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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.

Brad Hunt Recalled From AHL

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  • A day after being papered down to the minors, the Avalanche announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled defenseman Brad Hunt from AHL Colorado. The 34-year-old inked a two-year deal with the Avs in the summer and has played in four games with the big club so far, collecting an assist while logging a little over 10 minutes per game.  He has been quite productive with the Eagles though, notching six goals and 14 helpers in 22 games at the minor league level.

Colorado Avalanche Recall Jonas Johansson

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The Colorado Avalanche have announced that goaltender Jonas Johansson has been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles.

The move comes after Avalanche backup netminder Pavel Francouz secured his team a 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers last night. As no corresponding move was announced regarding the Avalanche’s goalies, this recall adds a third name to Colorado’s situation in the crease.

The 27-year-old Johansson earns this recall on the back of his impressive AHL performance so far this season. Through 12 games Johansson has a .929 save percentage and 2.10 goals-against-average.

Over the past two seasons Johansson’s career has had quite the journey. He was traded to the Avalanche from the Buffalo Sabres in 2021, when the Avalanche were in desperate need of a goalie. The team surrendered a sixth-round pick to acquire him, and then lost him on waivers to the Florida Panthers in December of that year.

After a two-game stint in Florida that included a disastrous start against the Montreal Canadiens in their final game of the regular season, where he surrendered ten goals, Johansson hit unrestricted free agency this past summer.

He was signed to a one-year, $750k deal with a hefty $350k AHL salary, with the idea of him playing in a tandem in the AHL with Justus Annunen.

That idea was nearly blown up after the Arizona Coyotes claimed Johansson off of waivers in late September, but nearly two weeks later the Avalanche were able to re-acquire him after he was waived by Arizona.

It’s unclear at this moment if this recall is motivated by any injury developments to either Francouz or Alexandar Georgiev.

Evan Rodrigues To Return For Colorado

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  • Evan Rodrigues, who hasn’t played since November 23, is “ready to go” for tonight’s Colorado Avalanche game. The Avalanche have struggled with injuries throughout the year but are starting to get healthy again and have won two in a row. Rodrigues, who was brought in on a one-year deal in the offseason, had six goals and nine points in 18 games before getting forced out of the lineup.

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