The Avalanche were missing $27.375 million from their lineup in Wednesday’s 5-3 loss to the Boston Bruins and a lot of those guys aren’t nearing a return anytime soon. Against Boston, Colorado also lost Miles Wood ($2.5 million) to an injury. According to Jared Bednar, he could be an option for Friday, which means that even if he misses that game against the Anaheim Ducks, his injury isn’t as serious as it originally looked. But if he doesn’t play, it’ll be nearly $30 million or 34% of their salary cap in valuable players missing from the lineup.
Colorado needs something to change. At some point, it’ll be far too late to take the positives from a loss. Usually for a team with hopes of contending for the Stanley Cup, that time comes late in the regular season or when the playoffs begin. But it might come sooner for this year’s Avalanche.
Is help on the way?
“Certainly not. Not with 26 or 27 million dollars of cap space that’s committed right now to players that aren’t eligible to play,” TSN’s Chris Johnston said on the Insider Trading segment on Thursday. “That’s really given way to a feeling around the team that there’s not a magic bullet solution here. They’re going to try to ride this through until some of the cavalry can return from the injured list.”
The one move the Avs have made and hope to have at their disposal in the coming days is the waiver claim acquisition of goaltender Kappo Kahkonen. Colorado picked him up from the Winnipeg Jets a week ago but the 27-year-old Finnish native has been dealing with visa issues and has not yet arrived in Denver.
“We got some good news on his immigration,” head coach Jared Bednar said following Thursday’s practice. “He still has a trip to the embassy that he has to do and then hopefully he’ll be headed this way.”
Johnston also touched on the part of all this that has been a conversation around the Avs since training camp opened. It’s not just that they’re missing big pieces, it’s that they don’t really know how some of these guys’ situations are going to play out. Especially for the captain.
“What makes it so difficult for the Avalanche is the uncertainty. They don’t know what Gabriel Landeskog will be when he returns,” Johnston said. “He’s missed so much time after that knee cartilage procedure that he had and it’s still not clear when he’ll be able to return and what he’ll look like.
“Similar for Valeri Nichushkin who’s in the NHL Player Assistance Program. So those are significant pieces that the Avalanche just don’t know what they’re going to be. It was going to be a difficult year in Colorado and it’s off to a tough start now.”
I personally don’t believe that Nichushkin is going to struggle when he returns. Off the ice, he’s had several problems over the past couple of years that are well-documented. But in the midst of all of that, his on-ice performance has only gotten better. Last year Nichushkin was one of the NHL’s best defensive forwards while also producing at a 43-goal, 81-point pace. After his stint in the assistance program in January, Nichushkin came back to score nine goals in just eight playoff games — finishing sixth in the NHL in postseason goals despite playing a third of the games of the other players around him. The goal is to keep him around long enough to have an impact, which is a separate conversation.
But this much we do know: Devon Toews is not going to play on Friday. He makes $7.25 million and is Colorado’s second-best defenseman behind Cale Makar. Jonathan Drouin, who makes $2.5 million, was signed to a bargain deal to play with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. He will not play Friday and is “going to miss some time” according to Bednar. Lehkonen, who makes $4.5 million and would slot in nicely with Casey Mittelstadt or MacKinnon, is also out Friday and for at least another two weeks. Landeskog has not yet started skating, and of course, Nichushkin isn’t available until at least Nov. 13 when he is eligible to be reinstated.
Johnston is right. With limited cap space and assets, the Avs probably don’t have any help coming from outside the organization. It’s up to the guys on the ice to figure things out and weather the storm for another month with hopes of getting most of these guys back by then. And on top of that, not suffering other injuries.
Regardless, the season is still saveable. Four games isn’t a reason to panic, but we’re getting there pretty quickly. Especially if they’re unable to beat the Anaheim Ducks on Friday.
