For a team that lacks a ton of depth at the NHL level, the one thing the Colorado Avalanche have an abundance of is bottom-pair defensemen.
Going into the summer, the Avalanche had a very distinct top four in Erik Johnson, Tyson Barrie, Nikita Zadorov and Sam Girard. Beyond that, we saw a jumble of players that were all expected to fight for the final three spots on the roster. Patrik Nemeth, Mark Barberio,, Anton Lindholm, Mark Alt, David Warsofsky, even youngsters like Nicolas Meloche and Sergei Boikov were all seen as guys that could fill out the blueline for the Avs.