Kyle Fredrickson of the Denver Gazette reports that defenseman Cale Makar and forward Darren Helm will be out indefinitely with lower-body injuries. Both players have dealt with injuries and missed consecutive games multiple times this season.
Although clinching a playoff spot in Tuesday night’s win against the San Jose Sharks, it has not been an easy path back to the playoffs for the Avalanche this season. So far this year, at least 38 different skaters have played at least one game in Colorado, and they have gone through a mixture of five total netminders. In this case, as the team has now clinched and is waiting for the playoffs to begin, it is unknown whether either player will be available for game one, as head coach Jared Bednar would not give a timeline for their return.
For Helm in particular, this will be the third time that he has missed multiple games with injury. He has spent the majority of this season on the injured reserve, only managing to suit up for 11 games, unable to find himself on the scoreboard.
Most importantly for the Avalanche, as well as their playoff aspirations, Makar being out indefinitely is a massive blow. After winning the Norris Trophy and Conn Smythe Trophy last season, he has followed that up with another tremendous campaign, scoring 66 points in 60 games for Colorado. Makar has already missed 16 games this year for the Avalanche, adding to the injury woes that have seemed to plague the team all season.
With six games remaining this season, it is unclear who the Avalanche will be playing in the first round of the playoffs. Given the current standings leading into gameplay tonight, Colorado is most likely to face the Minnesota Wild, Dallas Stars, or Seattle Kraken in the beginning round. They are currently in first place in the NHL’s Central Division with one game in hand on both the Wild and Stars.
Ouchie for Colorado, good for their first round opponent.
Heiskanen was taken one spot before Makar. Cale has the Conn Smythe, Norris and Cup, but Heiskanen might be the more prolific longterm producer, if he stays healthier. And before anyone rips me, notice I wrote “might”, not “definitely”.
You are kidding right?!
@RichP About what?
Good
It is not even “might” it’s a zero comparison.
@RichP
I suppose you think Makar is the second coming of Bobby Orr.
Try actually watching Dallas some. That Heiskanen is pretty good.
The league does hence why he was voted #1
@RichP
Oh brother. Do you actually watch any games, or do you make your opinions solely based on what others say?
One Norris Trophy doesn’t mean a player is the second coming of Orr, or Bourque, or Leetch. Let’s see him be a finalist several times before we call him the best of the decade.
In the meantime, watch some hockey. You might learn something
@KRB Hell, let’s see Heiskanen be a finalist ONCE before you blather on about how great he is, troll. The best he’s managed in four seasons is 12th in Norris voting. (He won’t be one this year either. Got to figure that’ll be Karlsson and Morrissey, anyway, and no one not from Dallas is picking Heiskanen above Hamilton, Hughes, Lindholm, Fox OR Makar.)
And other than his offense, his value isn’t all that awesome. He doesn’t hit, he’s not all that prone to block shots, his defensive metrics are middle-of-the-pack.
While you’re chewing on that (and likely trolling some other folks), watch some hockey other than drooling over your NHL 22 console. You might learn something.
Win a CUP then we can talk!
Bye troll. You’re a moron
Haha… That was easy!