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Pavel Francouz Activated From Injured Reserve

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The Colorado Avalanche returned Jonas Johansson to the minor leagues earlier today, suggesting that Pavel Francouz was ready to return to the active roster. Indeed, Francouz no longer appears on injured reserve and should be ready to dress this evening against the Florida Panthers.

It’s been nearly a month since Francouz last appeared for the Avalanche, stopping 26 of 28 shots on December 13 against the Philadelphia Flyers. The 32-year-old goaltender had posted a .913 save percentage in nine games through the early part of the season, serving as the primary backup for Alexandar Georgiev.

Without him, it’s been Georgiev every night for the Avalanche, with Johansson only playing 23 minutes in relief on New Year’s Eve. The 29 appearances from Georgiev so far have him closing in on his career-high of 34, set in 2019-20 with the New York Rangers.

With that in mind, it’s a good time for Francouz to get back in the mix and start to split the load as Colorado pushes toward the trade deadline. The club sits in fifth place in the Central Division with a 20-15-3 record, after being decimated by injuries through the first part of the year.

Denis Malgin, the latest of those injuries, was called week-to-week by head coach Jared Bednar earlier today. Peter Baugh of The Athletic relays other updates from the coach, noting that Bowen Byram and Josh Manson are also skating but have no firm timetable yet.

Avalanche Activate Nathan MacKinnon Off Injured Reserve

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The Avalanche will have their franchise player back in the lineup tonight against Toronto as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve activated center Nathan MacKinnon off injured reserve.  To make room for MacKinnon on the roster, winger Charles Hudon has been assigned to AHL Colorado.

MacKinnon suffered an upper-body injury earlier this month which was expected to keep him out for four weeks so he’s right on schedule.  The 27-year-old was off to another strong start before the injury as he had 34 points in 23 games; even though he has missed 11 games, he’s still tied for second on the Avs in scoring.  More importantly, he gives Colorado their top center back, allowing them to push J.T. Compher off the top line and balance out their forwards a bit better; Compher had been logging nearly 24 minutes a night in MacKinnon’s absence.

Colorado enters play tonight sitting fourth in the Central Division and is tied with Calgary for a Wild Card spot in the West.  That has largely been due to an extremely long injury list that still has them without two top-six wingers in Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin and two key defenders in Bowen Byram and Josh Manson, among others.  Their push to put themselves in a much more favorable playoff position will be a lot easier with MacKinnon, their star center and the player who will have the richest contract in NHL history next season, returning to the lineup.

As for Hudon, he was recalled back on Tuesday on his third emergency loan of the season.  The 28-year-old has played in nine games with the Avalanche this season, logging just shy of 11 minutes a night while being held off the scoresheet.  He has 18 points in 22 contests with the Eagles and should be a recall option should another injury up front arise with the big club.

MacKinnon Could Return Saturday, Helm Participates In Full Practice

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  • The Avalanche could have Nathan MacKinnon back in the lineup on Saturday against Toronto, relays Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. The star center has missed nearly four weeks due to an upper-body injury and while he took the skate in a non-contact jersey today, that won’t automatically preclude him from returning tomorrow.  Meanwhile, forward Darren Helm was a full participant in practice for the first time today but has not yet received the green light to suit up.  He has yet to play this season and underwent hip surgery last month.

Valeri Nichushkin Re-Injures Ankle, Out Indefinitely

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Injuries have hit the Avalanche hard all season but they got some good news three weeks ago when Valeri Nichushkin was able to return to the lineup after undergoing ankle surgery following a six-week absence.  However, his absence from yesterday’s loss to Arizona was noteworthy and head coach Jared Bednar confirmed to Kyle Frederickson of The Denver Gazette (Twitter link) that the winger has re-injured his ankle.  There is no timetable for his return.

The 27-year-old is in the first season of an eight-year, $49MM contract signed back in July to avoid free agency.  He got off to a great start before originally being injured, notching a dozen points in his first seven games but his output had dipped since his return as Nichushkin had just four assists in the eight contests he played in this month.  Even so, he still sits seventh in scoring for Colorado despite missing more than half the season due to injuries.

Nichushkin rejoins an injured group that includes (but isn’t limited to) center Nathan MacKinnon, winger Gabriel Landeskog, defensemen Josh Manson and Bowen Byram, and even goaltender Pavel Francouz.  All told, the Avs have over $27MM in contracts for players that are currently unavailable due to injuries.  Even with LTIR, Colorado has been icing lineups lately that have been below the salary cap floor and with most of their injured players still facing extended absences, that’s unlikely to change in the near future.

In spite of the injuries, Colorado is still hanging around the playoff mix as they’re tied for a Wild Card position and are only two points out of the final guaranteed spot in the Central Division.  Unfortunately, they’re going to have to hang around the mix without another key winger in Nichushkin who is now facing another absence.

Jared Bednar Issues Injury Updates

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Although the Colorado Avalanche are comfortably in the Western Conference’s playoff picture at this point in the season, their 2022-23 campaign has been far from easy. Ravaged by a flood of injuries, we have rarely gotten to see an Avalanche squad hit the ice that closely resembles the team that won the Stanley Cup in the summer. Today, Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar issued some injury updates on players to the media, including Altitude Sports’ Marc Moser.

According to Bednar, Gabriel Landeskog, Bowen Byram, and Josh Manson are unfortunately not close to returning from their injuries. He did deliver some good news as well, though, noting that franchise center Nathan MacKinnon is nearing a return, and that penalty-killing specialist Andrew Cogliano would be returning to the lineup. While the Avalanche still won’t be near 100% anytime soon, the positive developments regarding a few players are certainly encouraging.

Avalanche Recall Charles Hudon And Jonas Johansson

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The Avalanche have brought up a pair of players in advance of tonight’s game against Arizona as the team announced (Twitter link) that winger Charles Hudon and goaltender Jonas Johansson have been recalled from AHL Colorado.  The Avs had two open roster spots so no corresponding roster moves needed to be made to make these recalls.

Hudon is in his first season with the Avalanche and has gotten into seven games with the big club this season while on emergency recall.  He was held off the scoresheet in each of those but did log nearly 12 minutes per contest.  The 28-year-old has been productive with the Eagles this season with ten goals and eight assists in 22 games.

As for Johansson, he’s covering for Pavel Francouz with Peter Baugh of The Athletic relaying (Twitter link) that Francouz is dealing with a lower-body injury.  Johansson, who has twice been claimed off waivers already this season, has yet to see any NHL action in 2022-23 but has done well in the minors, posting a 2.15 GAA with a .929 SV% in 15 contests.

Alexandar Georgiev Named Second Star Of The Week

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With no games scheduled until Tuesday, the NHL has gone ahead and released its Three Stars for this past week.  Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin took home the top nod after recording six points in three games, including two goals against Winnipeg to put him in sole possession of second in NHL history with 802.  Avalanche goaltender Alexandar Georgiev was the Second Star after a trio of extra-time victories that saw him post a 0.94 GAA along with a .965 SV%.  Meanwhile, Canucks center Elias Pettersson earned the last spot of the group after tying for the most assists (five) and points (seven) on the week which is particularly impressive considering he missed Vancouver’s first game of the week due to illness.

Andrew Cogliano To Miss At Least The Next Two Games

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  • Avalanche winger Andrew Cogliano will miss at least the next two games after suffering an upper-body injury in last night’s game against the Islanders, relays Kyle Frederickson of The Denver Gazette (Twitter link). The 35-year-old tumbled into the boards in the third period on Monday and did not return.  He has four goals and three assists in 30 games so far this season while being an important part of a bottom-six group that has gone through plenty of turnover thus far.  Now, he’ll be out until after the holiday break and will be re-evaluated at that time.

Danil Zhuravlyov Placed On Unconditional Waivers

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Zhuravlyov, 22, was a fifth-round pick of the Colorado Avalanche back in 2018 but only came to North America this year, joining the Colorado Eagles. In that time, the defenseman has played in 14 games and while it hasn’t exactly been a resounding success, recording just an assist in that time, it was far from a poor performance for the developing blueliner. It’s unclear what the next step would be should he clear, but perhaps an opportunity closer to home could be available. Zhuravlyov spent the previous three seasons with AK Bars in the KHL.

Colorado Avalanche Acquire Denis Malgin

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The Colorado Avalanche, still looking for some scoring depth, have acquired Denis Malgin from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Dryden Hunt. The move is the second time Hunt has switched teams this season after being claimed off waivers from the New York Rangers in October.

Malgin, 25, returned to North America this season after spending the last two years in Switzerland, where he dominated the National League for both Lausanne and Zurich. In 2021-22 he scored 21 goals and 52 points in 48 regular season games, then put up 18 points in 17 postseason matches. It appeared as though he might get an extended opportunity next to John Tavares and Mitch Marner with Toronto, but after scoring just four points in 23 games so far, the team has moved on.

Colorado has recalled Martin Kaut today, likely as Malgin sorts out travel plans to join the club.

Hunt, meanwhile, is a more traditional bottom-six forward and has just two goals in 28 games split between Colorado and New York. Though he’s not a huge player, he does bring a lot more physicality than Malgin, and can potentially give Toronto an extra fourth-line option to work with.

Notably, Maple Leafs forward Calle Jarnkrok was spotted at practice today in a regular sweater. His return from injury would have likely pushed Malgin down, if not entirely out of the lineup, and likely means there won’t be an immediate spot for Hunt. That could mean Hunt will end up on waivers again at some point, though the Maple Leafs do have an extra roster spot right now for Jarnkrok’s activation.

A swap of playstyle from two underperforming depth forwards, this may end up not meaning much for either organization. It certainly will, however, cause some more painful memories for Maple Leafs fans who watched the team trade Mason Marchment for Malgin in 2020. While Marchment has established himself as a force in the league, Malgin provided the Maple Leafs with four points in 31 total games.

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