The Daily Faceoff Show: Bowen Byram will return to the Avalanche lineup on Tuesday

Bowen Byram will make his return to the Colorado Avalanche lineup on Tuesday after missing nearly three months due to injury.

On Tuesday’s edition of The Daily Faceoff Show, Frank Seravalli and Mike McKenna talked about the boost that Bryam could provide the Avs if he can play at anywhere near the level he was at before his injury.

Frank Seravalli: Bowen Byran has rejoined the Colorado Avalanche after a conditioning stint with the Colorado Eagles of the AHL. He was in Pittsburgh this morning, as you can see from this tweet from Mike Chambers…

Bo Byram, everyone, here in Pittsburgh. Will he play his first NHL game since Jan. 10 tonight? #Avs AM skate on tap pic.twitter.com/UAaIBweG6Z

— Mike Chambers (@MikeChambers) April 5, 2022

Mike, this is an incredibly important story. Byram hasn’t played since Jan. 10 as he suffered a significant concussion back in November, and he’s dealt with concussion issues previously.

You hate to see this happen to such a talented player, one who could be such a big part of what the Colorado Avalanche are doing. Before the concussion, he was near a point-per-game number on that Avs blueline.

If Bowen Byram is healthy, which remains to be seen, how big of a boost is this for Colorado and their Stanley Cup chances?

McKenna: I’m not sure how much it boosts their chances, given he hasn’t played in a while and he’s going to be working his way back into the lineup.

That’s the nice part of the Avalanche currently. The moves they made at the trade deadline, especially bringing in Josh Manson, that’s given them some flexibility. Even with Sam Girard out of the lineup, even with Ryan Murray out, with Byram coming back in, there are moving parts.

If Byram can get back and be playing at his pre-injury level, by all means, this is a boost for the Avalanche. Beyond that, I’m just happy to see him back on the ice and getting the opportunity to play. Anytime a player has issues with concussions, you worry about them. You don’t want to see a career get cut short.

Seravalli: I’m going to go out and say this is an enormous boost for Colorado. If you look at their defense corps, it’s been so good that you wonder, where does this guy fit in now?

If you can suddenly slide Josh Manson or Jack Johnson further down the lineup, it just makes your team that much stronger. But with all due respect to Devon Toews and the amazing season he’s had, if Bowen Byram is healthy, I’m going to say he’s the second-best defenseman in Colorado behind Cale Makar.

The question is how quickly he can get back to that level. If he’s in the lineup and he’s anywhere close to 100 percent, that’s a nasty D-corps to go up against in a playoff series.

You can watch the full episode here…