Colorado Avalanche
Jonathan Drouin is day to day with an upper-body injury and will miss at least the next two games for the Avalanche.
The forward was injured in an 8-4 loss at the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday. He finished the game minus-1 in 21:25 of ice time.
“He won’t play tomorrow (Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets) [or] Monday (New York Islanders), for sure,” coach Jared Bednar said, “and then he’ll keep getting reevaluated and see where it goes.”
Drouin finished fourth on the Avalanche with a career-high 56 points (19 goals, 37 assists) in 79 regular-season games last season and signed a one-year contract on July 1.
“Every guy that’s missing makes the job more difficult, but it forces our team to dig in on the details and the commitment side of the game right away,” Bednar said. “We said it going in, we have to expect that everyone that’s in our lineup has to be on top of their game, not just be in a role but thrive in that role in order to have success. So that’s a little bit of pressure right out of the gate.”
Nikolai Kovalenko could take his spot on the top line alongside Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen.
Bednar said he will contemplate either recalling a forward from Colorado of the American Hockey League or utilizing a lineup of 11 forwards and seven defensemen when the Avalanche host the Blue Jackets on Saturday (9 p.m. ET; ALT, BSOH). The team currently has eight defensemen rostered, with Oliver Kylington and John Ludvig available to play.
The Avalanche claimed goalie Kaapo Kahkonen off waivers from the Winnipeg Jets on Friday.
The 28-year-old was 7-24-3 with a 3.64 goals-against average and .898 save percentage in 37 games (33 starts) with the San Jose Sharks and New Jersey Devils last season.
“He’s played well in places before, and he’s free and we’ve got room,” Bednar said. “So if we can push our goalies, like we don’t know how it’s going to play out, right? So we’ve seen better from our goalies than we’ve seen here recently, and if they can elevate their game, great. And if Kahkonen can come in and play well, great.”