Since the Colorado Avalanche are all but eliminated in the playoff race, it is time to help the team build toward the future.

First, the team should rest anyone who is injured (looking at you Steve Downie) and should play its young defensmen for the remaining three games.

Tyson Barrie and Stefan Elliott are part of the Avs' future and they need to play, not sit in the press box eating nachos. Both are promising young offensive defensmen that are learning the defensive game in order to be NHL defensemen.

Now is the perfect time to play Elliott and Barrie to get them ready to play in the AHL playoffs, which the Lake Erie Monsters look like they are going to make. Furthermore, just give them a bigger taste of the NHL and what it takes to play there.

Only three games remain but that is three games that these players can learn in. Barrie, with his great passing and good speed and Elliott, with his wicked wrist shot and great speed, will be assets for the Avs for years, assuming they aren't traded for a scorer. However, they will only become assets if they play.

We all know that Matt Hunwick is not coming back, not with the depth the Avs have on defense. Beyond that, the Avs have an unrestricted (Shane O'Brien) and a restricted (Ryan Wilson) free agent, one of whom will likely be playing for a new team next year.

Elliott and Barrie are only 21 and 20 years old respectively. They are too talented, too young to be sitting in the press box. Before the best option would have been to send them down to Lake Erie but now the best option is to let them play here, now, to help them build toward next year.

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