Why we can’t have nice things; Landeskog tests positive for Covid

It would have been a fully healthy team. Valeri Nichushkin and Jack Johnson were coming back to the lineup tonight, and that meant the Avs would have had a fully healthy team. But no, it won’t be; Avs announced that Gabe Landeskog tested positive for Covid and now has to sit out at least five days, meaning he won’t play tonight against the Seattle Kraken, nor in two other games this week.

Sooo….that is a bummer, especially considering Landeskog was named the NHL’s No. 1 star of the week today. The Avs did say that Landy is asymptomatic.

The other news from the morning skate today: Avs announce that Pavel Francouz will start in goal, his second start of the season.

Nichushkin and Johnson have been cleared to return, so Johnson will slot in for Ryan Murray tonight.

According to Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times, this is the guy who will start against the Avs tonight:

As expected, Philipp Grubauer is the first #SEAKraken goalie off the ice this morning. #NHL #Kraken pic.twitter.com/Z3jWEx6WhQ

— Geoff Baker (@GeoffBakerTIMES) January 10, 2022