General manager Chris MacFarland acknowledged the uncertainty surrounding his team as it prepares to open the 2024-25 season Wednesday night in Las Vegas.
He also made it clear the expectations for the Colorado Avalanche have not changed.
“At the end of the day, it’s hockey,” he said during a news conference Tuesday at Family Sports Center. “This group has done a hell of a lot of winning over the last number of years. Three straight years of 50 wins — that’s a lot of winning. That’s hard.
“Is there certain challenges? Yeah, obviously. Is the first month going to be a challenge? Yeah, it is. But we’ve got faith in those guys. We’ve still got a lot of good players in there that believe in themselves and they know how to win and how to fight through adversity.
“I don’t want us to wait for the cavalry. I want us to be ready to go day one with the guys we have and our expectation is to be able to collect points this first month.”
The “cavalry” is a trio of high-end forwards who will not be available when the Avs face the Vegas Golden Knights to kick off the season — or for at least the rest of October. MacFarland spoke about all three — Valeri Nichushkin, Gabe Landeskog and Artturi Lehkonen during — his nearly 20-minute long news conference.
There were several questions about Nichushkin, who remains suspended through at least mid-November while he is in Stage 3 of the NHL-NHLPA Player Assistance Program. MacFarland spoke at length about the Russian star, who has left the team during each of the past two postseasons.
The Avs GM said that reports from the program have been nothing but positive. He expected Nichushkin to return to Denver sometime later this month. What he’ll be able to do once he’s here, whether it’s working out at the team facilities, skating, etc., while he’s still suspended, is something the organization is still working through with the league.
MacFarland would not comment on the series of videos that were publish by a Russian journalist over the summer, including a part where Nichushkin said he would have been able to return in the second round of the 2023 playoffs. The team also declined comment on that video shortly after it was released.
He did confirm that Nichushkin has been in the player assistance program three times since joining the Avalanche in 2019, and that he visited with Nichushkin while he was in the program for Stage 1 and Stage 2. MacFarland did not visit him this summer while he was in Stage 3.
“When I’ve communicated with the doctors, they always get back to me. They’re happy with where he’s at,” MacFarland said. “Of course, they’ve been happy with where he’s at the previous two times as well.
“We’re told he’s very happy with the program, both the player and the league doctors, so fingers crossed.”
Avs players reiterated a similar sentiment from the start of last season about Nichushkin at media day this year — that they will welcome him back with open arms. MacFarland also offered his perspective on Nichushkin’s pending return.
“I’m satisfied. I’ve talked with Val. This is just me – the players are the players. Their family dynamic is their family dynamic. I think every single person in that locker room, whether it’s players, coaching staff, trainers, equipment, ownership, Joe, all of us … it sounds like a broken record, but we want Val healthy. That’s first and foremost is to be a functional human being,” MacFarland said.
“I think the players, all they want to know is that Val is healthy and that he understands the hurt that they went through, especially at playoff time. I think how they do that is something I’m certainly not going to comment on. I think that’s personal in the room, but I can tell you this: There’s not one single player that’s not going to welcome back Val with open arms.”
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MacFarland also confirmed what coach Jared Bednar said Monday about Lehkonen, who is skating with the team while recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. He has a five-month checkup at the end of this month, and then a timeline for a return will come from that.
He also addressed contract negotiations with Mikko Rantanen, who would be an unrestricted free agent in July if the two sides don’t agree on a new deal. The GM said he has no concerns with the process continuing into the regular season.
Lehkonen should be the first of the three missing players back. Nichushkin could be second, but Landeskog remains the wild card as he tries to come back from knee cartilage replacement surgery.
“Rehab. I know that sounds glib, but that’s the truth,” MacFarland said of his team’s captain. “He’s in the gym right now as we speak, grinding, and that’s really all I know. This is not do X, Y and Z, and you’re back in four weeks, six weeks, six months, shoulder surgery. This is as far from that as you can get. Everything is going well, but we’ve still we still got some work to do.”
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