Avalanche Notebook: When Do You Shut Someone Down?

For the first time in a few weeks, the Colorado Avalanche held a full practice on Friday afternoon.

Well, not quite full.

While all of the 14 forwards the Avalanche are currently carrying were healthy and on the ice, there were only five defensemen available to practice.

Josh Manson and Cale Makar were not on the ice, and after practice, Jared Bednar said the reason for their absence is the “same as what they’ve been dealing with.”

Makar briefly left the bench at the end of the first period on Wednesday, but returned for the second period. Manson played on both Monday and Wednesday, but he didn’t take morning skate on either of those days.

We all know Makar has been dealing with some things off and on this year, and Manson had off-season surgery. Since both are missing some skates, it would appear neither are 100%. That’s fine, as a lot of players just aren’t at 100% during the season, but it’s a long season. You don’t need someone playing injured in December if you can avoid it.

After practice, I posed the question to Jared Bednar: If someone like Manson keeps missing morning skates and practices, at what point do you give him some time off, considering you have Caleb Jones ready to play?

“It just depends on how he’s feeling in the game,” Bednar said. “He’s been feeling good going into the games, and he’s feeling pretty good coming out. The next morning, he’s in a little bit of discomfort, so he’s just kind of working through that over the course of the 48 hours before the game and feeling good enough to play.”

That didn’t necessarily answer the question, but does show you that Manson is battling something at the moment.

If Manson is feeling good going into the games, but not as good the next morning, that might make this weekend’s back-to-back situation a little tough for him. The Avalanche are in Winnipeg on Saturday, then fly home to take on the San Jose Sharks on Sunday night.

If I was a betting man (I’m not), I’d venture a guess that we see Caleb Jones at least once this weekend. The coaching staff has been happy with his play, but Sam Malinski has come in and played really well, and you can only play six defensemen every night. I spoke to Jones after practice, and he’s got a good attitude about everything. I’ll have more on him tomorrow morning.

Other News And Notes

Before practice, Artturi Lehkonen took to the ice again for some light skating. It wasn’t much, and I don’t know how long he was on the ice, but always good to see him out there. The timeline on him is 10-12 weeks from the time of the injury.