The Colorado Avalanche will be without one of their most recent signings for at least a few weeks. Rookie Gavin Brindley sustained a lower-body injury and has been designated as out week-to-week, per Corey Masisak of The Denver Post. Brindley didn’t travel with the club on a two-game road-trip that begins against the Nashville Predators on Saturday night.
This is a tough blow for Colorado’s most promising rookie in a few years. Brindley seemed to be finally finding his step at the NHL level, after a quiet start and a day-to-day injury earlier in the year. He scored six points, split evenly, in his last seven games before sustaining an injury two minutes into Thursday night’s game against the New York Rangers. That scoring brought Brindley up to seven points in 18 games this season – a mark that would have put him on pace for 32 points across the full season.
That’s an admirable scoring pace for the 5-foot-8 rookie. Even more, the comfort he showed throughout November was going far in solidifying his role as a reliable addition to a Colorado bottom-six that carries a high standard. He emphasized that impact with 19 hits and 22 shots on goal this season. But a hot streak will come to a close with this news, and put Brindley into the tough position of trying to rediscover his stride when the holiday season rolls around.
Brindley has averaged fewer than 10 minutes a night this season, making his lineup vacancy fairly easy to fill. The Avalanche recalled Jason Polin and could promote Tristen Nielsen into the lineup to address the hole in the short-term. Nielsen didn’t manage any scoring in the first two NHL games of his career earlier this season, though he does have 14 points in 16 AHL games. Polin hasn’t appeared in the NHL this season, but scored one goal in nine games with the Avalanche over the last two seasons combined. The duo will fight for a spot on Colorado’s fourth-line wing. If they can’t last, the Avalanche could recall Taylor Makar or Daniil Gushchin to fill a more routine role than they’ve received so far.