Nathan MacKinnon Is Out at Least a Month and Cale Makar About Two Weeks: What It Means for the Avalanche
Jared Bednar stood in Montreal on Saturday morning and took the Avalanche’s season apart in two sentences. Nathan MacKinnon is out at least a month with a lower-body injury. Cale Makar is out roughly two weeks with a lower-body soft-tissue injury.
Both got hurt within about a minute of each other in the second period of Thursday’s 4-3 overtime loss at Ottawa. Neither played the third.
How It Happened
Makar went down first, on a non-contact play while stopping in Colorado’s offensive zone. He took a four-second shift at 10:44 of the second period, came back for a 23-second shift, and was finished for the night. He had also left practice early on Nov. 8, which the team treated as precautionary at the time.
“He’s got a soft tissue injury, lower-body that he’s got to deal with,” Bednar said. “He’s kind of been playing through it a little bit here, and it just kind of started gradually getting worse.”
MacKinnon was hurt attempting a hit on Senators defenseman Artem Zub with 8:15 left in the period. He went down grabbing his right side near the hip and limped off the ice. Accounts of the contact differ across outlets, no penalty was called on the play, and no supplemental discipline has been reported.
What Colorado Is Losing
MacKinnon, 31, had 30 points in 20 games and sat fifth in the NHL in scoring going into Saturday. Last season he put up 127 points with 53 goals, won the Rocket Richard Trophy, and was a Hart Trophy finalist. He has missed five regular-season games over the last three seasons, two of them maintenance days.
Makar had 23 points in 19 games, tied for third among NHL defensemen, while averaging 22:25 a night. He has won the Norris Trophy twice and been a finalist in each of the last six seasons.
They are both on the top power-play unit, which has scored 10 goals in its last 10 games. Artturi Lehkonen framed it the right way. “I’m sure it’s going to be a big challenge, a big test for our group,” he said. “Missing two of the best players in the world, you can’t really replace that.”
The Standings Do Not Wait
Colorado is 11-6-3 with 25 points, third in the Central behind Minnesota and Nashville, with Dallas, Utah, Winnipeg and St. Louis all within five points. Defenseman Josh Manson is already on long-term injured reserve with an ankle injury.
Makar’s two weeks covers roughly six games through Nov. 28, helped by a five-day gap in the schedule from Nov. 20 to 24. MacKinnon’s month spans about 13 games, which points to a mid-December return at the earliest. Colorado has not announced a return date for either player. Both are expected to be placed on injured reserve in the coming days, and MacKinnon’s timeline makes him eligible for long-term injured reserve if the Avalanche need the cap space.
Who Fills In
Rookie defenseman Alex Gagne makes his NHL debut against Montreal in Makar’s spot. Forward Gavin Brindley was recalled from the AHL for MacKinnon’s. Devon Toews and Sam Malinski take over top-pair duties. Per Corey Masisak of the Denver Post, Brock Nelson moves up to the top line and Nazem Kadri centers another.
Martin Necas, who has 24 points and is the only other Avalanche player above 20, was not interested in excuses. “It’s a big task, but we are all excited for it,” he said. “We still have good enough players that we can kind of figure (it) out.”
The Part Nobody in Denver Wants to Say
Colorado won the Presidents’ Trophy last season with 121 points, then got swept out of the Western Conference Final by Vegas with both of these players banged up. Bednar knows exactly what the two of them absorb every night. “When I think about those two guys, it’s like every matchup, they take it on,” he said.
Asked what hurts most, Bednar went to the obvious place: “Probably the most important is the 5-on-5 offense that they create.”
Which makes the next month about banking standings points while they are gone, so April does not again depend on two stars limping into the playoffs.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
