Nathan MacKinnon Leaves Colorado Avalanche Loss With Injury
Dec 6: Though MacKinnon is still being evaluated, head coach Jared Bednar said that he is “going to miss some time” on Altitude radio this morning.
Dec 5: Bad is quickly turning to worse for the Colorado Avalanche in terms of injuries. Superstar center Nathan MacKinnon left the first period of the team’s Monday loss to the Philadelphia Flyers with an upper-body injury and did not return.
MacKinnon has been the glue holding this battered team together, notching 33 points in 22 games and averaging nearly 23 minutes per game. There are now eight Avalanche regulars as well as a number of fringe/depth players on the injured list, including MacKinnon.
Things were already bad enough for the Avalanche tonight, who were forced to ice players like Charles Hudon in top-six roles. It’s a stark reminder of the physical toll a long playoff run can take on a team, as they now have just five healthy forwards left who were full-time players on their Stanley Cup run last year.
Now, all eyes turn to Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar to keep the Avs afloat, as well as Alexandar Georgiev and his .922 save percentage.
Alex Galchenyuk, Jayson Megna Placed On Waivers
The Colorado Avalanche have placed both Alex Galchenyuk and Jayson Megna on waivers, giving them some extra roster flexibility as they continue to deal with injuries. Galchenyuk needed to clear after signing a contract recently, and Megna had exhausted the exempt status he gained from clearing in October.
Colorado also moved Bowen Byram to injured reserve today, giving them room to recall Charles Hudon. Byram’s placement is retroactive and he has not suffered a setback, meaning he still should be back relatively soon.
The problem, though, is that both Artturi Lehkonen and Jean-Luc Foudy are dealing with injuries and are listed as day-to-day. The team has ten different players dealing with one ailment or another, and need some flexibility to be able to put together a cohesive lineup. For instance, the group has just six defensemen on the roster at the moment, but 15 forwards due to so many minor injuries up front. Waiving Galchenyuk and Megna will allow them to rebalance, if necessary.
It seems unlikely that either player will be claimed, given their lack of production. Neither one has scored an NHL point this season.
Colorado Avalanche Recall Charles Hudon
The Colorado Avalanche have recalled forward Charles Hudon, the team announced. No other corresponding move was made, though it does come on the heels of forward Artturi Lehkonen‘s injury that forced him to leave last night’s game. While there was no other move announced, this would seem to bring their roster over the 23-man limit, meaning that another transaction could come shortly. After placing defenseman Josh Manson on IR yesterday, the team had recalled defenseman Andreas Englund on an emergency basis.
Following a run to the Stanley Cup last season, Colorado’s injury woes have been a well-documented story so far in this young campaign, which seems to be compounded each day. At the very least, Hudon is no stranger to the NHL and should slot in nicely as a veteran presence, even if he can’t replace one of the several top-six forwards the team has lost.
The 28-year-old Hudon is a former Montreal Canadiens draft pick and veteran of 125 NHL games, all with Montreal, though none since 2019-20. His best season came back in 2017-18, where the forward scored 10 goals to go with 20 assists in 72 games. The Quebec native was off to a strong start to this season with the Colorado Eagles, the Avalanche’s AHL affiliate, with 16 points in 20 games. Given all of their injuries, especially up front, the Avalanche will need Hudon to bring some of that magic up with him to help keep the team in the hunt.
Artturi Lehkonen Leaves Game With Injury
- The Colorado Avalanche have had to weather more than their fair share of injuries this year and much to their credit, the reigning Cup champions have been able to keep themselves in playoff position despite the injuries. However, the team was dealt another tough blow during tonight’s contest against the Boston Bruins with winger Artturi Lehkonen leaving the game with an undisclosed injury, says Colorado Hockey Now’s Adrian Dater. Acquired at last season’s trade deadline, Lehkonen has fit in well during his time in Colorado and is currently enjoying a phenomenal breakout season, tallying seven goals to go with 11 assists in 21 games coming into tonight.
Postponed Game Against Predators Rescheduled To April 14th
- Last month, the Predators had a pair of their games postponed due to a water main break in their arena. Today, the league announced the makeup dates for those contests. Nashville will host the Blue Jackets on January 17th while they will host the Avalanche on April 14th, one day after the regular season is set to conclude.
Colorado Places Josh Manson On IR
The injury list continues to grow for the Avalanche as the team confirmed to Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (Twitter link) that defenseman Josh Manson has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to Thursday. He has left the team to be re-evaluated and is listed as week-to-week.
The 31-year-old is in his first full year with the Avs after being acquired in a trade near the deadline from Anaheim last season. After being a top-four defender with Anaheim, Colorado has opted to use Manson in a bit of a lower role so far as he’s logging just shy of 17 minutes per game (a career low) through his first 21 contests. Despite that, he has chipped in with six points while averaging more than two hits per contest.
Andreas Englund, who was recalled from AHL Colorado yesterday, is taking Manson’s spot on the active roster.
The defending Stanley Cup champions have been hit hard by the injury bug this season. Gabriel Landeskog and Darren Helm are on LTIR while Valeri Nichushkin, Kurtis MacDermid, and Shane Bowers will join Manson on injured reserve. Meanwhile, Evan Rodrigues and Bowen Byram are also currently injured but remain on Colorado’s active roster. In spite of all the injuries, the Avalanche enter tonight’s game against Boston with 27 points in 21 games, good enough to place them third in the Central Division.
Colorado Avalanche Recall Andreas Englund
The Colorado Avalanche have recalled defenseman Andreas Englund from their AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles. The news was first reported by Colorado Hockey Now’s Adrian Dater.
The recall comes after blueliner Josh Manson missed the third period of yesterday’s game with an undisclosed injury.
The 26-year-old Englund has played in four NHL games for Colorado this season and has played in 37 total NHL games in his career. Englund, a former Ottawa Senator, has spent most of this year so far with AHL Colorado. There, he has three points and 47 penalty minutes in 15 games.
Englund is a 2014 second-round pick who has settled into a role as a minutes-eating, physical AHL defenseman who sits closer to the top of his team’s list in terms of first call-ups in the case of injury trouble.
After not playing at all during the 2020-21 season, Englund re-established himself in North America after being non-tendered by the Senators thanks to his performance with the Eagles.
He earned a one-year two-way NHL contract this past summer and will look to provide the Avalanche with steady play as they await additional news on Manson’s status.
Colorado Avalanche Recall Jean-Luc Foudy
The Colorado Avalanche continue to make changes to their group, this time recalling prospect Jean-Luc Foudy. The young forward will be joining the team on a regular for the first time in his career; his only other NHL experience was as a Black Ace last spring during Colorado’s playoff run.
There is real excitement about the 2020 third-round pic, who has five goals and 14 points in 18 games with the Colorado Eagles, especially because of the way he has been able to develop the last few years. Normally (as new Seattle Kraken fans are learning), a player selected out of the CHL is not able to be assigned for an extended period of time to the AHL until they are 20 years old. It is either the NHL or back to junior, a difficult decision for some that have shown an ability to dominate their peers through a specific skill.
Some hockey minds wonder whether it is good for their development at all, to continue playing at a level that doesn’t challenge them to find other ways to compete. Foudy was potentially going to be one of these players, given the elite speed and athleticism that he possesses. He had been an offensive force from the moment he entered the OHL, scoring 49 points as a rookie.
Because of the way COVID-19 restrictions played out, however, Foudy never played a game in junior after he was drafted. The 2020-21 OHL season was canceled, leaving players eligible to suit up in other leagues. The Avalanche sent their young forward to the AHL, where he played 34 games for the Colorado Eagles. Overmatched as an 18-year-old for much of the season, he would score just three goals, 14 points, and finished with a -17 rating.
In 2021-22 he still wouldn’t have qualified for AHL play, but a one-time exemption was made for players who suited up at least 20 times in the previous COVID-affected season. Since Foudy had played 34 games for Colorado, he was allowed to spend last year with the Eagles as well. While things still started out difficult, by the end of the season he had learned how to play at that level, and was a strong performer in the playoffs, scoring four goals and seven points in nine games.
It was no surprise that he came back this year even better, and has now earned a call-up to the big squad. As one of the first players with a development path like this, Foudy will be an interesting case to watch in the coming years.
Colorado Avalanche Sign Alex Galchenyuk
After a training camp tryout and an AHL PTO, Alex Galchenyuk has secured another NHL deal. The Colorado Avalanche have signed the veteran forward to a one-year contract for the rest of this season. According to Chris Johnston of NorthStar Bets, the deal is worth a pro-rated $750K, the league minimum. If the team wants him to continue in the minor leagues, he would have to clear waivers.
This may well have come a few months earlier had Galchenyuk not suffered an injury in camp that ended any chance of him starting the year with Colorado. At the time of his injury, head coach Jared Bednar had explained that the team would reconsider a deal when the injury was dealt with. Earlier this month, that resulted in an AHL tryout with the Colorado Eagles, where Galchenyuk managed seven points in seven games.
The 28-year-old forward has had a fascinating career thus far, one which includes a 30-goal season and seven different NHL stops. The third-overall pick from 2012 has the obvious skill required to compete at the NHL level and over the years developed a strong work ethic, but his game is still rife with inconsistency. He will look like a difference-making player for three shifts in a row, and then be completely out of position on the next.
Still, over the last few years, Colorado has built up a reputation for finding the perfect fit for players who may have been cast off from other organizations. Valeri Nichushkin may be the best example – the big Russian was once bought out by the Dallas Stars after going an entire season without scoring a goal, only to develop into an elite two-way winger for the Avalanche. Players like Ryan Graves, Jacob MacDonald, Kurtis MacDermid, and Jack Johnson have all found fits with the Avalanche after other teams moved on, learning how to play a specific role.
If Colorado can do the same with Galchenyuk, there is at least enough history to suggest that he can become a valuable piece this season. Given how their forward depth has been tested with injury so far, there will certainly be an opportunity for him to prove he still belongs. There is probably no better chance coming for Galchenyuk, so he’ll have to make the most of this one.
Evan Rodrigues Listed As Week To Week
- Avalanche forward Evan Rodrigues is officially listed as week to week but is expected to miss two to four weeks due to the lower-body injury sustained on Wednesday against Vancouver, relays Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (Twitter link). The timeline won’t allow Colorado to transfer him onto LTIR to add to their pool unless the team learns that he will be out for the longer end of that timeline. Rodrigues has been a useful addition this season as he has notched six goals and three assists through his first 18 games while spending some time both on the wing and down the middle.