Personally I would like if Byram went back to the WHL. He’s not really needed right now and scratching him in my mind would be stalling his development. Also there is nothing wrong with another year of development

Except why is he going to do in the WHL that he hasn’t done already? He’s dominated the last 2 yrs, he is the best dman at the WJC’s I mean he just played almost 26minutes in a 5-0 semi-final, what exactly is he going to do there? I could maybe buy a yr in the AHL would help but since he can’t play there.

The lines are a little off at least off what they are trying to do, just based off the beginning of camp
Burakovsky MacKinnon Rantanen
Landeskog Kadri Saad (oh the agony for other teams)
Nichushkin Compher Donskoi
Jost PEB Calvert

Toews Makar
Girard Johnson
Byram Graves/Cole

With the condensed schedule (basically playing every other night with at least 1 back to back every week) I fully expect the taxi squad to be made up of waiver exempt guys so they can move them in and out of the line up without fear of losing them.

Exactly. Another year in the WHL does absolutely nothing for Byram. He needs to be in the NHL playing, so I would honestly cycle between him, Cole, and Graves for the third pairing. Save the legs. Keep them healthy for the playoff run. Yeah, you eat a year of his ELC, but who cares? Stay healthy and you're likely looking at the Western Conference finals, at least.

I would honestly give him the usual taste of the NHL with 5 or 6 games this year without burning a year off of his ELC. I’d try and keep in on his ELC for as long as possible because Colorado will eventually run into Cap issues as the team gets better.

As does every team competing for the cup, but if you have to burn a year of his ELC to win the cup, you do it. EJ's contract will be up by that point, as will Graves' deal, so there will be plenty of room for his next contract. If he's AHL eligible, then yes, play him as much as possible down there, but he's good enough for the NHL.

I’d want him to thrive not just survive.

Gotta love having those two studs on your blue line for the next 15 years.

That's the advantage you have right now though, they don't have to roll him out in the top-4 only to see him drown. They can put him on the third pairing with Cole/Graves and let the kid be himself, especially against teams like Anaheim/Los Angeles/Arizona/Minnesota. He's not going to get anything out of playing in the WHL, so it's NHL/AHL or bust for me. Yes, you have to protect your future, but the cup window is officially open. Need to do whatever you can to ensure you win one.