That piece is Erik Johnson, a player currently on long-term injured reserve, and one that has played just four games this season. Despite his lack of impact so far this season on the ice, plenty of chat surrounds Johnson off it.

He is vital to the Avs, and one of the very few players on this roster with veteran experience. You can only imagine how smoother the Bowen Byram path would be with a season at the side of Johnson, something we probably are not going to see too much of.

However, it is with regards to the Seattle expansion draft where Johnson holds the keys for Colorado in the future.

Erik Johnson (upper body) is now on long-term injured reserve, per @CapFriendly.

— Peter Baugh (@Peter_Baugh) March 7, 2021

No-movement clause

The 32-year-old has a no-movement clause on his contract, which means he must be protected this summer in the expansion draft. However, with limited spaces available, he is taking up a valuable spot that the Avalanche simply have to give to someone else.

The hope is that Johnson will waive his no-movement clause, making him eligible for the move to Seattle. While the club would probably be happy to move on from his $6 million per year deal, it is unlikely that the Kraken would take Johnson from Colorado, as there are better options elsewhere.

But, what if Johnson does not waive his clause? What happens next for the Avalanche? This is certainly worth investigating, simply because it shows how important this decision, and cooperation from Johnson, is going to be.

Protecting three defenseman

It is highly likely that Colorado will protect one goaltender, three defensemen and seven forwards in the expansion draft. Let’s say for this example that they do that, and Johnson does not waive his no-movement clause.

That would leave the team protecting Johnson, Samuel Girard and Cale Makar, while Bowen Byram is on the exemption list as a rookie. There is one key name missing off the list, and if this happens, based on his play so far this season, there is no doubt that Seattle will happily take him out of Colorado.

Samuel Girard and Devon Toews both played 25 minutes last game for the #Avs. Will that continue?

"I think it's going to go up," Jared Bednar said.

He's comfortable they can handle it and has been tracking how top D around the league (Nurse, Jones) have played heavy minutes.

— Peter Baugh (@Peter_Baugh) March 1, 2021

The player is of course Devon Toews, an excellent acquisition and a player who is already proving his worth to the team, especially considering the $4.1 million per year deal he signed in the offseason.

Unless something bizarre happens between now and the draft, based on current play, if Johnson does not waive his clause and the Avs protect three defenseman, Toews will surely be heading to become the No. 1 defenseman in Seattle.

Protecting four defensemen and four forwards

The second option when it comes to protection is to go with eight total out skaters, enabling the Avalanche to protect Toews as a fourth defenseman. In terms of defensive players, this would leave Ryan Graves as the best defenseman that the team could lose, though their problems on offense will be a greater cause for concern.

Moving to this style simply to protect Toews brings huge problems elsewhere.

With just four protection spots for their forwards, a top name will be on his way out of Colorado. Let’s say you protect the “top line” of Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. You are left then with just one spot remaining.

My best guess would be that this goes to Andre Burakovsky, given that the club has invested in him and he has youth on his side in comparison to fellow second-liner Nazem Kadri.

This would leave Kadri as the prime option for Seattle, with Joonas Donskoi, Brandon Saad and others also available. Center depth is not easy to come by, so it would be a big call for the Avs to leave Kadri open, and a pretty simple call for the Kraken to snap him up.

Nazem Kadri continues to thrive in Colorado – 9 pts in his last 7 games

17 pts in 22 games overallhttps://t.co/8j3ccdBpsD

— Frozen Tools (@FrozenTools) March 7, 2021

The value of Erik Johnson

When you look at the two scenarios above, it shows just how valuable the spot is that is currently being given to Johnson. Without him on board, and keeping his no-movement clause in place, would see Colorado more than likely lose Kadri or Toews.

These are two big pieces of their immediate future, and in terms of Toews especially, a big piece of the long-term future. Potentially losing one over the summer would certainly alter the plans that this club are putting in place right now.

This all shows that the club need to get Johnson on board and waive his clause. Given his recent injuries, overall injury worries and the $6 million cap hit he carries, it is highly unlikely that Johnson would be the man taken by Seattle.

But to keep this team rolling, without them losing a big piece, Johnson needs to put himself in the shop window for the sake of the future.

The post Why Erik Johnson holds the expansion draft keys for Colorado appeared first on The Rink.

Even without Cole, the Avalanche have seven very solid defensive players in their lineup, and it is expected that a combination of six from those seven will play from here until the end of the season, barring any major injuries of course.

But how exactly will they look? Right now, that is certainly up in the air, and perhaps the most intriguing element of this Avs roster.

The best lineup?

What we saw from Colorado on Tuesday night against San Jose appears to be their best lineup on paper. This leaves Conor Timmins as the healthy scratch, with a lineup of Byram, Samuel Girard, Ryan Graves, Erik Johnson, Cale Makar and Devon Toews on the ice.

Byram was paired with Girard for much of the game, which was fine given their superiority over the Sharks and the comfortable nature of the game. But if that was on the road against a top team, would the Avalanche be happy trusting Byram at the side of Girard?

This is where we are likely to see changes to the defensive pairings, certainly for specific games but also depending on the situation the Avs are in and what they need at that moment.

Cale Makar (@Cmakar8) is just in sync with everyone… pic.twitter.com/aRq8Ax0ykU

— NHL (@NHL) January 27, 2021

Situational defensive pairings for the full season?

We have seen Colorado use situational pairings with success in the past, so they are certainly not afraid to do this. On countless occasions last season, we saw Girard play with Makar when they have an offensive zone faceoff and wanted to apply some pressure.

With so much talent on the back end this season, do not be surprised if we see more of this, both to apply attacking pressure and also shore up defensively when it is needed.

If the Avalanche need a goal, they could add Byram to the side of Makar to give the youngster a chance to show his skills in the offensive zone, something we have seen a little of already this season. If the Avs need to shore up defensively, we may see Byram move down to play alongside Johnson, who can keep risks and mistakes to a minimum alongside the rookie.

Girard is also likely to get involved here, as he has started the season in excellent form and has worked with Makar in the past. That would leave Toews and Byram without a partner, so we could also see those two put together in specific circumstances.

The positives for Bowen Byram

The long-term expectations for Byram are that he develops into a highly skilled top-four defenseman, but there was no expectation for him to do that this season. It is fair to say he could well be on his way to doing that already just four games into his NHL career.

The biggest positive for Byram is that there is no pressure on him because there is so much talent on this defensive unit. There is no reason for him to shine, and if he does not, then others certainly will.

However, Colorado will give Byram the chance to shine, and put him in favorable situations, which is a real luxury and one that is only going to help the rookie rearguard. Favored positions when the team has an offensive zone faceoff and being a little sheltered in tough games should only equal more points and more chance to impress for Byram.

Byram could very well find himself alongside every other Avalanche defenseman at some point this season, but fear not, if he does, it will only be for the good of the team and for Byram himself.

Bowen Byram's first NHL point was a beauty!#BoAvsBo pic.twitter.com/xGYvSudsTh

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) January 23, 2021

The role of Devon Toews

If there is one member of the Avs’ defensive unit that has an intriguing outlook, then it is certainly Toews. The 26-year-old has been a huge addition to the blue line and has impressed throughout the beginning of the season.

Toews is a player who can play in all situations, has a spot on the power play, spends time killing penalties and is the current regular partner to Makar on the No. 1 defensive unit. However, if the Avalanche want to put either Girard or Byram at the side of Makar in certain situations, then it will be Toews that suffers because of that.

Although starting on the power play, do not be surprised to see Toews come off that at some point, allowing him to focus on penalty killing, with few options for that on the Colorado blue line. The team would likely prefer to keep Girard and Makar for the power play, possibly with Byram, while Toews would join Graves and Johnson to form a unit of three penalty killers.

Toews has done absolutely nothing wrong since joining the team, and has been one of the bright spots of the season so far. Even with that, he may have to settle for being displaced from time to time by the more offensive players who currently sit behind him on the depth chart.

What to look out for this season

Colorado has six very good defensemen, seven including Timmins, and as a unit, this is the envy of many in the league. However, the actual pairings for this defense look a little vague, and we may see these pairings change depending on the situation in a game, or the opponents the Avalanche are playing.

This has been used with success in the past, and the hope is that it can be used in the same manner again. Look for Byram to be one of the real winners if this happens—his emergence has given the Avs another weapon—and do not be surprised to see them use him in the best possible way.

The post With so much talent, will the Avs abandon defensive pairings this season? appeared first on The Rink.