video game podcast, as it’s just good fun and kind of touches on everything, old and new. I never thought I could handle listening to solo podcasts, but Bill Burr and his “Monday Morning Podcast” changed that. He’s great. I do like some of the Armchair Expert podcasts with Dax Shepard, but it has to be a specific guest. Same with Conan O’Brien’s. A weird one that I like, because I loved my visit to Japan and enjoy the culture, is “Abroad in Japan”. It’s a fun listen. Those are pretty much my go-to’s. Much like with music, I’m bad at expanding my horizon.

What is the best nickname on the Avs and why is it not the Condor?

— Gary (@smooflay) February 10, 2020

Hockey player nicknames are typically terrible, as they tend to be boring, so there isn’t a ton of competition to “The Condor”. “La Tornade” is pretty good, but the only real answer here is “Big Moose”. The reason that separates from the competition is the fact that the coach even refers to Mikko as “Big Moose”. My coach in AAA used to always refer to me by my nickname, even on line sheets, and at that point, I was convinced he didn’t remember my actual name.

https://twitter.com/dnftocto/status/1226720844812095489?s=20

If kadri is out, do they bring up Bowers?

— Ryan (@OldfordRyan) February 10, 2020

We will find out more on Tuesday when the Avs return to the ice just how long Kadri is out, but it didn’t look great, and Kadri coming back and not feeling comfortable leads me to believe the Avs will let him rest a little bit, even if we find out it’s not long term.

In terms of replacing him, the Avs moved things around in the Wild game and the big beneficiary was J.T. Compher, who ended up with Gabriel Landeskog and Joonas Donskoi as the second line center for the last half of the game. That’s kind of what I would expect moving forward, at least in the short term.

As for calling up Bowers, I don’t think it happens immediately. Bednar has praised Vladislav Kamenev’s work ethic and habits when he hasn’t been playing and liked how he was playing before the All-Star break, so I think he will get (and deserves) the first shot. If nothing else, you are showcasing Kamenev a little bit for other teams to look at, just in case he is not in the Avs future plans. If the Avs do struggle without Kadri (assuming he misses time), I could see Bowers get a shot. We know Bednar loves his game, and he’s been doing great in the AHL after a slow start.

The one thing we know is the Avs have been playing Bowers a lot at wing down in the AHL, and I think that’s a sign that they want to prep him for an NHL call-up, given how many centers this team has. That alone makes me think he’s the first guy in line for a promotion if things go south. The reality is that Bednar does love his vets and the guys he “trusts”, so I would be a little surprised if they went to the Bowers well immediately.