Just when it seemed like the Colorado Avalanche’s injury situation couldn’t get worse, it did.
Jared Bednar said Wednesday morning that Ross Colton will miss six-to-eight weeks with a broken foot after leaving the Avalanche game early Monday night. The coach also said Miles Wood is likely out 7-10 days with an upper-body injury that he’s been trying to play through but no longer can.
This means the Avs will play Wednesday night against the Tampa Bay Lighting without six of the club’s top-10 forwards, more than $26 million worth of players.
“I feel like we’ve been through it a lot,” Bednar said. “Every year, we seem to go through a stretch where we’re scrapping to get a lineup of 20. What makes this one unique is it’s kind of right out of the gate.
“What we’re discussing is just control what you can control. I don’t have control over the injuries or who is in our room at any given time. My focus is on coaching the players that are able to play for us, and the players’ focus has to be on doing their job to the best of their abilities.”
Those two join Valeri Nichushkin (suspension), Artturi Lehkonen (shoulder), Jonathan Drouin (upper body) and Gabriel Landeskog (knee) on the unavailable list. Colorado recalled T.J. Tynan from the Eagles and will also play extra defenseman Oliver Kylington at forward to fill in the holes.
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The Avs will play with the Lightning with a pair of rookies in the top six (Nikolai Kovalenko and Ivan Ivan), plus three guys who have played in the AHL this season and a defenseman in the bottom six.
Lehkonen did see the doctors for his five-month check-up after offseason shoulder surgery, but Bednar didn’t have a timeline for when he can return. The coach did say Lehkonen will likely need to see some contact in practice before rejoining the lineup.
This game will also be goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen’s Avalanche debut. Claimed off waivers from Winnipeg, Kahkonen spent about a week dealing with immigration issues, then played two games for the Eagles on a conditioning stint.
Colorado has the second-worst save percentage (.878) in the NHL after 10 games. Alexandar Georgiev is 1-4 with an .822 save percentage in six starts, while Justus Annunen is 4-1 with a .905 save percentage in four starts and two relief appearances.
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