Evan Rodrigues In Concussion Protocol
Bennett Durando of the Denver Post relays from head coach Jared Bednar that forward Evan Rodrigues has entered into concussion protocol. The injury came after receiving a hard hit from Chicago Blackhawks’ defenseman Connor Murphy in Monday night’s game.
Continuing on with their theme of the year, the defending Stanley Cup champions will lose another player to injury. Being without captain Gabriel Landeskog all season, the Colorado Avalanche also lost forward Artturi Lehkonen last week to a broken thumb. Seemingly unable to employ a healthy roster all season, the Avalanche will once again need to look to their depth to fill the gaps.
In his first season in Colorado, Rodrigues has fit very well into the team’s style of play. With his ability to play anywhere on offense, the forward has scored 14 goals and 19 assists so far this year with the Avalanche. Rodrigues has also seen a considerable amount of ice time on the team’s power play and is producing above-average possession numbers as well, earning a Corsi For % of 57.4.
Tied with the Minnesota Wild in points, the Avalanche sit only one point back of the division-leading Dallas Stars. With one game in hand on each team, the Avalanche looked poised to return to the Stanley Cup playoffs, but might ultimately be without some of their better offensive contributors this year.
Cale Makar Out Day-To-Day With Lower-Body Injury
- While he remains a player widely considered the best defenseman in the NHL, injuries have proved to be a roadblock for the Colorado Avalanche’s Cale Makar, and have caused him to fall behind in the Norris Trophy race when compared to players such as the San Jose Sharks’ Erik Karlsson. While he has thankfully seemed to put the concussion issues that sidelined him earlier this year behind him, there’s a new injury for him to deal with. Per the Denver Post’s Bennett Durando, Makar is out day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said that the injury is “nothing too serious,” and that he is being held out for tonight’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks as a precautionary measure. Makar has scored 61 points in 55 games this season and leads all NHLers in time-on-ice per game, averaging 26:36 TOI per game.
Injury Notes: Canadiens, Greenway, Johnson
The Montreal Canadiens have been absolutely ravaged by injuries yet again this season, missing key players for long stretches. While they have no playoff aspirations at this point in the season, there is still some promising news for the team health-wise. The Athletic’s Marc Antoine Godin reports that forwards Kirby Dach, Jake Evans, and Brendan Gallagher were all at practice today, albeit in non-contact jerseys.
All three have missed significant stretches of time this season, especially Gallagher, who’s played just 25 games with intermittent lower-body injuries. His latest absence has kept him out since January 3 and is past his original estimated return timeline of six weeks. Evans exited the lineup a few weeks later and was issued a 10-week recovery timeline from a knee injury. Dach has been out since the end of last month with a lower-body injury and has no timeline for a return.
All are important players to Montreal in their own right, but Dach has especially been impressive in his first season in Montreal. The third overall pick in 2019 has taken a significant step in his offensive development since being acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks, adding an even brighter star to an already bright future for the Canadiens.
- Buffalo Sabres winger Jordan Greenway is out day-to-day with an upper-body injury, according to Bleacher Report contributor Joe Yerdon, adding to a bumpy season for him. The 26-year-old has just one goal in eight games since the Sabres acquired him at the trade deadline, and the team is quickly plummeting out of the Wild Card race.
- On a positive note, The Denver Post’s Bennett Durando reports that Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson practiced in a regular jersey today, signaling he’s close to a return. Johnson has missed over a month with a foot injury but could draw back into the lineup soon ahead of the playoffs. The 34-year-old has seven assists in 51 games this season.
Avalanche Recall Alex Galchenyuk
The Colorado Avalanche announced they have called up Alex Galchenyuk from the Colorado Eagles of the AHL. Galchenyuk was signed by the Avalanche last offseason and has played most of this season in the minor leagues.
The 29-year-old forward is having a successful season in the AHL, scoring 15 goals and 33 points in 33 games for the Eagles. He was called up earlier this season to play four games with the Avalanche but failed to register a point.
Galchenyuk is a skilled forward who was the third overall pick in the 2012 NHL Draft by the Montreal Canadiens. He played his first six seasons with the Canadiens, but has bounced around the league since then. In the past five years, he has played for the Arizona Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins, Minnesota Wild, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, Coyotes again and now the Avalanche.
This season was his first lengthy stint in the AHL, and he produced at a point-per-game pace. Perhaps he has gained some confidence and can rediscover a bit of the offensive tough that saw him score 30 goals and 56 points in 2015-16.
The Avalanche needed to call someone up with Artturi Lehkonen ruled out with a broken finger. Since the team no longer had 12 healthy forwards, the Galchenyuk recall is considered to be on an emergency basis so it does not affect the limit of four recalls the Avalanche are allowed to make after the trade deadline.
Artturi Lehkonen Out 4-6 Weeks With Broken Finger
The Colorado Avalanche have been dealing with a plethora of injuries all season, and they just continue to pile up as Artturi Lehkonen will be out of the lineup long term. Peter Baugh of The Athetic reported Lehkonen broke his finger and would require surgery. Head Coach Jared Bednar was on Vic Lombardi’s Altitude Sports Radio show this morning and confirmed it would be a 4-6 week absence.
The Avalanche crushed the Montreal Canadiens 8-4 last night, jumping out to a 3-0 lead before the midway point of the first period. It was a big night for the former Canadiens winger who scored two goals, including the 100th of his career, and added an assist against the team that traded him a year ago. But then he was forced to leave the game with injury.
Lehkonen has fit in perfectly with the Avalanche since being acquired for Justin Barron and a second-round pick. His goals last night brought him to 20 for this first time in his career and he also has a career high 49 points this season in just 62 games. He helped Colorado win the Stanley Cup last spring by playing a terrific defensive game and adding eight goals and 14 points in 20 postseason games.
Lehkonen now joins Gabriel Landeskog, Erik Johnson and Darren Helm on the Avalanche injured reserve. They have fought through all the injuries to sit comfortably in a playoff position today and still have a shot at winning the Central Division.
The playoffs will begin in almost exactly five weeks, which means Lehkonen could still be back for Game 1 of the opening round.
Artturi Lehkonen Leaves Game With Upper-Body Injury
The Colorado Avalanche have announced that Artturi Lehkonen will not return to tonight’s game against the Montreal Canadiens after leaving with an apparent upper-body injury.
It was quite an eventful night for Lehkonen who was playing in his first game back in Montreal since being traded to Colorado in March of 2022. Lehkonen received a video tribute and a standing ovation from the Montreal crowd, then followed it up by adding two goals and an assist in less than two periods of play. The injury puts a damper on what was an incredible return to Montreal for the former second round pick.
Lehkonen has been red hot as of late with seven points in his past five games. He’s been everything Colorado could have hoped for when they dealt a second-round pick and Justin Barron to Montreal for him just under a year ago. Lehkonen has flourished this season with a career high 49 points in 62 games. This after scoring 14 points in 20 games last postseason in Colorado’s magical run to the Stanley Cup.
Should Lehkonen miss any time it will be a big blow for an Avalanche team that has dealt with a multitude of injuries throughout this season. Colorado is already missing Josh Manson, Gabriel Landeskog, Darren Helm, Erik Johnson, and goaltender Pavel Francouz. Despite the injuries, Colorado has maintained stellar team defense this season as they rank seventh in the league in goals against. The Avalanche currently hold the final wild card spot in the west, but they have struggled as of late having dropped four of their last six games coming into tonight.
Bednar: Johnson Could Be Ahead Of Schedule
- Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar told Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now that defenseman Erik Johnson appears to be ahead of schedule in his recovery from a broken ankle. The veteran has been out for a month with an expected recovery timeline of eight weeks. He’s already skating so it’s quite possible that he’s able to return before another four weeks elapse. Johnson has seven assists in 51 games this season and is not currently on LTIR so Colorado won’t have to make any roster moves to activate him when he’s ready to come back.
Colorado Avalanche Issue Multiple Injury Updates
Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar was busy with the media today, issuing multiple updates on the team’s swath of injured players.
Most notably, Bednar still has no timeline for a return on captain Gabriel Landeskog, who’s missed the entire season with a knee injury. Bednar called Landeskog’s recovery a “slow-moving process,” There remains no guarantee he will play at all this season.
There’s also the matter of veteran defenseman Erik Johnson, who’s been out for almost a month since sustaining a broken ankle in a game on February 11. His initial timeline for recovery was eight to 10 weeks, and although he remains on that timeline, Bednar said he was “startled” by Johnson’s quick recovery progress. Johnson skated today for the second time since sustaining the injury, and Bednar is hopeful his return will come closer to the eight-week mark, right at the end of the regular season.
Another tenured skater has missed most of the season for Colorado – two-time Stanley Cup champion Darren Helm has played just five games all year. Although he’s returned to skating at practice, Bednar’s only update was that he’s “cautiously optimistic” Helm will play again this season. Helm was an important fourth-line piece for Colorado last year, recording five points in 20 games en route to the Cup.
Defenseman Josh Manson is still dealing with a reaggravated lower-body injury that kept him out for 31 games earlier in the year, but Bednar sees his return is on the horizon. He remains hopeful Manson will return by the end of the month, giving him a chance to get his feet back under him before the playoffs start. An important defensive presence for Colorado, Manson has played just 27 games during the first season of a four-year, $4.5MM average annual value contract.
On a less positive note, backup goalie Pavel Francouz is recovering slower than expected from a lower-body injury that’s kept him out since mid-February. Francouz has now passed the expected recovery timeline of three weeks, but Bednar is hopeful he will return before the end of the season. Colorado has rotated backups in his place, recalling Keith Kinkaid, Jonas Johansson, and Justus Annunen at times.
Gustav Rydahl Expected To Return To SHL
After slowly developing into a star overseas, Gustav Rydahl drew the attention of NHL scouts, and earned a contract with the New York Rangers last spring. The signing was buried in the headlines of the Rangers first-round win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, meaning some fans may not have even noticed his acquisition.
Less than a year later, Rydahl was shipped off at the trade deadline. The 28-year-old forward was sent to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Anton Blidh in one of the day’s more minor moves. He never played a game for the Rangers, and it appears his North American career could be over in the blink of an eye.
Reports out of Sweden indicate that Rydahl will return to the SHL next season, leaving any dreams of an NHL career behind. He won’t be returning to Farjestads, though. Instead, the big center will jump ship and play for rival Frolunda on a long-term contract.
It hasn’t gone according to plan for Rydahl in North America. Through 41 games in the AHL—all but one coming with the Hartford Wolf Pack—he has just seven goals and 15 points. While those numbers would likely increase with more experience here, the 2022 Olympian is expected to return home. A long-term deal with Frolunda at his age would suggest another stint in North America is out of the question.
Minor Transactions: 03/06/23
As the NHL looks forward to the playoffs, transactions are still happening across the league and internationally as well. Here are some of the minor transactions and news pieces so far today.
- The Colorado Avalanche has announced that goaltender Jonas Johansson has been recalled from the AHL affiliate Colorado Eagles. On the heels of incredibly shaky starts from Justus Annunen and Alexandar Georgiev, the Avalanche will now employ a different option in the net. Recent acquisition Keith Kinkaid was sent down earlier this morning after coming in as backup during the blowout game against the Dallas Stars Saturday night. The Avalanche will enter play tomorrow night against the San Jose Sharks as they look to stop their three-game losing streak.
- Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic reports that defensemen Nick Jensen and Martin Fehervary were seen in non-contact jerseys during this morning’s practice. Neither of the two has played since the Capitals’ game against the Anaheim Ducks last Wednesday. Jensen recently signed a 3-year, $12.15MM contract extension with the Capitals; coupled with the deal sending Dmitry Orlov to the Boston Bruins, Jensen figures to be an important part of Washington’s blue line moving forward.
- Outside of the NHL, veteran forward Patrik Lundh is in agreement on a 1-year extension with Färjestad BK of the Swedish Hockey League. Now in his second tenure with the Swedish club, Lundh has previously played in several of Europe’s most popular hockey leagues. After spending time in both the Kontinental Hockey League and the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, Lundh made the switch back to the SHL last season.