When the Colorado Avalanche shifted to special teams during practice Monday, the 10 guys who Jared Bednar would most like to use on the power play were on the ice.
Those 10 guys will comprise the first and second power-play units Tuesday night against the league-leading Winnipeg Jets. On Dec. 31, in game No. 38, those 10 players will dress together for the first time this season.
Jonathan Drouin, who has played in five games this season, practiced with the team and is slated to return against the Jets.
“He adds a lot, especially to our power play,” Avs center Nathan MacKinnon said. “More of a guy who can make plays from every position. He can play all five positions, and I think it’s important to have a guy like that, especially in the middle. He’ll bring a lot of speed and dynamic play to his line, too. He’s just a good player.”
Captain Gabe Landeskog, who hasn’t played since 2022, is not counted in this exercise. But the Avs are nearly whole.
They are still missing Landeskog, Miles Wood, Oliver Kylington and Ivan Ivan, who joined the injured list after missing practice Monday with an upper-body injury.
But this will be the first game that Drouin, Valeri Nichushkin, Artturi Lehkonen and Ross Colton play together all season. Drouin sustained an injury in the season-opening loss at Vegas, then played four times in mid-November before going back on IR.
“Yeah, it’s been a long year,” Drouin said. “I got to play a couple of games, then get re-injured, the same kind of thing happened. Had to kind of renew the whole process of rehab and getting treatment.”
Drouin confirmed that he was healthy and felt good when he returned the first time, but a hit in the same place knocked him out again.
“Very similar,” Drouin said. “Very close to the same one I had to start the year. Nothing you can really do about it. It kind of sucks, just to kind of do it all over again times two, but it’s stuff you have to deal with.”
Drouin will slot into the bumper spot on the top power-play unit, with Nichushkin at the net front and the club’s three superstars on the perimeter. That was the PP1 unit that had the most success last season but hasn’t had a lot of time together this year.
Bednar also put Drouin on the second line for practice, even when he had the option to ease him back after missing 16 contests. He’ll play next to Colton, who slides over to center, and Mikko Rantanen.
“We need to get something out of that line,” Bednar said. “They’ve been just OK, but with the caliber of players that we have on that line now, especially Mikko and now (Drouin) coming back in, we’ve got to get some production out of those guys as well. I think that can make our job a lot easier, especially the way the (Parker) Kelly line is playing and the McKinnon line is playing. And I don’t mind the mix on the other line, either — should have lots of talent to play against bottom-six guys.”
That means the odd man out is Casey Mittelstadt. He will start against the Jets on the fourth line, centering Jere Innala and newcomer Juuso Parssinen.
Mittelstadt has been mired in a funk lately, with no goals and five points in his past 18 games. Bednar, and Mittelstadt, have both expressed faith in the center’s ability to work his way out of the slump, but he’s not going to get the benefit of playing with two of the club’s best wings, at least not to start on Tuesday.
“(Assistant coach Ray Bennett) met with him this morning about his game,” Bednar said. “He’s a project for us right now. You can see what happens when a player loses confidence. I think a lot of it’s mental, but there’s work involved from the player too. It’s not one-sided. I can’t fix Casey. I can help try and fix his game and get it to where I want it to go, but a lot of the responsibility has got to fall on the player.
“He’s clear on it, and he’s going to work his way through it.”
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