Wednesday night was supposed to be a homecoming for Cale Makar. Instead, he’ll watch his team play from the press box.
Makar wasn’t on the ice for the Colorado Avalanche’s morning skate ahead of their game with the Calgary Flames. Afterward, head coach Jared Bednar said that Makar won’t be in the lineup and that he’s listed as day-to-day.
The Avs have been decimated by injuries this season. Makar had been one of just six players to suit up in all 42 of Colorado’s games, with Mikko Rantanen, J.T. Compher, Alex Newhook, Logan O’Connor and Erik Johnson the others.
Nathan MacKinnon missed a few weeks earlier in the season because of an upper-body injury, Valeri Nichushkin has been limited to just 16 games because of an ankle injury that required surgery and captain Gabriel Landeskog hasn’t yet made his 2022-23 debut after undergoing offseason knee surgery.
Beyond Landeskog, the Avs also currently have defensemen Bowen Byram and Josh Manson, along with forwards Darren Helm and Denis Malgin, currently on IR.
The injuries have clearly taken their toll, as last year’s Stanley Cup champions currently own a 22-17-3 record and sit in 10th place in the Western Conference standings.
Makar, who won last season’s Norris Trophy for the league’s top defenseman along with the Conn Smythe Trophy for the most valuable player in the playoffs, has 43 points through 42 games thus far in 2022-23.
With Makar out of the lineup, Devon Toews will move up to the team’s top power-play unit while Johnson will play alongside Toews on the team’s top defensive pairing at even-strength.
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