By almost all measures, the Colorado Avalanche are enjoying another successful season through 20-odd games in the 2023-24 campaign.
The team owns a record of 15-7-2, good for 32 points and a one-point lead atop the Central Division, though the Dallas Stars have a game in hand. The Avalanche are tied for second in the Western Conference in regulation (14) and tied for third in regulation-plus-overtime (14) wins while sporting a plus-16 goal differential (seventh in the NHL).
Colorado’s start to the current season bears some resemblance to that of their recent Stanley Cup-winning campaign in 2021-22; if that can be seen as a good omen.
When it comes to their playoff odds, MoneyPuck gives the Avalanche the fourth-highest likelihood of qualifying for the postseason (96.9%), the third-highest to advance to the second (57.5%) and third (31.2%) round, and the second-highest to both make (18%) and win the Stanley Cup Final (10.9%). Only the Stars have a higher chance of winning the Cup than the Avalanche, so they’re in good company.
Despite all of the goodwill the team has built up through the start of December, there is one other unsettling trend that might seem all too familiar to the Avalanche brass: injuries to key players, and significant ones at that. If the Avalanche’s current core is hoping to add a second Stanley Cup to its trophy cabinet, overcoming health concerns will once again be a major roadblock. Let’s dive in.
2022-23 Avalanche Season Defined By Injuries
If you were to look at the Avalanche’s injury report from last season, you’d be amazed that the team managed to even qualify for the playoffs, let alone win the Central Division crown by a single point over the Stars.
According to NHL Injury Viz, the Avalanche ranked fifth in the NHL in cumulative Cap Hit of Injured Players (CHIP), with the team’s star players bearing the brunt of the injury load.
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Captain Gabriel Landeskog has been on a lengthy road to recovery since leading the Avalanche to the third Stanley Cup in franchise history, an arduous trek started by suffering an injury earlier that same season. Though there have been positive developments in his recovery timeline, Landeskog is not expected to play this season.
The possibility is there for the Avalanche to have played nearly 200 combined regular-season and playoff games before he returns (if ever), illustrating just how long this group has been without his steadying presence.
The Avalanche’s blueline superstar Cale Makar finished the season with 60 games to his name due to injury but managed to tally 66 points nonetheless.
Among the other key regulars, Josh Manson (55 games missed), Bowen Byram (40), Valeri Nichushkin (29), Artturi Lehkonen (18), Evan Rodrigues (13), and Nathan MacKinnon (11) all missed 10 or more games.
The only position on the roster which escaped unscathed was the goaltending, where Alexandar Georgiev made 62 starts in the crease in his debut season for the Avalanche (third in the league).
Despite winning the division and finishing third in the West, the inconsistent lineups and the resulting lack of chemistry was partly the Avalanche’s downfall in their first-round loss to the Seattle Kraken, among a number of other factors.
Avalanche’s Injury Trend Repeating Itself in 2023-24
Even though the NHL season is only at the quarter-mark, the Avalanche have once again fallen victim to a string of injuries running throughout the lineup. At this point, Landeskog’s status remains the one unfortunate constant across multiple seasons.
NHL Injury Viz has the Avalanche ranked seventh in CHIP this season, though I should note that absences due to personal reasons – such as Samuel Girard deciding to enter the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program – are not included in their calculations.
In the midst of an extraordinary offensive campaign, Makar missed his first game of the season after being ruled out for the Avalanche’s matchup with the Los Angeles Kings this past Sunday (Dec. 3). He did not play at the end of regulation or during the entirety of overtime against the Anaheim Ducks the game before, though the exact nature of his injury is uncertain at the time of this writing.
The other notable absence has been that of two-way winger Artturi Lehkonen, who had scored eight points in 12 games while seeing the highest usage of his career, including a career-high in ice time on the power play. With 41 goals and 88 points in 109 regular-season and playoff appearances since being acquired by the Avalanche in a trade at the 2022 Trade Deadline, Lehkonen has been an underrated support piece for head coach Jared Bednar in all situations.
Lehkonen suffered a scary injury after slamming head-first into the boards in a recent game against the Kraken and does not have a concrete timeline for his return. He was able to move out of his neck brace, but the timeline for any injury involving the head and the neck is always uncertain due to the caution needed to treat the various symptoms. For both his sake and the sake of the Avalanche, everyone is hoping for a speedy return to the lineup.
Caleb Jones (11 games played), Kurtis MacDermid (five), and Sam Malinski (two) have rotated in for the absent defenders while Riley Tufte (five) and Joel Kiviranta (11) have been the biggest benefactors of the Avalanche’s holes up front.
That the Avalanche’s offseason acquisitions must improve their play goes without saying, but the team won’t go very far if the injury issues spiral any further out of control and force players to occupy more difficult roles in the lineup.
Avalanche Must Proceed with Caution
As is indicated by their record, the Avalanche have yet to see too much backlash as a result of their early absences. They’re within striking distance of the top spot in the West and have climbed the standings while a whole host of new faces acclimatize themselves to the Avalanche system. They’ll have room to add at the deadline if they are so inclined, so any holes can be filled in a few months time.
Still, the aftershock of last season’s tussle with the infirmary can still be felt around the organization. There’s not much for the team to do, however, given how randomly and suddenly these injuries can occur. It’s not time to panic just yet, but things can get uncomfortable in the blink of an eye.
