Kyle Fredrickson of the Denver Gazette reports that defenseman Cale Makar and forward Darren Helm will be out indefinitely with lower-body injuries. Both players have dealt with injuries and missed consecutive games multiple times this season.
Although they clinched a playoff spot in Tuesday night’s win against the San Jose Sharks, it has not been an easy path back to the playoffs for the Avalanche this season. So far this year, at least 38 different skaters have played at least one game in Colorado, and the Avs have gone through a mixture of five total netminders. In this case, as the team has now clinched and is waiting for the playoffs to begin, it is unknown whether either player will be available for Game 1 of the playoffs. Head coach Jared Bednar would not give a timeline for their returns.
For Helm in particular this will be the third time that he has missed multiple games with injury. He has spent the majority of this season on the injured reserve, only managing to suit up for 11 games, unable to find himself on the scoreboard.
Most importantly for the Avalanche, as well as their playoff aspirations, Makar being out indefinitely is a massive blow. After winning the Norris Trophy and Conn Smythe Trophy last season, he has followed that up with another tremendous campaign, scoring 66 points in 60 games for Colorado. Makar has already missed 16 games this year for the Avalanche, adding to the injury woes that have seemed to plague the team all season.
With six games remaining this season, it is unclear which team the Avalanche will play in the first round of the playoffs. Given the current standings leading into play Thursday, Colorado is most likely to face the Minnesota Wild, Dallas Stars or Seattle Kraken in the beginning round. The Avalanche are currently in first place in the NHL’s Central Division with one game in hand on both the Wild and Stars.
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