Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon week-to-week with lower-body injury

The Colorado Avalanche are off to a relatively good start to the season, sitting at 6-3-1 through their first 10 games and second in goal differential at +13. A big part of that success has been because of the play of Nathan MacKinnon, who scored 14 points in those 10 games and generated 41 shots on goal. Unfortunately, MacKinnon suffered an injury against the Minnesota Wild, one that will now keep him out on a week-to-week basis, according to Kyle Fredrickson of the Denver Post.

While he’s clearly the biggest blow, MacKinnon won’t be the only player out for the Avalanche. Pavel Francouz, Erik Johnson, Devon Toews, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Matt Calvert are also all out “week-to-week,” according to head coach Jared Bednar. It’s no wonder the team tweeted “depth is the name of the game tonight.”

The Avalanche have plenty of other star power, but that’s a long list of important players to be sidelined all at once. The team takes on the Wild again Tuesday and Thursday before a two-game series against the division-leading St. Louis Blues on the weekend.