What MacKinnon Injury Means to the Colorado Avalanche Going Forward

The Colorado Avalanche were dealt a huge blow on Tuesday as center Nathan MacKinnon left the game against the Philadelphia Flyers with an upper-body injury. MacKinnon will be out for four weeks.

MacKinnon left the first period of Colorado’s 5-3 loss against the Philadelphia Flyers in pain after taking a wrist shot. That shot was blocked by Flyers forward Scott Laughton, and MacKinnon was only on the ice for five shifts and a total of 4:58 of ice time.

He leads the Colorado Avalanche in points with 34 on eight goals and 26 assists. MacKinnon is not only an elite point producer but he plays 25 minutes a night.

The Colorado Avalanche are in trouble following injury news on MacKinnon.

This could not come at a worse time for Colorado. Not only is MacKinnon the main source of offense, but he joins a long list of Avalanche players who are already missing due to injury.

Colorado is missing forwards Artturi Lehkonen, Jean-Luc Foudy, Valeri Nichushkin, Gabriel Landeskog, Darren Helm, Evan Rodrigues, Shane Bowers, and defensemen Josh Manson, Bowen Byram, and Kurtis MacDermid.

To fill some of the voids left on the roster, Colorado recalled forwards Sampo Ranta, Ben Meyers, and Callahan Burke, as well as defenseman Andreas Englund from their AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles.

MacKinnon was the first-overall pick in the 2013 NHL Draft and was an integral part of the 2022 Stanley Cup championship team. Losing MacKinnon has Colorado looking for answers.

The Colorado Avalanche are 13-9-1 for 27 points, which places them fourth in the Central Division, eight points behind the division-leading Winnipeg Jets.

MacKinnon goes to the injured list on a hot streak. In his last five games, he has three goals and four assists for seven points. If the players recalled from the AHL do not step up, the Colorado Avalanche could find themselves in a big hole for the division lead come the middle of January.

With the amount of offense and depth on the injured list, Colorado may even look at a possible trade to fill some of those holes with a forward or two. Not only is the chemistry affected, but the line changes could look drastically different as well.

Colorado Avalanche coach Jared Bednar has his work cut out for himself the next month, as his roster will go through several changes to find the right chemistry and compete at a high level.

The best thing for Colorado may be to play .500 hockey until players start to come off of the injured list, just to stay in the hunt for the Central Division.