The Colorado Avalanche will add another promising youngster to their lineup Thursday when Bowen Byram makes his NHL debut against the Los Angeles Kings, the team announced.

Byram, 19, was the first defenseman off the board during the 2019 NHL Draft, going fourth overall to Colorado.

The 6-foot-1 blue-liner recently co-captained Team Canada to a silver medal at the world juniors in Edmonton. He contributed one goal and four assists over seven outings in his second year at the event.

Byram tallied 14 goals and 52 points in 50 games with the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League in 2019-20. One year prior, he was the WHL's playoff scoring leader with 26 points in 22 games.

The British Columbia native joins rearguards Cale Makar, Conor Timmins, and Samuel Girard as promising under-23 talents on Colorado's blue line.

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