The Avalanche will be without a veteran winger as they take on Boston tonight. The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Joel Kiviranta is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury. In a separate move, the club also announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Jack Ahcan has been reassigned to AHL Colorado.
Kiviranta is coming off a career showing in 2024-25. After only reaching the double-digit plateau once before (an 11-point effort in 2020-21), the 29-year-old potted 16 goals last season along with seven assists while also averaging a career-high 12:31 per game of ice time. That helped him eventually earn a new contract with a small raise as he re-signed a one-year, $1.25MM deal back in August.
However, he has been quieter in the early going so far this season. Through five games, Kiviranta has been held off the scoresheet and has managed just three shots on goal while his playing time has dipped by nearly two minutes a night despite still taking a regular turn on their penalty kill. Now, he’ll be waiting a while to put up his first point on the season as head coach Jared Bednar clarified to reporters including Aarif Dean of Colorado Hockey Now that Kiviranta will be out several weeks at a minimum.
As for Ahcan, he was recalled from the Eagles on Sunday following a strong start that saw him put up four points in his first two AHL appearances. However, he didn’t see any action during this recall, keeping his career NHL total at 11.
With these moves, the Avs have just a dozen healthy forwards and six healthy blueliners. While that’s optical from the perspective of accruing as much cap space as possible, it’s a strategy that certainly carries some risk as well when it comes to injury exposure. Accordingly, it wouldn’t be shocking to see the team make at least one recall from the minors before too long.