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Mackenzie Blackwood Questionable For Season Opener

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Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar told reporters today, including The Denver Gazette’s Evan Rawal, that starting goalie Mackenzie Blackwood is currently progressing in his recovery from a lower-body injury but is questionable to play in the team’s season opener October 7th in Los Angeles. Blackwood is firmly entrenched as the Avalanche starter, a status the team confirmed last December when they signed him to a five-year, $5.25MM contract extension.

Blackwood played well to begin his time in Colorado, posting a .913 save percentage in 37 games, and an .892 in a tough seven-game first-round series loss to the Dallas Stars. Should Blackwood’s injury linger into the regular season, veteran Scott Wedgewood would slot in as the Avalanche’s starting goalie. Interestingly, if Blackwood misses the game in Los Angeles, this would become the second consecutive season in which Wedgewood has gotten the chance to start a season-opener due to injury – he played in the Nashville Predators’ 2024-25 opener due to an injury to starter Juuse Saros. Wedgewood, who is a pending UFA with a $1.5MM cap hit, posted a .917 save percentage in 19 games for the Avalanche after a mid-season trade.

Brent Burns Dealing With Minor Injury

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The Montreal Canadiens made one of the offseason’s biggest trades when they acquired top-pairing blueliner Noah Dobson in a trade with the New York Islanders. After the deal, most had pencilled in Kaiden Guhle as Dobson’s likely partner, often citing Guhle’s defensive reliability as a factor that would hypothetically allow Dobson to play a more aggressive offensive style, perhaps one that would help him reach the scoring heights he hit in 2023-24, when he notched 70 points. Today, The Athletic’s Arpon Basu reported that Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis appears likely to stick with his current training camp defense pairings at least until he can see how they fare against regular season competition, which would mean Dobson is slated to begin the season paired not with Guhle, but instead veteran Mike Matheson.

The move would allow Calder Trophy winner Lane Hutson to remain paired with Guhle, the player he finished 2024-25 paired with. The idea of pairing Matheson with Dobson is one that has merit, even though Matheson can sometimes garner harsh criticism from Canadiens fans. Although he can sometimes be mistake-prone, Matheson has shown a real, highly valuable ability to log heavy minutes: he averaged 25:05 time-on-ice per game in 2024-25, despite losing his role as first-unit power play quarterback to Hutson. While he’s not as highly regarded as a defensive force compared to Guhle, he is the Canadiens’ most experienced defenseman, so it’s not unreasonable for St. Louis to expect Matheson to be a solid partner to help Dobson settle in with his new team.

Some other notes from across the NHL:

  • Outside of star David Pastrnak, the Boston Bruins don’t have the NHL’s most standout collection of forwards. But where there is a lack of established talent, there is also opportunity for less-experienced players to establish themselves, and that’s exactly what 25-year-old AHL standout Alex Steeves appears to have the opportunity to do. The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa reports that Steeves, who has been playing on a line with Casey Mittlestadt to start training camp, “should have a better chance to stick” on Boston’s NHL roster than he did with the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he was generally an AHL scorer. According to Shinzawa, playing with Mittlestadt has been “a good spot” for Steeves, who had 36 goals and 62 points across 59 AHL games last season. While it’s unwise to put too much stock into early training camp deployments, one thing is clear: this preseason is perhaps the largest opportunity for Steeves to become a full-time NHLer as he’s had in his entire pro career thusfar.
  • Veteran defenseman Brent Burns won’t play in the team’s preseason contest as he’s currently dealing with a “minor tweak,” reports Colorado Hockey Now’s Aarif Deen. Deen added that the injury is “nothing serious” but that the club felt it would be best to hold him out of the upcoming contests. Burns, 40, has been remarkably healthy throughout his NHL career, and has logged 82 games played across four consecutive NHL seasons. So while Burns may not play in the club’s upcoming games due to injury, one should not expect this development to impact his readiness to contribute in the regular season.

Western Notes: Sharks, Celebrini, Landeskog

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The Sharks were also without right-winger Patrick Giles and defenseman Lucas Carlsson due to injury. Giles (lower-body) is still recovering from an offseason surgery that is expected to hold him out week-to-week, while Carlsson (lower-body) is day-to-day, per Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group. Both players are returning to the Sharks organization this season. Giles played eight games in both the NHL and AHL, before getting shut down by his injury. He scored four goals with the Barracuda and one goal with the Sharks. Carlsson stuck around a bit more – scoring 23 points in 45 games with the Barracuda, and four points in 13 games with the Sharks. It was the second-longest stint he’s had in the NHL, behind the 40 games he played with the Florida Panthers in the 2021-22 campaign. Both players will fight for top-end roles in the AHL when they’re back to full health.

Other notes from the Western Conference:

  • Star San Jose Sharks centerman Macklin Celebrini missed practice on Friday due to illness, per Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now. It was Celebrini’s second absence, after his illness was initially revealed on Thursday. There seems to be no concerns over his ability to play through the preseason, which will keep the second-year pro on track to return to a major role in the Sharks offense. Celebrini scored 63 points in 70 games last season – setting San Jose’s franchise record for the highest-scoring rookie season.
  • Colorado Avalanche fans shouldn’t expect to see captain Gabriel Landeskog on the practice sheet tomorrow. Head coach Jared Bednar told the media that Landeskog will have a scheduled day-off, per Jesse Montano of Guerilla Sports. It’s a sensible plan as the 32-year-old continues to work his way back from a long-term, lower-body injury. He played his first games since 2022 back in April, racking up four points in five postseason appearances. The 2025-26 season will mark Landeskog’s first chance to make a return that will stick and, hopefully, rack up strong scoring to boot. In his three most recent regular season appearances, Landeskog scored 59 points in 51 games; 52 points in 54 games; and 44 points in 54 games respectively. That level of lofty playmaking could prove to be an X-factor for Colorado.

Colorado Eagles Sign Deal For New Arena

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  • The AHL’s Colorado Eagles, primary affiliate of the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, have reportedly signed a 40-year lease with the City of Greeley for a new stadium. The team currently plays its home games at Blue Arena in Loveland, CO, having done so for the last 22 years. The new location in Greeley will be less accessible to fans from Denver, as it is nearly 20 miles east of I-25.

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Avalanche Notes: Third-Line Center, Landeskog, Malinski, Injuries

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The Colorado Avalanche have a roster bursting at the seams with high-end talent, and as a result, many players enter this year’s training camp with their spot in the lineup relatively assured. But not all players have that luxury: Avalanche coach Jared Bednar told the media today, including outlet DNVR Avalanche, that the club considers its third-line center role to be among the few key spots in the lineup up for grabs in the preseason.

The Avalanche finished last season with veteran Charlie Coyle in that spot, but Coyle has since been traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Today, Bednar highlighted Ross Colton and Jack Drury as the two main contenders for the third-line center role. Colton, 29, is Bednar’s more experienced option. He is playing on a $4MM AAV contract that runs through 2026-27 and had a career-high 17 goals and 40 points in 2023-24, his first with the Avalanche. Competing with Colton is Drury, who arrived in Colorado from the Carolina Hurricanes as part of the first Mikko Rantanen trade. Drury’s resume does not suggest he has as much offensive ability as Colton, though Drury brings a more advanced defensive element to the picture – he factored into Colorado’s penalty kill last season while Colton did not. (1:24 average short-handed time-on-ice compared to Colton’s 0:05) Regardless of who ultimately prevails in this preseason lineup competition, it’s clear Bednar has an abundance of quality options to choose from at the center position – an extremely valuable asset for any coach.

Some other notes from Denver:

  • The Denver Gazette’s Evan Rawal relayed word from Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog today that the veteran forward is a “full go” entering the 2025-26 campaign. That Landeskog will be able to play this season without restriction is notable due to the fact that he has missed a massive amount of time due to a complex knee issue. After captaining the Avalanche to a Stanley Cup championship in 2022, Landeskog missed the next three full regular seasons. He returned to play in five playoff games for Colorado, but given the length of his absence, there was some concern that Landeskog might be limited entering 2025-26. Based on today’s comments, it appears those worries can be dismissed.
  • Jared Bednar told the media today, including Guerilla Sports’ Meghan Angley, that they will try to play right-handed defenseman Sam Malinski on the left side this season as a response to the club’s abundance of NHL-caliber right-shot blueliners. Malinski, 27, finished last season paired with the since-departed Ryan Lindgren on his right side, meaning this change will require a new adjustment from Malinski. The former Cornell standout broke into the NHL last season, scoring 15 points in 76 games whilst averaging nearly 16 miutes of time-on-ice per game. The offseason addition of veteran blueliner Brent Burns, who is a right shot, appears to be what has prompted this adjustment for Malinski.
  • Colorado Hockey Now’s Aarif Deen reported updates on various injuries to Avalanche players today, including the club’s projected starting netminder. Per Deen, Mackenzie Blackwood is out week-to-week dealing with an offseason injury, but is hopeful to be ready within the first week or two of the regular season. Veteran Samuel Girard is dealing with a lower-body injury and will miss time in the preseason, but is hopeful to be ready for opening night. And finally veteran winger Logan O’Connor is dealing with a hip ailment, and is on track to miss the start of the season with a recovery timeline that places his return more in the range of early November.

Latest On Martin Necas

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The focal point of the Colorado Avalanche’s return package in the blockbuster trade that sent Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes was forward Martin Necas, and although he enjoyed a solid start to his tenure in Colorado, his situation is far from settled. The 26-year-old scored 28 points in 30 games in Denver, but his future with the club is cloudy due to the fact that he is set to hit unrestricted free agency after the 2025-26 season. The Denver Post’s Corey Masisiak called Necas’ contract situation “a tricky negotiation for both sides,” and provided some detail as to why.

First and foremost, Masisiak cited Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov’s contract situation as a factor that could hold up progress – Necas may not want to sign his deal until his camp, led by Eclipse Sports Management’s Michael Deutsch, gets to see what Kaprizov’s deal is valued at. From the Avalanche’s side of the equation, the team needs to find a way to figure out if they can fit Necas’ next contract onto their books, which currently feature Nathan MacKinnon at a $12.6MM cap hit and are set to feature Cale Makar’s likely record-setting extension in two years’ time. Necas is an extremely talented hockey player and has proven to be a quality fit for the Avalanche, but retaining him, for the reasons Masisiak detailed, could prove challenging.

Mackenzie Blackwood And Samuel Girard Dealing With Injuries

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The Avalanche knew that they wouldn’t have their full roster available to start the season with winger Logan O’Connor still working his way back from hip surgery.  It appears he’s not the only one dealing with injury concerns though.  Brennan Vogt of Hockey Mountain High reports that goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood and defenseman Samuel Girard are also banged up heading into training camp.

Blackwood didn’t skate with the team during captain’s skates all week and on Friday, worked with goalie coach Jussi Parkilla but voiced some pain when pushing off his right leg during one of the drills.  Notably, he wasn’t taking shots either; combined, those suggest he’s not fully healthy heading into camp.  Blackwood is beginning a five-year, $26.25MM contract signed soon after being acquired in an early-season trade from San Jose.  Scott Wedgewood enters camp as the backup and could be in line for a bit more work early on.  If Blackwood were to miss time to start the season, Trent Miner would likely break camp as the interim backup.

As for Girard, Vogt relays that the blueliner didn’t take part in any of the optional skates since August 17th until yesterday and was skating gingerly in a non-contact sweater, suggesting he could be dealing with a lower-body issue.  The 27-year-old has had some injury trouble for several consecutive seasons now but when healthy, has been a capable top-four blueliner while also being only one of two left-hand shots in their projected top-six.

Colorado currently has around $1.325MM in cap space as things stand, per PuckPedia, meaning that they don’t have to place O’Connor on LTIR.  However, if Blackwood and Girard’s injuries drag into the regular season, operating below the cap ceiling without needing LTIR could become a little trickier, a small subplot to keep an eye on over the next few weeks.

Taylor Makar Continues To Recover From Offseason Upper-Body Surgery

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Afternoon Notes: Trenton, Bruins, Senators, Flames

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The Utah Grizzlies will relocate to Trenton, New Jersey for the 2026-27 season, with an announcement set for tomorrow, per hockey insider Frank Seravalli. If true, the Grizzlies will be set to move right after celebrating their 20th season in Utah. In doing so, they will bring ECHL hockey back to Trenton for the first time since 2013. The city previously hosted the Trenton Titans – briefly the Trenton Devils – for 24 years beginning in 1999. The club was red-hot at the turn of the century, reaching the Kelly Cup Finals in 2001 and taking the Cup home in 2005. They featured some incredible hockey names in their history. Stanley Cup winner and Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy presided over Trenton’s inaugural season, and current Utah Mammoth general manager Bill Armstrong coached the team from 2002 to 2004.

The Utah Grizzlies are currently affiliated with the Colorado Avalanche and Colorado Eagles, the latter an ironic twist given the Eagles’ rivalry with the Grizzlies when they were a part of the ECHL. This move would break that tension, and return pro hockey to an upgraded CURE Insurance Arena.

Other notes from around the hockey world:

  • Sticking in the ECHL, the Boston Bruins have announced a three-year extension of their affiliation with the Maine Mariners. The affiliation began in 2021, and marked the first NHL partnership in Maine’s brief history. It was a continuation of a long history of work between the two teams. The Mariners served as Boston’s AHL affiliate from 1987 to 1992, before being relocated to form the Providence Bruins. The ECHL Mariners haven’t found their stride under Boston just yet – losing in the first round of the postseason three times, then missing the postseason last year. They’ll face a very interesting turnaround next season, after losing former player and head coach/general manager Terrence Wallin this summer. Maine hired Rick Kowalsky – aptly, a member of the Kelly Cup-winning Trenton Devils in 2005 – to fill the vacancy. Kowalsky has previously spent four years an ECHL head coach, 10 years as an AHL head coach, and six years as an assistant coach with the New Jersey Devils.
  • Shifting to looming NHL training camps – the Ottawa Senators are expected to bring multiple professional try-outs to the start of their camp, general manager Steve Staios told Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun. Ottawa could use a bit of padding to their depth at all three positions, setting them up nicely to bring in some of the top remaining free agents. The likeliest paths to the lineup will be on the fourth-line wing, where Michael Amadio and Nick Cousins currently reside on the depth chart. Some options for UFA candidates could include 36-year-old wing Max Pacioretty, 30-year-old centerman Tyler Motte, or 31-year-old defenseman Matt Grzelcyk.
  • While Ottawa pursues the PTO market, the Calgary Flames are expected to stay away, per Ryan Pike of Flames Nation. While the Senators will look to vindicate a push to the playoffs last season, Calgary is likely much more geared towards keeping spots open for their emerging youngsters. Players like Rory Kerins, Dryden Hunt, William Stromgren, and Aydar Suniev could all make valiant pushes for bottom-six minutes next season.

A Case For Necas To Wait On An Extension; Could Bardakov Be A Camp Wild Card?

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  • Still with the Avalanche, Corey Masisak of The Denver Post suggests that prospect winger Zakhar Bardakov could be one of the biggest wild cards heading into training camp later this month. The 24-year-old is in his first season in North America after signing his entry-level deal back in April.  Bardakov had 17 goals and 18 assists in 53 games with SKA St. Petersburg in the KHL last season and GM Chris MacFarland has brought him up unprompted twice when discussing their roster.  Colorado churned through many different bottom-six options last season and if Bardakov can come in and even hold down a regular spot on the fourth line right away, that would certainly help deepen their lineup.

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