As one Avalanche defenseman nears a return, another takes his place on the team’s long list of injuries.
Josh Manson (lower body) is considered unlikely to play Tuesday (7 p.m. MT) when the Avs host the Lightning, but he skated in a regular jersey and was a full participant in practice Monday, signaling his health after missing the last 30 games. Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said Manson is “close” to game-ready. The top-four blueliner sustained the injury during Colorado’s Dec. 1 win in Buffalo and returned solo to Denver with two games remaining on the road trip.
But in the meantime, fellow defenseman Erik Johnson and goalie Pavel Francouz are both out with new lower-body injuries of their own. Neither has a clear timeline at this point, and Johnson is still being evaluated. He exited in the first period of Colorado’s win at Florida on Saturday, nursing his leg, and did not return.
That means with Cale Makar (head) still practicing in a no-contact jersey, Bednar anticipates making multiple call-ups for the upcoming rematch vs. Tampa, which crushed Colorado 5-0 last Thursday. Third-string goalie Jonas Johansson has joined the team for practice from the AHL.
“I was hoping that (the injury bug) was probably going to be passed by now, or that we had worked through it,” Bednar said after speeding through the list of non-timelines — once again a roll call long enough that he forgot to include Makar at first. “I didn’t get that far,” he joked.
The circumstances continue to be exasperating enough that all Bednar could do was laugh Monday while evaluating his team. The Avs (28-19-4) are third in the Central by point percentage, but their 60 points are tied with Minnesota and Calgary, the other two teams battling for the last wild card spot, according to the current standings.
Upcoming is an odd stretch of schedule in which six consecutive games are part of back-to-backs — and all three back-to-backs require travel between the games. There will be crucial matchups against Minnesota and Calgary, both 24 hours after another game.
At one point this season, Bednar stressed the need to avoid a “just get in” mentality. He struck a different tone this time when asked if he’s at the point where home-ice advantage doesn’t matter to him as long as Colorado is one of the eight playoff teams.
“Oh yeah, I think (I am at that point). I think the most important thing is getting in,” he said. “And then getting in healthy with a team you feel can compete for the Cup. It’s all speculation at this point, because we haven’t seen our team.”
As of Feb. 10 — before Johnson and Francouz joined the pile — the Avalanche had 286 man games lost to injury, according to NHL Injury Viz. That was the third-most in the NHL. The combined average ice time of Colorado’s injured players was 92:53, the fifth-highest total in the league.
“It’s a big difference. Health is a big factor in having success,” Bednar said. “I think I saw something the other day — the No. 1 team in our division is Dallas. And they have, I think it was 13 man games lost? I mean …,” he laughed again. “They’ve had three guys get hurt. I think it was for eight games, three games and two games. We’re going to have more than that this week.”
Bednar’s memory was off a bit, but the point stands. The Stars (30-14-10) are listed at 22 man games lost, making them the healthiest team in the NHL by a 10-game margin.
The Avs have managed a 2-0-0 record against Dallas and a 9-4-1 mark vs. the Central despite the health discrepancy. The looming six-game stretch also happens to feature three more clashes with division opponents.
It’s a mystery even to the Avalanche what the roster will look like for those games.
“I like our team, on paper,” Bednar said. “If we can ever get it together.”
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