Morning Skate Diary

Nathan MacKinnon back on ice, but won’t play tonight

Published

3 months ago

March 8, 2021

The Avs are back at it against the Arizona Coyotes. Nathan MacKinnon won’t play because of an upper-body injury, but he did skate hard this morning, albeit in a non-contact jersey, as you can see here:

Looking out at the ice here, Cale Makar is not out there and neither is Bo Byram or J.T. Compher. Matt Calvert, however, is out there and in a regular jersey.

Here’s what Jared Bednar had to say about the latest M*A*S*H situation with his roster:

“MacKinnon, he’s doing great, but he’s not an option for us tonight because of the protocol. I think it’s possible he could play our next game.”

Also, another injury has popped up: Conor Timmins is out (upper body). Ugh, let’s nope it’s not what we worry it might be.

Calvert will play tonight, Bednar said.

Greg Pateryn has been recalled from the Colorado Eagles and will play in place of Timmins.

Bednar said Makar spent a lot of time on the ice Sunday and skated earlier today. So, it sounds like he’s soon to return. Bednar didn’t say much more about Byram or Compher, other than that they weren’t out there.

This should be the lineup for tonight against the Coyotes:

Landeskog-Rantanen-Nichushkin

Saad-Kadri-Burakovsky

Jost-Megna-Donskoi

Calvert-Bellemare-O’Connor

Graves-Girard

Toews-MacDonald

Renouf-Pateryn

Grubauer

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Adrian Dater

Adrian Dater - Kiss and Larry Bird fan. Writer with @Gambling and @Bookies. Previously Denver Post, SI, Bleacher Report to name just a few.

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mfnavs

3 months ago

At least we get to play a heavier lineup against one of the slower teams out there. That’s a lot of quality minutes not playing right now. Kadri and Burka need to break through!

Brandon Eccles

3 months ago

At this point I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. The injury parade is astonishing.

At this point I don’t even want to blame the strength and conditioning program… I just wonder if this is more of a “toughness” issue. Are they sitting these guys for ever little thing or are the players not gutting out minor stuff? I feel like we don’t have that warrior spirit like the Adam Foote’s of old.

Am I way off base here?

chippy play

Reply to Brandon Eccles

3 months ago

You’re not, I have the same question. I guess I’m hoping that the Avs are just trying to be extra cautious during this regular season so players are healthy during the post season?

But it’s hard not to wonder. If you haven’t seen it, Google the speech that Jarvis Landry gave in Hard Knocks (“it’s contagious…”).

Brandon Eccles

Reply to chippy play

3 months ago

I just watched it… that’s the heart and toughness I am talking about. Jarvis has it… the Avs don’t… at all. No warriors in the room like him. No championship mindset.

ricoflashback

3 months ago

Wow, the walking wounded. I know every team has its own injury issues but the Avalanche seem snakebit. How about some kudos to Joe Sakic and the depth of this team’s defensemen? Is there any team in the NHL that could cobble together viable replacements with so many guys out? Hats off to Renouf as providing valuable minutes and toughness in an ever changing lineup. I’m almost afraid to read my CHN without hearing another shoe drop.

Jared Moss

3 months ago

Let the merry go round continue, I hope pateryn has something to give tonight. This lineup just gets weaker not stronger one guy comes back two go out so frustrating. I know no one wants to hear it but Johnson’s career is likely at its end almost hope he retires and we can bury him on the LTIR. Guy cant play 10 games without being injured… and this has been for the past few seasons not just one…. On that note is it just me or do we have to Offload Timmins for something of value while we still can….?… Read more »

Catatafish

3 months ago

I hope you’re right AD and they try out Rants at center. He played some in Finland and I’ve been calling out for this experiment. Should be interesting.