Well, it was a nice run while it lasted.
The Avalanche had a brief peek at what the top of its lineup could be this season, but an integral player is back in injury purgatory with Jonathan Drouin “week-to-week” with an upper-body injury after missing the club’s game Monday night in Tampa.
Colorado has played just four games with its top-six forwards since the end of the 2023-24 regular season, and that excludes captain Gabe Landeskog, who was very much a top-six guy when last healthy during the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“It’s not ideal,” Avs forward Mikko Rantanen said. “Would be better if we had it for 30 games straight, at least. But that’s not how it goes sometimes. Unfortunate things happen.
“We’ll try to battle without (Drouin). He’s a good player, but we’ve been in this situation before so it’s nothing new to us.”
Drouin was injured during the season-opening game in Las Vegas. He missed 16 games with an upper-body injury, returned for four games and is out again. Avs coach Jared Bednar confirmed his absence is “part of what he was dealing with before.”
When Drouin returned, the Avs also added Valeri Nichushkin back from suspension, so the top-six forwards were all healthy. The Avs went 3-1 in those four games, including a 7-4 win in South Florida against the defending champions. That game looked like a clear reminder of how dangerous the Avalanche can be when healthy.
But, the last two words of that previous sentence are doing a lot of work in recent seasons.
“I think you’ve got to take care of that personally,” Bednar said when asked about the emotional toll of another key injury. “We can help and have a quick conversation about it, but if you’re worried about the guys that are going out of the lineup, then your focus isn’t in the right place. You’ve got to be dialed in on what you need to do, and what your line needs to do.
“If we’re constantly concerned about who is going to be in and out of the lineup, it’s going to be a long year.”
There was some good news on the injury front Wednesday, ahead of the Avs’ game against Vegas at Ball Arena. Ross Colton, who had been an excellent fill-in as a top-six forward with eight goals in 10 games, skated before the team’s morning workout.
Colton has not played since Oct. 28 because of a broken foot. He’s expected to miss 6-8 weeks, so he remains on schedule. Whether or not he’ll play wing or go back to being the No. 3 center when he returns could depend on how soon Drouin can return, and if there are other injuries.
“I think every experience you have, when the next one comes it is easier to adapt,” Rantanen said. “For us, since I’ve been the whole time here for 9, 10 years, I don’t know what’s going on but it’s crazy with the injuries. We lose guys. I don’t know if it is bad luck. Hopefully, we …read more
Source:: The Denver Post – Sports
